Peachescream
Active Member
This actually sounds exactly like my horse i feel awful for you but am also glad that Im not the only one with this problem. I would really love to know how you got on with your horse in the end. My girl Seren is 2.5 years old and is 16hh and very leggy 3/4tb 1/4 clyde with power in her kicks i bought her totally unhandled at 22 months and it took me 8 weeks to get a headcollar on her when she snapped it off she got her feet done for the first time 4 months after i got her i had to get vet to sedate her which was unfortunately first visit from vet the vet went to put needle in and she went balistic and did a rodeo impression for a good couple of mins with the vet and myself holding her and a needle sticking out her neck it was aout 10 mins before she could actually syringe the sedative into her and it made no difference at all. She had 3 sedatives before she finally gave in her bottom lip was drooping and her head was almost on the floor. The farrier then felt it was a good time to come and do her feet and she gave us all the fright of our lives when she kicked the living daylights out of him he left for 5 mins as he thought he had broken his arm. I dont know how he managed it but somehow he finished her feet. This remains the only time she has had her feet done. the farrier came to do the other horses 7 weeks later and i showed him how 'good' she was being and proceeded to pick up all her feet he was amazed at how well she had come on and came to say hello to her and she went crazy leaping off the ground with all four feet in air at once and wouldnt let him near her at all and he said that we should just leave it. I stay in a really rural area and my farrier is fabulous and never once lost patience or raised his voice to her but i fear that he is going to refuse to trim her feet and i dont know what to do. I lie awake at night thinking im going to have to sell her. She is terrified of strangers and even now wont let my daughters touch her, surprisingly my mum who knows nothing about horses can hold her and stroke her face and neck and both my friends and my OH who have only met her a couple of times can pick up her feet and she doesn't bat an eyelid. I throw rugs on and off her and bridle her and she blows in my face and is very loving and soft. I started asking people to try and feed her apples carrots or polos over the fence(something i dont normally ever encourage) just to help her learn that people dont want to hurt her but she wont go near anyone. I remain the only person who can catch her. Im thinking of getting her sedated with gel for farrier to try again as i dont want to put her off the vet anymore and would love to know if you found it helpful. I think if you have the same problem as me the problem doesnt lie with the act of picking up the feet but the act of trusting in the person who is doing it. Im at this moment very doubtful about how well sedation through gel is going to work and if it is even a good idea doing it. maybe if it works for your horse there might be hope for mine she is next due the farrier on 23rd i really hope he can even get her to pick her feet up while she is calm fingers crossed and at least we know we are not alone and we owe it to our horses to keep working with them to help them overcome their fears. I wish you and your horse all the very best for the future and who knows we might need to train as farriers 
. It made me wonder why farriers don't use the method for difficult horses. She is less violent when she doesn't win too and I'm not being aggressive to her at all, she just isn't getting her own way.
