Trimming a difficult horse?

F

Fizzimyst

Well-Known Member
Joined
1 December 2008
Messages
5,843
Location
West Sussex
www.catsprotection.co.uk
Hey

I was pondering, what do you do with a horse that is an idiot with its feet and frightened of new people when it needs a trim from the farrier?

Obviously you dont want the farrier hurt but what can you do? Can you sedate them a little? Or is that even more dangerous?
 
sadation can be dangerous and alot of farriers will only do it if the vet is present to be honest. ACP can have adverse effcts and sometimes it just doesnt take effect well enough and they can snap out of it when there adrenaline starts.

To be honest the best method is time and patience.

Lou x
 
I use Sedalin gel on our farrier hating horse, you can get it from your vets, it chills him out a bit, enough to trim them, Its blooming awful because he is a heavyweight 16.2 hunter, using sedalin and triming far from the van where he cant see or smell it is what we do.
My advice is find the cause of his fear. Mine hates the smell and the noise from when the kilm doors open. He is fine with it actually being nailed in. My horse whisperers advice was to ask for the farriers t-shirt with the smell of the shoeing on it and put it in his stable - im yet to ask
blush.gif
!
Iv gotta think of some ideas though because his feet unfortunatly are wearing down too much to go barefoot so he is going to have to get shoes again soon
frown.gif
 
My friends young gelding was exactly the same. She overcome it by getting a few people to handle him and touch his legs starting from the top and only moving down slightly, then starting at the top again, do this a few times and work down very gradually. Any progress made, reward with praise and maybe a polo here and there
grin.gif
 
sedalin is ACP based and is therefore not that reliable, is adrenline kicks in it overrides the sedative, not what you want with half a ton of horse above you!

Lou x
 
I am with Nailed.
I would hate to think that I had to rely on a sedative to get my horses feet trimmed. My mare used to be very bad with her back legs and alot of time and patience went into getting her used to her feet beeing tapped, picked up etc. I then would get other adults to do the same with me at her head and reward her where appropriate. Now my farrier shoes her on his own not a problem, infact she goes to sleep!
I find it is usually a trust issue when horses won't have feet done.. Instead of drugging them up, I would deal with the issue.
 
I have a mare who when I first bought her would not let a farrier or vet near her, with a lot of time and pacience she is now a saint. Be very careful who you choose to shoe your horse, I have specifically chosen farriers who are very quiet and actually are better than others in the area. She has now gained so much confidence she will let anyone shoe her (again i am very selective, because of my husbands job we move around the country every few years) I feel some farriers especially are very hurried and unsympathetic.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I am with Nailed.
I would hate to think that I had to rely on a sedative to get my horses feet trimmed. My mare used to be very bad with her back legs and alot of time and patience went into getting her used to her feet beeing tapped, picked up etc. I then would get other adults to do the same with me at her head and reward her where appropriate. Now my farrier shoes her on his own not a problem, infact she goes to sleep!
I find it is usually a trust issue when horses won't have feet done.. Instead of drugging them up, I would deal with the issue.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not so much a problem with trims but i have found sedalin helps horses relax and realise its not hurting them instead of just fighting and quite often hurting me. It takes the edge off and allows them to relax if it works. Then a patient farrier can go in and take things gently but if the horse is fighting you from the go then its never going to realise that you are not actually hurting it.

That is dealing with the issue, and i am a patient person i have never raised a hand to a horse but im sorry i do not want my career ruined for one horse, if it needs it i request at least sedalin, especailly if the horse is desperate to have its feet done

It really depends on how difficult the horse is. And if its really bad i insist on having the vet out, but have only ever had to shoe a horse sedated once and he was too dangerous even then.
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I am with Nailed.
I would hate to think that I had to rely on a sedative to get my horses feet trimmed. My mare used to be very bad with her back legs and alot of time and patience went into getting her used to her feet beeing tapped, picked up etc. I then would get other adults to do the same with me at her head and reward her where appropriate. Now my farrier shoes her on his own not a problem, infact she goes to sleep!
I find it is usually a trust issue when horses won't have feet done.. Instead of drugging them up, I would deal with the issue.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not so much a problem with trims but i have found sedalin helps horses relax and realise its not hurting them instead of just fighting and quite often hurting me. It takes the edge off and allows them to relax if it works. Then a patient farrier can go in and take things gently but if the horse is fighting you from the go then its never going to realise that you are not actually hurting it.

That is dealing with the issue, and i am a patient person i have never raised a hand to a horse but im sorry i do not want my career ruined for one horse, if it needs it i request at least sedalin, especailly if the horse is desperate to have its feet done

It really depends on how difficult the horse is. And if its really bad i insist on having the vet out, but have only ever had to shoe a horse sedated once and he was too dangerous even then.

[/ QUOTE ]

These are my thoughts TheFarrier, I dont want to have a farrier come out and get hurt and then people refuse to deal with a horse, its not ideal but in the interim it sounds the way to go while the horse gets accustomed to people messing around with its feet
 
[ QUOTE ]
I would work my ass off to make sure the horse was happy about his feet being handled and then make sure the farrier really took his time with the horse.

[/ QUOTE ]

And in the meantime would you leave the horse with long feet or dope it a little so everyone is safe, it doesnt traumatise the horse and you have more time to mess around until the next trim?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top