The Farrier and Your Horse
Finding a good Farrier is a job in itself. A good Farrier will not give you the time of day, if your horse cause more trouble than other horses, and he will charge you much more for using up added time. Sedation is one answer but it is not a permanent answer to the problem.One of the most important aspects of your horses care is hoof care. In order to receive proper care from a Farrier you must give your horse a certain amount of training so as to make him job easier and make it easier on the horse. Many untrained horses will pull their feet away from the farrier and will lean their weight on the farrier will he is trying to work on their feet. In the worst case the horse will kick out at the farrier possibly causing injury. So you can understand the dilemma of the farrier.
It is best to start from a colt and teach foot care to your horse early making it a natural occurrence to have their feet lifted and trimmed. It is the responsibility of the owner to make sure this is done. If the horse is already older and still untrained then training can be done fairly quickly by being patient and not asking for too much too soon.
Five to twenty minutes twice a day is sufficient to start with. Once a day will also give some results, but will end up taking much longer. Work with the horse untied as confining him could cause panic. Begin with the front legs and rub him on the neck. Slowly make your way down the shoulder and if he is okay with that then keep preceding to the foreleg and eventually to the hoof. Keep repeating this procedure for a couple of days and then on the third day start to try to lift his leg up by tickling the back side of the foot. After the horse finally gives you his foot, lean in to his shoulder a bit to make him shift his weight to his other legs. This shifting will give him more balance and be comfortable. Do not let the horse take his foot back. It should be your decision to put his foot down, not his.
Keep repeating this procedure until you can take his foot and stretch it forward as a farrier would do. By the time the farrier comes to trim and shoe your horse you will have already "desensitized" your horse to having his legs handled.
posted by Posh Pampered Pets @ 6:59 AM
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