Isn't a farriers job to work with horses????

[Peaches Lee]

Try to find the horse's comfort zone. Are you in cross ties or a grooming area when the horse is fidgety? Perhaps try to mess with her feet in her stall. She may be more comfortable in her stall and more likely to comply.

Now I know horses that are trained to the hilt, and they still give the farrier a hard time. I think for some it's a game. Because your horse is a rescue she may always have issues with her feet being done, you just need to find a safe medium for proper care, and if that entails doing something different (like shoeing her in her stall), well then you just have to do what you have to do to get the job done.

Good luck and I hope you can come up with a solution.

 

[welsummerchicks]

"I didn't a horse had to have shoes in order to be trained, personally."

It depends. To be trained to stand still for the farrier, no, a horse does not need shoes.

To be trained to work on varied surfaces, to support and protect the feet, to treat chronic conditions or weaknesses, to do some types of work, to enhance performance, yes.

A good many horses don't need shoes. They aren't worked in ways, or on surfaces, that require shoes. Other horses need shoes.

 

[Rusty Hills Farm]

Rusty... thread hijack... its driving me CRAZY!
WHAT does HTH mean, i see it all your posts..... gah! lol

Sorry, Red. I'm really not trying to make you crazy. It just means "hope this helps"

Rusty

PS Debi, if I've come across as bossy or know-it-all or offended you in any way, please know that was not my intention. I have only been trying to be helpful. Pax.​

 

[greeneggsandham]

Questions Deb.

Has Dutchess ever been shoed? Who was holding the lead while the farrier was shoeing Dutchess? When you say dancing what exactly was she doing? Moving all her feet? Just the one he was working on? Have they had the farrier work on their feet (trimming) in the year you have had them? If all else fails you can always get an easy boot to put on the front until the hoof heals.

 

[Orchid]

A farrier's job is to work on horses' feet. Only if the farrier has been briefed ahead of time and agrees to help with your horse's behaviour does it then become a farrier's job to work with horses.

Otherwise, it is your job to train your horse to stand quietly for the farrier. The horse does not need to be shod for this kind of training; instead, you need to accustom the horse to standing for an extended period of time with its foot/feet being held up and cleaned, tapped on, a good pretend rasping and stretching. Just your daily picking out of the feet is not going to prepare your horse for the time it takes to be trimmed and/or shod.

If your horse has a pain issue that does not allow it to hold up a leg or legs for an extended period of time, most farriers will be happy to work with you to accomodate your horse. And it should be noted that any horse can have an off day and not want to stand quietly for the farrier. I have a mare who will take a swipe at my farrier EVERY time he goes to pick up a hind foot (we are working on this); he was warned of this nasty behaviour ahead of time and said he could handle it. Some farriers would not, and that is perfectly all right too.

Have your horses been trimmed at all in the year you have had them? If not, they might just need a refresher course in farrier manners.

 

[mom2jedi]

Quote:
I completely agree with you Squishy. Sometimes people come off as very judgmental. The other problem I have (which wasn't specifically stated this time) is when someone will respond without reading all the posts. IMO if you haven't taken the time to read everything (at least with smaller threads I know that's not necessarily realistic with the huge ones) you shouldn't be posting something that isn't supportive of the op.

I do agree that it is not the farrier's responsibility to train your horse for you, that's not what he's being paid for. HOWEVER, that does not mean that he shouldn't be horse-savvy and know how to interact with them. That being said, they should be allowed to correct a horse within reason without the owner throwing a fit.

From what I have read, Debi was not expecting the farrier to train her horse. This man ignored Debi in favor of talking to her husband and was not focusing on his job. Nor was he allowing Debi to calm her horse as a result of his taking too long. Unless Debi is leaving something out like she was being rude to the farrier in the first place and that's what caused him to be rude to her I don't think anyone should be coming down on her. She came here to vent her frustration and to get support from us, not get slammed. It happens all to frequently that people start responding to a post and start a conversation that has little to do with what the op started with.

