mare cant stay awake for shoeing!!

[abishawx]

so my mare is rising 7 and every time she has had her feet done by the farrier she cant stay awake and sometimes will even start laying down and its getting to the point where I have to stand there and keep her awake whilst he does her feet. Is this a common problem? and how do I teach her to stay up right?
thanks

 

[paulineh]

Does she do it another time. If this is the case I would be asking a vet too look at her.

 

[abishawx]

shes try to laid down when i stretched her front legs out for a competition but looks like she has been sedated, it's a bit worrying

 

[abracadabra]

Get the vet then, if you're worried! No, horses doing what you have stated yours is doing is NOT normal, and if it were mine I'd be on the phone to the vet.

 

[abishawx]

I had her vetted when I brought her and she passed everything along with the flexion test but I think it will put me at ease of mind if the vet came and checked her, thanks

 

[abracadabra]

That's great, but just because your horse passed a vetting doesn't mean there's nothing wrong with her today. All as it means is there was nothing obvious to the vet _on that day_. After that all bets are off. I'd give the vets a ring and have a little chat with them about it

 

[abishawx]

Okay thank you for the advice

 

[Cgd]

any update on this ? My neighbours mare does it too ?!

 

[fatpiggy]

My mare used to doze off within seconds of anyone touching her cannons or hooves but she just snoozed peacefully on her feet. Handy if I wanted to sooth her - that and stroking her tail. The farrier used to say she was so good and quiet and to be honest she didn't need to be tied up for shoing. An attempt to lie down could be some form of narcolepsy though because that isn't natural. If it does turn out to be that , no vetting would pick it up. My mare turned out to have epilepsy but nothing was picked up at purchase. Interestingly while I do suspect that could be why she had been sold, a later thorough neurological work-up revealed some brain damage (loss of perception of her left legs and feet) but absolutely nothing like that was present at purchase and since I was there at the vetting, I know the vet checked for turning correctly on the spot at speed.

 

[Dry Rot]

There was another thread on this sort of thing, though the OP's seems to be an extreme case! When animals cannot cope, they sometimes "shut down". They totally switch off or play dead. Stoat chases rabbit, rabbit cannot escape, the conclusion is the rabbit apparently giving up and laying still (shutting down) while it is killed by the stoat.

Sorry, I can't help or offer an answer, but I do find it interesting! I have one mare that would do it when being loaded. She would plant when she got within 25 yards of the trailer and then, if we managed to get her to the ramp, would literally have to be lifted on. During the final stages, she'd appear to be asleep! We did eventually train her to self load but it took a while.

I suppose it is a form of escape behaviour and the best cure would be to teach her that it doesn't work. Stop the shoeing/trimming, take her for a short walk to wake her up, then resume the work on her feet? Just a guess.