Problems shoeing

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BigRed

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I have a new horse. She was sold to me as being good to shoe. Sadly, she is far from this. Having delved into her history, I know the seller lied and she has always been difficult to shoe, especially behind. My farrier has failed twice to get back shoes on, even with a healthy dose of Sedalin. He now insists she is doped by the vet.

She is only 5, I realise I need to work through this, but can anyone give me tips on the best way to achieve this. She is happy to let me pick her feet out, but can be fussy behind. She seems to resent having her feet lifted high enough to allow a farrier to do his stuff, she especially dislikes the sensation of hammering. I have been trying to de-sensitise her, by making her lift her feet higher and by tapping with the hoof pick. Some nights she accepts this better than others. She is a strong willed Mare who knows exactly how strong she is. She simply snatches her hoof away and makes it difficult, if pressed, she will lash out.
 
You are doing all the right things. Getting IV sedation will allow the job to be done in the short term while you keep working on her acceptance of being handled. If its any help I had one like this and had him sedated a few times but over time he became easier to shoe and now he is good. Could you leave her unshod behind?
 
Oh this is an all too familiar tale. My OH is a farrier and the times people get conned by a dealer with a horse that needs sedation to be shod!

You have her age on your side, but no guarantees that things will improve. I agree with the previous poster - leave her unshod behind infact all of mine are unshod behind!!!

Then at least if worst comes to worst you could maybe self trim or rasp between longer spaced visits when you may need to have her sedated - just to get feet balanced. You may want to try giving her bute and see if that makes a difference to lifting her hind legs high? Could it be a pain issue - I hope not for your sake, but it is worth checking that.

I hate dealers/sellers that lie about 'good to shoe' it is just so expensive to get your horse sedated by a vet and what when a shoe is lost?? My hubby will not risk dodgy horses without sedation - it's not worth his livelihood.

Can you threaten the seller with court action? Infact why dont' you tot up a years shoeing sedation cost and ask for that much money back onyour horse as youmay by 12 months have made her good to shoe? If they refuse take them to the small claims court and claim the same. You will need to put it all in writing and explain why you are asking for what you are asking. I am sure you could convince any judge. Clearly you don't want to give the mare back but the compensation will help with your initial bills and the additional work you were not expecting.
 
It has taken approx a year with my horse and he is almost ok to be shod now. We are still using Dermosedan, but smaller dosages and I'm optimistic he'll be off that soon.

I've been paying to have the vet sedate him, which is ruinously expensive, but was absolutely the best way to go. Horse now is calm with farrier, having worked out that no harm will come to him, and that resistance is futile. Farrier hasn't been harmed either which is critical, riding is our hobby, shoeing is farriers livelihood.
 
My mare was 6 when I got her last year, shod all round and a pain to shoe!

The same thing you're describing. Snatching back and being generally grumpy about her back feet to the point of lashing out. Luckily my farrier was very patient, she wasn't sedated but had to be twitched to do the backs.

I spent the time between farrier visits doing what you mentioned. Holding her feet up for a while. Tapping the hoof pic on her shoes and rewarding her when she was good.

The next time, she wasn't as bad. I then had her back shoes off and for the past year she just has those trimmed. We decided on removing the backs as they didn't seem necessary rather than because she was difficult.

She is so much better now! It does work with perseverance!

I think her age meant she lacked experience and had trouble balancing on three legs. Also she came from Ireland, my YM has said that most horses in Ireland are cold shod whereas my farrier hot shoes.

Good luck with it. Hope it works out in the end as it has with my mare. I agree, you do have her age on your side.
 
I bought this horse from the breeder who told me a pack of lies about the horse. She naps and rears and the shoeing was just the icing on the cake. regard suing her, the solicitor says this is only possible if you can prove the horse was like this before you bought it. Otherwise it is her word against mine. The two professionals who had the horse last year refuse to get involved, so I am stuck. This horse is basically a nice person but she is very mixed up and it is all very disappointing.

I do not believe I can get away with her going barefoot behind. I have no school, and I have to walk my horses on a stony track to get to my grazing - my hacking is roads and tracks - not that i ride now - due the rearing...
 
hmmm, i would be having the once over by the vet. if she dislikes having her legs held up high and is rearing also it would be ringing alarm bells to me...

all behaviour happens for a reason.
 
I had the same problem two years ago, Ben simply would not allow anyone to shoe his back feet. Instead I listened to him, left him bare all round and bought some hoof boots for the fronts.

We've never looked back and he now has fantastic hooves.

There should be no reason why you can't leave the back ones off, if he is sore on tarmac then something is wrong, maybe his diet?
 
My horse developed a farrier phobia a couple of years after I bought him for no obvious reason. We tried to overcome it but it was the hammering that he couldn't tolerate. While he remains good with his fronts being shod, we eventually took the decision to leave his hinds off. He still fidgets a little but is otherwise a far happier horse. My farrier is happier too!
 
Just to add, my OH is a farrier too, and btw is more than happy to leave horses barefoot if that is what is requested. Sometimes horses can stand to be shod for two feet but lose patience with the next two. We used to do two feet one week and two feet the next, which also really helped. It does help if the farrier lives on site for that of course! Try working her quite hard beforehand so she is loosened off and maybe a little tired. Some find giving a treat while being shod helps; others are totally against this.

Most horse which are properly started are co-operative. I am sorry that you have been landed with this problem, but you sound the kind of owner who will find a way to resolve it. Good luck.
 
china said:
hmmm, i would be having the once over by the vet. if she dislikes having her legs held up high and is rearing also it would be ringing alarm bells to me...

all behaviour happens for a reason.
Click to expand...

Yes, this. My mare can get arsey about her back feet (though thankfully not dangerously so) and both farriers we had for her thought she had some stiffness through her hocks/pelvis which turned out to be true.
 
skint1 said:
Yes, this. My mare can get arsey about her back feet (though thankfully not dangerously so) and both farriers we had for her thought she had some stiffness through her hocks/pelvis which turned out to be true.
Click to expand...

Agreed with the above, if it's mostly the backs I'd get her on a joint supplement and have her vetted and/or seen by a chiro. She may just be sore, and will settle down once the soreness has gone.
 
Ours was so much better when we gave her Devils's Claw Root prior to shoeing, but of course in the longer term we got her treatment for her back and pelvis which included addressing her foot angles. It was interesting, quite a multi-faceted issue.
 
Get an osteopath out. My mare is difficult to shoe. Having the osteopath helped ensure there was no discomfort but also gave her good practice at picking her feet up in difficult positions for a stranger.

Other than that keep practicing, get an understanding patient farrier (we had one refuse to do our mare without iv sedation and the next did her without anything and said "she wasn't bad really" )

Don't despair it is something you can deal with. And don't underestimate the power of treats!
 
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