How to teach a bad shoer to be shod?

[humph]

As of today I've taken on a hunt horse who I have been told needs to be sedated to be shod. I was told a while ago that he was fine to be cold shod but am not sure of this. Basically he's irish and when in Ireland I suspect just had shoes wacked on cold and then got a bit of a shock when they tried to hot shoe him over here.

He's being shod on Friday and I will just do what he's used to and give him sedalin but for the future I'd love to work on resolving this issue. Has anyone got any experience of how to fix it or got any tips?

All suggestions will be welcomed...

 

[teddyt]

Teach the horse to pick all its feet up well. Dont lift them too high and make sure the horse is stood properly before picking up a foot- so it can balance on 3 legs.

Then start tapping the feet with a hoof pick once it stands happily on 3 legs. progress to a hammer.

Tie it up with a haynet next to others when they are shod so it gets used to the sounds, smell and smoke.

Dont fight with him if he wants to put his foot down! Just let it go and then pick it up again.

Do consider that there may be an underlying problem that means that the horse is in discomfort when shoes are nailed on.

Make sure your farrier is patient and allows sufficient time- warn him in advance. You will only progress thorugh patient training and any form of arguing or reprimanding wont help. If doing 4 feet at once is too much then do a pair at a time.

 

[Brandy]

I had one like this that you could do all of the above with, but he really didn;t like being shod, I think its the time it takes etc. He started on sedolin, a dose high enough to pretty much knock him out, and i gradually decreased the dose over time. I only decreased it when he had been shod a couple or more times with no problems on the current dose. After about8 shoeings he was down to no sedolin at all and is very good. I have to stand with him though still.

 

[humph]

Great, thank you both, very helpful advice. Teddy, he's absolutely fine to have each foot picked up and tapped - will try progressing to a hammer.

Totally agree about not fighting - am sure that's what has got him into this predicament in the first place. Am pretty sure that there's no discomfort but that it's a sensitisation and trust issue - he's much the same about being clipped, vaccinated, wormed, etc etc. Am pretty sure his training when he was young and over in Ireland was rushed and generally made a mess of!

 

[EnduroRider]

I have just gone through this with my mare who was such a nightmare to shoe behind that we had given up and put her in hoof boots. Unfortunately the boots caused problems of their own so we had to get shoes on her.

She was due to go in to the vets to be properly knocked out and shod as my previous farrier found her unmanageable under standing IV sedation but I happened upon a behaviourist/trainer just two days before she was due to go in.

Two sessions with him and the farrier he works with, and she is much much better. These are the things that have been changed to get to this point:

Do not have a farrier or a handler that is going in expecting there to be a problem - you're adrenalin will be up and the horse will pick up on that.
Use a chiffney - you need the control (NB I never have issues with leading her or her being bolshy so had never thought to use one but it made all the difference)
Stand the horse next to a wall so that they cannot move sideways away from the farrier.
Stand at the horses shoulder not in front.
Whenever the horses is likely to get unhappy (in our case doing the hinds) keep their head in to their chest or chin towards the point of the shoulder - doing so stops them being able to move forwards so nothing else for it but to stand.
Finally, get a very strong but incredibly calm farrier!

My mares trick was to start by kicking out. If the farrier didn't let go then she would start to lean on them. If they still didn't let go she would pick up the other hind foot and at this point the farrier always let go so she had got her own way. New farrier is incredibly strong and everytime she leans he slowly pushes her up so she is holding herself up and not letting him do it, and he keeps doing this until she stands up properly. Also, he does not start to do anything to the foot he is holding until she is completely releaxed - he just gently moves it back and forth until she is calm about it.

Hope that is of some help! I am just over the moon that we have finally cracked this!

 

[Aces_High]

I've worked with plenty of horses (racehorses) who have been horrendous to shoe. The farrier has always requested that these animals are sedated. I would highly recommend for the safety of all those around and more so for the farrier that you continue to Sedalin. A bit of Sedalin once every 5 weeks isn't going to hurt him. I just think that being a farrier is a tough enough job as it is, let alone ending up either being unable to work or in hospital. These guys/girls are self employed so won't be having their wages paid when they off due to injury. If he continues to mess about I'd have the vet out for a needle. We still have horses in their late teens which are sedated for the farrier - some will not learn/co-operate!