Hi All,
I'm inquiring about sedation by the Ferrier because the horses (Mijo and Mija) that I've written about in other topics here on the forum are in dire need of their feet done. It seems very difficult to find a Ferrier and the Ferrier that I did find came out a few months back and just did a trim on both the horse's feet. (The previous kid that did the work before that, will not be invited back.) This Ferrier, that trimmed their feet the last time, (without drugs) did pretty well with them, but they were somewhat bad, and he kept having to stop and correct them, even though I had a "trainer" gal come out to help him, they were able to get both horses done. Mijo being the worst for not cooperating and trying to blast away from them, despite the dually halter. The horses were not being hurt and both handlers were very good with them I thought.
Now, after a couple of months of growth, I really think she at least needs a full set of shoes, if not both of them. I am afraid to work them very hard without getting their hooves done as they seem to be cracking and chipping up pretty good in the pasture rocks. His feet are actually pretty good, he's never had shoes, his hooves seem to do pretty well naturally chipping but hers crack up pretty good. This summer, I would like to work with them more, I hope to make some really good progress with them but they have to have their feet done first.
The Ferrier is insisting on sedation, should I go with that or try to find another Ferrier? I really would like them to learn, instead of being drugged but he's putting this out there for his own safety and I understand that ...to a point.
What to do with these crazy horses of mine!?
Any advice will be highly regarded,
Thanks,
Tara
I'm inquiring about sedation by the Ferrier because the horses (Mijo and Mija) that I've written about in other topics here on the forum are in dire need of their feet done. It seems very difficult to find a Ferrier and the Ferrier that I did find came out a few months back and just did a trim on both the horse's feet. (The previous kid that did the work before that, will not be invited back.) This Ferrier, that trimmed their feet the last time, (without drugs) did pretty well with them, but they were somewhat bad, and he kept having to stop and correct them, even though I had a "trainer" gal come out to help him, they were able to get both horses done. Mijo being the worst for not cooperating and trying to blast away from them, despite the dually halter. The horses were not being hurt and both handlers were very good with them I thought.
Now, after a couple of months of growth, I really think she at least needs a full set of shoes, if not both of them. I am afraid to work them very hard without getting their hooves done as they seem to be cracking and chipping up pretty good in the pasture rocks. His feet are actually pretty good, he's never had shoes, his hooves seem to do pretty well naturally chipping but hers crack up pretty good. This summer, I would like to work with them more, I hope to make some really good progress with them but they have to have their feet done first.
The Ferrier is insisting on sedation, should I go with that or try to find another Ferrier? I really would like them to learn, instead of being drugged but he's putting this out there for his own safety and I understand that ...to a point.
What to do with these crazy horses of mine!?
Any advice will be highly regarded,
Thanks,
Tara
But what really worked for our donkey that kicked-not at us,more just swinging his leg back and forth-was too use the dually halter to spin him in a couple of circles then try again-going in a circle makes it so it doesn’t become a battle of strength to get him to respond because he is very strong- and it doesn’t take long for him to realize that it is much more rewarding to stand still then to keep moving,
also rubbing and praising for standing still slowly increasing the time.
This also worked when he lunged forward as well.
Do you pick out their hooves often? Have you checked really good for thrush? Our pony who did amazing with her hooves got thrush and she was the hardest to even just pick out her hooves not even try to trim.
The more they do it in practice the better they will do when the farrier is there!
And might keep their hooves from getting too long until you can have the farrier out again!
Thank you for your comments on this post. Honestly cannot do much with them myself, they are pretty wild and I’m solo so it’s difficult from a safety perspective to try to get out there and do anything as they snark each other and I’m afraid I will get hurt. I got hurt last summer when I had someone else with me and for six weeks my hand was very bad. I work with a keyboard and i really can’t afford to get hurt again, especially not alone. It’s nearly impossible to get either of them in the catch pen without a second set of hands. You can no longer just walk up to him in the field and catch him, he will run. Her maybe I can catch but again I’m pretty feeble by myself trying to do it. Needless to say, I don’t pick up their feet cause I can’t get close to them except on rare occasions unless it’s from the other side of the fence. I will try harder this summer, the rocks do wear them down but not enough to work them in the round pen that’s also full of rocks. I’m afraid they will crack up too badly if I got a trainer out doing that before the Ferrier. Maybe I will try to get a trainer to come just work with their feet some, see if they will behave for that.
Thanks for the ideas,
Tara
shod so you can do more work with them but you don't seem to have the confidence to work with them to bring you both to the farrier with confidence. What exactly do you believe being shod will change in your horses? I understand your farrier wanting your untrained horse to be chemically restrained if it is too wild for them to deal with, given your request for a more invasive procedure. So - why do you want this change? Clearly, you feel totally outgunned by your horses. Having shoes fitted will not change their consept of you - but it may make the farrier the enemy. You seem to be on a route of destruction - but, hopefully, we can avoid that. You need to go back to basics. Being able to herd them gently into some kind of round pen - Join up & building trust. Wild they may be but logical they will always be. There are no true short cuts. Follow Monty's roadmap for wild horses. The results will be self explanatory. Cheers, Jo.