bad pony!

[actnatural09]

Anyone ever had a horse that was perfect for the farrier until he started nailing on the back shoes

Comments

[_kollision]

Okay, two things: You are asking a serious question. Referring to your mare as "ponay" several times in that post was very distracting, obnoxious and not cute, IMO. Proper punctuation and grammar makes your post easier to read and more likely to get equally serious, polite, respectful responses.

Second of all, you need to keep desensitizing her to having her hoof banged on. You can even just use a hoof pick to tap on it, and if you're afraid of getting kicked, it's never going to work. Do you have a trainer you work with? Can s/he help you with this? One of you holds the hoof and the other feeds treats when the horse is good/etc? You really just need to make her deal with it if it isn't pain related, and if you're too afraid to, you need to find someone who can help you.

[bluelinegoddess]

Agreed on all counts. If the OP is afraid of something, the horse is going to pick up on it and act like more of a pain.

[sm923]

Agreed. As she said, it's HER horse and HER resposibility so who else would teach it to be comfortable with getting shoes nailed on? The farrier? Nope. It takes patience, practice and confidence.

Do short sessions, reward with food. My guy hated his feet being worked on. We started giving him hay and it kept him occupied enough to stand still and now he doesn't even need it. It just takes continual practice. Don't pound on her foot with all your stength.. gradually increase the pressue with which you tap her.

Practice, practice, practice. And like was mentioned above, you cannot be scared. She'll take advantage of it. Just pay attention and if she acts like shes going to kick, stop her before she does.

You have to be smarter than the horse.

[skye_ds]

This.

[hold_onhope]

Have you considered that she might actually be sore in the hinds? When my mare had shoes she used to act that in the front... not as potentially dangers because it's harder to kick out with the front legs, but she did have the same situation with nails sticking out and bending oddly and it took forever to get her shod.

I switched farriers (for unrelated purposes) and he told me that because of the angle of her hoof, she wasn't getting proper stimulation in the sole and on top of that the plantar cushion - which sits in between the tendon area and the sensitive frog - was slightly crushed. Basically, it all added up to the fact that whenever the hammer hit the nail, it sent a small shock of pain or pressure up there. As the corrective shoeing went on and those problems started to be fixed, she was finally standing still without pulling away.

(Please note that this is just what my farrier told me, but the visible results speak for themselves.)

[actnatural09]

thank you so much for this. I have been looking for reasons on-line and all I can find is that "Some horses just dont like it so just drug 'em" I will write this down and discuss with my farrier!
Thanks!!

[glenatron]

Not a bad pony at all, she's just a bit worried about having her feet picked up and she's learning that she doesn't need to

[glenatron]

Obviously, I've only covered picking feet up there. Getting her used to things tapping and making a fuss there is a continuation of the same approach. Pick it up wherever she needs you to, but don't be surprised if she thinks you need to go right back to basics there.

[actnatural09]

my farrier suggested doing the rope thing too so she cant kick me. Thank you for your suggestions. Its been two weeks since the farrier came out and I can now take her leg, stretch it all the way out and out to the side like the farrier holds it. I am about to start to tap around a bit with a small hammer. Thanks for mentioning about not letting her feet alone when she reacts. I think that was a mistake I made last time when the farrier could not get the shoe back on and it was getting dark and late. We agreed it might be better to leave it alone for the night and for him to come back the next day. That might have made things worse!

thanks again!

[skye_ds]

THIS. *hugs*

[appolonia]

How much of it seems to be a nervous/fear reaction vs pissypony reaction

[actnatural09]

well im not sure of her background. I bought her and then put shoes on her two weeks later. She was bad for the first time. I twiched her for the hinds and she was fine. The second time, I only had to twitch her for one hind, the third time, I didnt have to twitch her at all so both the farrier and I were really pleased. He was what you described as a good farrier! Then I moved. I figured everything would be okay with the new farrier but he was a real ass and treated her badly....not abusive but he had a bad attitude and she picked up on it so she behaved very ugly towards him. She kicked at him which was the first time she ever tried to kick at someone. He smacked her a couple times for the kicking, which I was TOTALLY fine with me, and then she was sorta okay for the rest of the nails. I switched farriers because of his attitude and actions (other than the smack for the kick) and because I was not happy with the toe length, shoe, etc and I was ready for her to be bad and she was the worst ever. She kicked a lot, pulled her foot away

[appolonia]

The reason I don't really advocate that other people use the same discipline techniques that I do (for instance, I will kick a horse back who walks on top of me, I will pop a biter under the chin, I will kick and yell at a horse for kicking me), is that if discipline is used it must be excersised at EXACTLY the right time, in exactly the right manner, with exacltly the right force, and its a feel that most people just don't have. Its a very subtle feel, and if you're a fraction of a second off on your reaction, you do more harm than good. And you also have to know when you should be having a "knock that shit off" moment, or a "I know you're upset and lets try to distract/comfort you" moment. It sounds like you had a farrier who wasn't exactly on the ball with the way he "disciplined" and it probably set you pretty far back. From what you tell me, it sounds like its not 100% a bitchy thing. Make SURE that if she kicks at you, and you go "NO!" and smack, that you then IMMEDIATELY go back to whatever you were doing, like running your

[fallenfaun]

One negative experience won't "ruin" her, especially if its not the first time she's been shod. She may be skittish but its no excuse to be a total prat (though she probably thinks it is). Memphis got stuck on a trailer once when he decided to climb into the gooseneck, he was afraid of trailers for a while afterwards but wasn't ruined. It just took a couple of times of loading him last and giving him plenty of space and then taking him off while he was still ok. Work with her and then stop before she starts getting wierd, if that means that you hold her foot up and tap it once with a piece of wood and then leave her alone then that may be what it takes.

If you're worried about getting kicked, work with her while someone holds her head so you have some help if you get hurt. Firm and consistent fixes behaviours like this pretty quickly in my experience. Treats are good, but if she's acting bratty instead of nervous then I wouldn't be super rewarding for nice behaviour. Just my opinion, but its worked for me.

[dark_flight]

I had a horse that did this exact thing - turned out he had very sore hips. My farrier held his leg lower so it didn't torque the hip so much and it all good! You didn't mention your horse's age (mine was older - 32 - and had been an upper level dressage horse and lower level eventer so he had lots of miles on his hips!) or if you'd checked for pain. Could be foot sore too, that would make back shoeing just more than she can take...

[actnatural09]

thank you! I have asked him to hold the stifle foot just in case it is pain related. He doesnt use the stand for this foot either. She is 8 but I am conscience of the stifle injury. Thanks again!