Wish me luck...

nat17

Minnie, Sam and Dolly
May 30, 2002
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Wish me luck y'all .... I have been training Dolly to have her feet picked up ad out for the past few months and Tuesday is D day... the farrier is coming to trim her feet for the first time ever...:ninja:

I a scared and excited... my goal is to get at least the fronts done :smoke:

It may take a lot of little bits at a time but hopefully we will all be patient and get there:angel::redface::unsure::poop::smoke:

Any experiences of getting your foal/yearlings feet done for the first time?
 
Yes, I am using someone different this first time (and maybe the next few) as I feel she needs someone more patient and accepting of the fact she may take a while...double the cost but I want to make the experience good for her
 
As a complete stresshead around farrier time, you have my good luck vibes. Wee Dolly is growing up....but we will require photographic proof, with that lovely new camera. (NR peeps have good memories!)
 
She will be fine. Actually very few of them have an issue with the farrier. My baby thoroughbreds used to have their feet trimmed in the field, in whatever the weather and were little stars.

Tobes however ...............!!!!
 
Good luck for today.

I have had the same farrier for over 10 years so we have a good relationship and he knows my horses, I think thats important. I make sure he knows beforehand the full history of the horse, then we discuss the approach.

Cherie was really good with her feet to begin with, I started having her trimmed as soon as I bought her at five months old but she did go through a really naughty stage at about 2 years old. We just worked through it slowely together, not expecting to much but always finishing on a good note like any other training.

Summer is a different thing all together. I was expecting the worst and had not had a great deal of time to do the preperation so when the farrier came I explained to him and said, 'we will just do what we can and leave the rest'. It sort of took the pressure off.

Anyway, he slowely did each hoof and she didn't bat an eyelid. She was a little bit wobbly on the back ones but the farrier said it was because she hadn't got used to balancing on the three legs, he was really good, we just took it slow and steady (stopping for fag/coffee breaks in between to steady our nerves lol). Touch wood she is really good to do now, she has been having regular trims every six weeks now since January 2012.
 
Well we had a false start at first but I won't go into why on here but it worked out in the end.

My goal was to at least get the long toes clipped off, and we did, with buckets full of treats and lots of praise. We left it at that and didnt do any rasping but I think that leaving on a good note is fine in this case. I am so relieved, next time we will go for the approach that worked first and hopefully get more done:happy:

I have more work to do, I need to practice holding her leg in between mine and rasping (i have a rasp at home) so tomorrow the new work begins:smoke:
 
Well done, thats fab, good Dolly.

Do be careful Nat, it really hurts if they yank their foot away and it is between your knees - I often feel sorry for my farrier when Tobes does that.
 
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