Horses who act up when the farrier visits aren’t doing it out of spite. As with most equine misbehaviors, pain or some other discomfort is usually the root cause. This can make the behavior difficult to resolve, but it’s crucial that you try—a horse who won’t cooperate with the farrier poses a safety risk to everyone. Follow this approach to help your horse learn to cooperate with the farrier.
1. Make sure he’s not hurting.
Injury, arthritis, stiff muscles or other sources of soreness may make it difficult for a horse to shift his weight to three legs or to raise his hooves off the ground. If your horse seems to be having trouble, talk to your veterinarian about a possible physical cause. If one is found, let your farrier know so he can adapt shoeing sessions to make them easier on your horse. This may entail more frequent breaks or other accommodations.
2. Choose a safe setting and take precautions to protect yourself from harm.
Ideally, you and your farrier can work with a difficult horse in a relatively open area but with good fences around it so the horse can’t get away. A round pen or arena with good footing is a perfect location. You want to leave yourself plenty of room to stay out of harm’s way if necessary and work on a nice, flat surface with nothing for a spooky horse to bump into.
3. Use desensitization techniques.
For the inexperienced horse or one who is developing bad habits, start doing some simple leading and standing exercises. Then gradually focus on handling his legs and feet. When dealing with extremely sensitive horses it can be effective to start by bathing him with water from a hose. Once he’s used to water touching his legs, you can try touching them with a broom or a livestock stick. This gives you a longer “arm” allowing you to stand near his front legs instead of his hind legs if he kicks. Eventually the horse will get used to having his legs handled
4. Make hoof handling part of your regular routine.
If you pick out and otherwise handle your horse’s feet frequently, farriery work won’t seem too novel to him. It pays to just make this a part of the daily grooming routine.
