Gin being difficult for her trim may have factored into this. Even though the farrier may not have meant to, he may have had his "battle armor" on when he approached Faith, and her nervous temperament went straight into "fight or flight" mode. Equines "read" us so well, it's uncanny (I swear, my mini mule is psychic).
A twitch can be a very effective tool for restraining horses. Used properly, it can mean the difference between getting the job done, or getting hurt trying to get the job done, but it doesn't always work. The best answer is to re-train, so restraint isn't necessary.
I'm more concerned with the fact that the farrier was rough with a "bad" horse. A toddler may act up because he missed his nap and just doesn't feel happy, but a horse is usually more situation-specific than that. A horse that is blowing up about hoof work may be reacting to pain, or fear. If the problem is pain, it shouldn't make a difference whose hand the hoofpick is in - pain is pain. If the other horses have thrush, Faith may have it, too, and it can be painful, but if she is fine with you and not him, that probably means that it isn't current pain that is worrying her. The problem most likely is, at some point in her past, a farrier hurt or scared her, so when she is with one now, she expects to get hurt or at least scared. And guess what? She does! So every time she blows up and the farrier roughs her up, this idea that trims are an unpleasant experience gets reinforced in her mind.
Obviously, you can't ignore a horse that is acting up, but how you respond should depend on what the horse is doing. To go back to the image of a small child - if your child hits you or worse yet, bites you, it is perfectly acceptable to tell him sternly, "no biting!" You don't care if he's just tired, or frustrated, or whatever; that kind of behavior is unacceptable, and he needs to know it. The same goes with a horse - he is not allowed get pushy and violate your person or personal space, no matter how cranky he feels. But if your child is crying because he's scared or hurt, would you yell, "no crying!" at him? Most likely not, and I don't think it would help the situation, even if you did. I'm thinking he would just cry harder.
The same is true for high-strung, intelligent horses. If the horse is acting up because he is scared, then getting after him for being scared will just make him worse. Meeting fearful resistance with force is a good way to get things broken and get people hurt, IME. Horses are big, strong animals, and sometimes, they behave so well, people forget that we can do what we do with them because they LET us do it. Horses that are terrified past the point of reason have injured and even killed themselves fighting restraint.
The trick in a situation like this, is not to "feed" it. When a horse is all set to fight, you don't want to reflect that energy back at them, or give them your own negative energy. The best horsemen manage to stay neutral, absorbing the energy rather than contributing to it. By remaining calm themselves, they communicate to the horse that there is nothing to fear. By rewarding the horse when it exhibits calm behavior, the good horseman reinforces in the horse's mind that the situation is not scary or dangerous. I usually tell the horse, "When you are done being silly, we'll get on with this," and I let whatever it is take as long as it takes. Obviously, the farrier or the vet do have other things they need to be getting to after their time with you, but working with the animal when they aren't there can pay off when they are.
faith is definitely oldest, and ginger youngest >12 don't know exact with Dom in the middle. Urg!
