Difficult with farrier

Suze wasn't even looked at by a farrier for 18 months, but used to try to escape. by barging, knockng you over. She now trims without a collar on. they are sometimes better if you don't restrain them and give them an escape option. It may take hours but it seems to work.Has anyone ever tried working with her to engage her to join up - because if you can get her to want to do that, then picking up the feet and working with her is easier. She wouldn't even look over a stable door if there was anyone there, just stood at the back, sweating. Barging can be trained out by not trying to hang on, getting into a fight and tugging match you always lose. It's better to teach her to respect your space and get their attention. If Suze forgets i can turn into a big scary monster in a second to get her attention and tell her that I am serious about it and better listen not because or else but because I am asking nicely and being with me is easier than being naughty. If you can learn to control the feet it really helps, Suze on the ground can be moved in every direction so you can move each foot forward back cross over, or fronts only, backs only or all four. so you can get to within an inch of where you want her to be and she is concentrating and listening. She can be told to stay on the yard and you walk away and do stuff and she stays put until you go back to her. Maybe you need to try to get this mare to that stage where she is really focussed on you and listening to you, all very gently, no arguments, just so quietly so that she can accept things and not fight. If you are anyway near Ellen Cochrane who is on facebook, she is someone who is utterly brilliant and totally kind and probably doesn't cost the earth. She has trained her mule Inara who was feral to be world class in Horse Agility https://www.facebook.com/gaiahorsemanship
 
Unfortunately she is 400miles away.

I do think more ground work will help. Owners agree and have worked out a schedule of things to work through. Just now she is very easy to handle until she sees vet and she panics and has to get away. I have managed to stop the barging with a sharp yank on her headcollor and a “no!” Owners are not as quick or as sharp and this does not help, but they are trying. If she wasn’t restrained and totally loose, she would disappear or just keep spinning round stable. I agree with allowing them to move away if needed but she goes to the extreme. We have tried in her stable, in the narrower stalls, the area on the yard where horses are normally shod, the farm yard (ie totally open) and the arena. Safest for humans outside her stable. Have tried with a solid companion beside her and with no other horses in sight.

It probably will just have to be she needs iv each time but she needs so much that when the farrier stimulation is removed it is hard to keep her on her feet.
 
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The issue also seems to be picking up the feet. Once farrier has the foot up she will mostly let him. Then you start the dancing again for the next foot.
 
Will Domesedan, given at least 40 minutes before the farrier arrives, work for a routine trim? A lot cheaper than IV from a vet, it's very effective stuff IF given correctly before there's anything to wind the horse up and the horse is then kept calm while it kicks in.

My feeling is that if she stops barging for a sharp yank on the headcollar and a firm no, and she's generally ok with the farrier once the foot is up then what you actually have is a manners issue as much as anything else and both her and her owners need some boot camp training. Get it into everyone's head that they, not she, is in control and you may find the behaviour is greatly reduced. Out of interest is she tied up outside before the farrier arrives or do they wait until he turns up to do that, thereby making it easy for her to kick off? And do they do the whole "good girl, there there" thing to reassure her when she's acting up, thereby unintentionally reinforcing the behaviour rather than correcting it?
 
Yes the full dose of dormosedan worked. She did kick off initially but I managed to grab her on the way past and stop her and then I took over. Yes I do think there is a large amount of “there there” going on. Owner also isn’t terribly strong whereas I am quite happy to dig my heels in and say “well if you are going you are taking me too”. I also think some training for owner to catch her the millisecond it starts.

We had planned to carry on with the dormosedan but the vet was out to do teeth anyway so done at the same time. I didn’t see the first reaction only how she was after they had had to too up.

They have tried having her in when he arrives. Having her out when he arrives and bringing in. This seems to make it worse as the moment she comes in to yard she flips seeing the farrier (even if she is not being done)

Right I shall be firmer with them so that they are firmer with her.

Thanks all. Brilliant help as ever.
 
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My now 12 year old Welsh cob has only in last 3 years accepted a farrier touching him. It started with a female barefoot trimmer taking time and patience with him 3 years on he picks his feet up and has them trimmed by a male farrier. It was time and patience. And we had Garry Bosworth working with him for awhile too. It’s been a long road but worth it. He’s a beautiful big happy 12 year old now x
 
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That is a very good idea. Definitely worth trying and not something i had thought of. Thanks
 
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