[Beeks]

Yup.. You Betcha. Some of you may remember Sally. A mare that I rescued last spring who I suspect, spent most of her life wild on the local reservation. When I got her she was halter broke and that was about it. She has come a very long way since then, but her feet and getting her to lift them and let you keep them lifted has proven to be challenging. Consequently, she had only seen the farrier once, since I took her in. Luckily she has wild horse feet that seem to keep their shape but I must admit, she was getting taller by the month.

I move Sally to a training facility where I have unlimited access to two different round pens, two arenas (one covered) and a hot walker. When my shoer got there, we had to practically wake her up. She was in a very mellow mood that changed the moment he reached for a foot. She would lift it, jerk it back and pin her ears. She even nipped at me SOOOO, Sally got introduced to Round Pen 101. My friend took some beautiful pictures of her in motion (haven't gotten them yet but when I do, you can bet I will post them) and she went round and round and round until both of us were exhausted. Then we gave her another chance. We got through the first foot without incidence but the circles had to be repeated with every foot, but only once. By the last hind, she was quiet as a church mouse and my shoer actually had the audacity to say she stood better than my gelding.

So....if you have a difficult horse who does not play nice for the farrier, have him bring his rasp and nippers into a round pen. It did the trick for me and I bet it would for just about anyone else.

Me? Fidget? Nip? Pull Away? Unthinkable.

[meljean]

Well, just my opinion here, and am scheduled for surgery in morning so may be extra nuts.

If I did that to my farrier, making him wait while I trained, I would be looking for another farrier. This is not fair to them, as unless he is your insignificant other, you are wasting his time, and putting him off schedule. They shoe horses for a living, not for fun.

And what did you teach her, except exhausting her, and you. You taught her to associate running around with shoeing. And you made her run round and round and round, which will build up her stamina for next time and then you can add a fourth round to that and so on.

A better way is for you to work on picking her feet up, and holding it in hand, ignoring her efforts to intimidate you, and once you can pick up feet and hold, then tap on foot with hand, hoofwall and sole, and then grip like farrier does, between legs, doing this over and over, until she will stand. Also stretch legs out one at a time, to get horse used to being in weird positions.

When a farrier comes or a vet is not the time to be training, unless you are paying him by the hour, as well as the job.

And this is one of the number one complaints of farriers, the time of theirs that is wasted on "training" issues, next to having to wait for someone to try to catch their horses.

[Beeks]

That is why I love my farrier. He knew she was going to be an issue, so made her his last visit of the day and it was HIS suggestion to utilize the round pen.

Ignore her efforts to intimidate me? This mare put me in the hospital with a swift kick to the shin that had me down for the count for nearly two weeks. She does not bluff.

What did she learn? Well, unless she adores running in circles till she's tired, she learned that pulling away from the farrier means work. If I could stand with my foot in somebodys hand or run in a circle till I was tired, I would elect to hold up my foot.

Out of curiosity, if you had a horse who had in the past, shown the ability to put you in the hospital with her feet, how would you handle the situation. Personally, I would rather be far far away from her feet when teaching her manners about them. She's not dumb. I would be willing to bet that the next time he comes, all we will have to do is take her INTO the round pen and she will remember the lesson.

Besides, she is a bit fluffy and the exercise was good for her (me too).

ps. Hope all goes well with your surgery!

[EVOO]

I am assuming the farrier was an active participant since he went into the round pen with you for this reason. In which case, if he doesn't mind -- I see no harm done. I probably would have tipped him liberally after for his time, but that's your business. Lets face it, he probably would have spent just as much time struggling with her to keep her feet up this way at least his back won. And if he's your regular farrier who is aware of her circumstance and prior hoof issues.... I don't see the big deal personally. I had one that was terrible about feet and I always made it clear while she was in the training stage that I did not expect her to be trimmed if my farrier did not want to. He always did it anyway and he always reassured me he would not do it if he hadn't wanted to. If you communicate with your farrier I feel that the relationship benefits greatly in that you both win in these situations. Regular old, every day misbehavior? No, that's not acceptable and a farrier shouldn't have to deal with it. But with a horse known to have issues for a reason and in a case where the owner is actively working to fix those issues most farriers I've known have been willing and understanding so long as they are not taken advantage of.

Phew.

As for what she learned. She learned a LOT. Sending a horse out in the round pen to work immediately following a misbehavior is basic horse behavior 101. Many people just probably wouldn't think to apply it in this situation. By sending the horse to work and work hard as soon as she pulled the hoof away it taught her that pulling the hoof back = having to work hard. Standing nicely without pulling it back therefore is less work. It's the same concept that you would use should you circle or back a horse vigorously when they act up for the farrier.

[Beeks]

Oh...and I wanted to add, that my farrier appointment was for 1:30. HE was late (15 minutes), but called. Sally was tucked away and eating no less than 45 minutes later. I actually thought it all worked pretty slick and so did he.

[Beeks]

Yes EVOO, once she had established that she was going to be a handful, we ALL went into the round pen and he watched and cracked jokes as I nearly had a heart attack from "my" round pen work. I told him, that as soon as he stepped away from her for bad behavior I was going to send her, so we were always in a position to do so without putting him or I in danger. I left her lead rope off so it would not be a nuisance to immediate action. I just held her halter, and by the fourth leg, I did not even have to do that.

This mare is smart and had figured out traditional methods of hoof handling training were childs play. Especially after being kicked by her, I wanted nothing to do with putting my FACE in the position my shin had been in, and neither did my farrier.

Oh....and yes...he got tipped an extra $10, though he acted embarrassed about taking it. Plus I gave him a couple nips off the Blackberry Brandy in the tack box.

[EVOO]

Originally Posted by Beeks

Plus I gave him a couple nips off the Blackberry Brandy in the tack box.

Eh, hem... can I come make fun of your round penning adventures?

[xlilxonex]

What a great farrier you have! I think it's great that he's willing to work with you and your horse and what not to get the job done... Now if you were expectin it....... haha!

but hopefully she will do much better next time.. She's gorgeous!

[Beeks]

Originally Posted by EVOO

Eh, hem... can I come make fun of your round penning adventures?

I would expect nothing less.

Xlilxonex-Thank-you. With her movement, we were commenting on how nice she would look pulling a sleigh through the snow. Lord knows, she's stout enough for it. She has put on even more weight since that pic was taken and the draft influence is really apparent now. I think she has finally grown into her head.

[xlilxonex]

I look forward to seeing the pictures of her being 100% behaved with the farrier. =) She looks great!! What a lucky horse!