To Debi, from what you have posted, you were right in sending this man on his merry way. I have a problem with men that treat women like "you're just a silly girl, what do you know" and are dead serious about it. Sounds like if he'd shut his mouth and let you deal with your horse the entire problem could have been avoided. JMHO

 

[CluckyJay]

Quote:
I completely agree with you Squishy. Sometimes people come off as very judgmental. The other problem I have (which wasn't specifically stated this time) is when someone will respond without reading all the posts. IMO if you haven't taken the time to read everything (at least with smaller threads I know that's not necessarily realistic with the huge ones) you shouldn't be posting something that isn't supportive of the op.

I do agree that it is not the farrier's responsibility to train your horse for you, that's not what he's being paid for. HOWEVER, that does not mean that he shouldn't be horse-savvy and know how to interact with them. That being said, they should be allowed to correct a horse within reason without the owner throwing a fit.

From what I have read, Debi was not expecting the farrier to train her horse. This man ignored Debi in favor of talking to her husband and was not focusing on his job. Nor was he allowing Debi to calm her horse as a result of his taking too long. Unless Debi is leaving something out like she was being rude to the farrier in the first place and that's what caused him to be rude to her I don't think anyone should be coming down on her. She came here to vent her frustration and to get support from us, not get slammed. It happens all to frequently that people start responding to a post and start a conversation that has little to do with what the op started with.

To Debi, from what you have posted, you were right in sending this man on his merry way. I have a problem with men that treat women like "you're just a silly girl, what do you know" and are dead serious about it. Sounds like if he'd shut his mouth and let you deal with your horse the entire problem could have been avoided. JMHO

X2

 

[debilorrah]

Quote:
Duchess has been shod in the past, just not since we have had them. I wanted to hold the lead, because when I am talking to her, she is mesmerized and you can do just about anything to her. But he chose to wrap the lead around one of the corral poles. dancing=move her feet around. She wasn't even that jumpy because the lead was only draped over the corral post and wrapped once. She could have easily just taken off. I am thinking the boot is the way to go.

 

[debilorrah]

Quote:
In the past month, since we have known they needed to be shod, we have spent every day out there working with her to give us her feet easily and she does. She even did it for me in front of the farrier. Of course, I am just a stupid woman, so I can't possibly know how to hold a horses foot.

Duke, we knew that wasn't gonna work. I can get his foot up, but he head bumps me and then runs away. Pill.

 

[debilorrah]

Quote:
I completely agree with you Squishy. Sometimes people come off as very judgmental. The other problem I have (which wasn't specifically stated this time) is when someone will respond without reading all the posts. IMO if you haven't taken the time to read everything (at least with smaller threads I know that's not necessarily realistic with the huge ones) you shouldn't be posting something that isn't supportive of the op.

I do agree that it is not the farrier's responsibility to train your horse for you, that's not what he's being paid for. HOWEVER, that does not mean that he shouldn't be horse-savvy and know how to interact with them. That being said, they should be allowed to correct a horse within reason without the owner throwing a fit.

From what I have read, Debi was not expecting the farrier to train her horse. This man ignored Debi in favor of talking to her husband and was not focusing on his job. Nor was he allowing Debi to calm her horse as a result of his taking too long. Unless Debi is leaving something out like she was being rude to the farrier in the first place and that's what caused him to be rude to her I don't think anyone should be coming down on her. She came here to vent her frustration and to get support from us, not get slammed. It happens all to frequently that people start responding to a post and start a conversation that has little to do with what the op started with.

To Debi, from what you have posted, you were right in sending this man on his merry way. I have a problem with men that treat women like "you're just a silly girl, what do you know" and are dead serious about it. Sounds like if he'd shut his mouth and let you deal with your horse the entire problem could have been avoided. JMHO



This is exactly what I think too. After I got her foot in my hand, I just gave him a look and went in the house. Let the two manly men commiserated in the field.

I did leave one thing out. We rescued these horses from an exotic cat rescue - they had been there 8 months, not really getting the food and attention they needed. So we took them. After the farrier left, he called MY phone thinking it was Kens and said that "those horses were meant to be food for those big cats". Really? 8 months in a field losing weight so they could be food?

Made me like the guy even less.