[PestoPower]

ah yes, I know what you are going thru…

We dealt with a rescued PMU mare who had actually been trimmed on a tilt table up in Manitoba. They use it for cattle. Horse stands next to table in vertical position, is strapped down and the table is tilted to horizontal. Then the feet are done with a grinder.
So imagine our job trying to convince her we weren’t going to kill her when we handled her feet. She was pushing 17h and refused to move an inch. Time…months of work, bribes…you name it. Slowly she figured out we weren’t going to kill her. This was a mare that was truly afraid plus an edge of stubborn. If she thought you were losing your temper she decided to get very stubborn. Our farrier hated working with her, but he did her fronts. He march up to her give her a hello slap on the back and expected her to lift her foot. No bull. She figured out exactly what was expected, and did as expected. This what we did with her. I had one of my workers try to pick up her hind feet every day. Just touch them etc. Eventually he could hold her foot while the farrier trimmed. If the farrier attempted to do that she would plant her feet. Eventually we were able to have the groom pick up her foot and hand it to the farrier. It was peculiar but worked. Eventually we figured it out and she has since gone to a new home.
The other mare we dealt with was a gypsy cob straight out of the field in Ireland. She had a reputation for being tough to handle. Had been mistreated along the way. With her I was the only one who could handle her feet. My back still hasn’t recovered. You could not lose your temper or raise your voice, heck you couldn’t even sigh, or she’d plant her foot and that was it. Eventually I got her to the point where I could trim her fronts. I had exactly 3 minutes or so each time I lifted her foot. That was how we did it. I’d pick it clean put it down, pick it up trim sole and frog then let it down again…on until I had rasped. If we deviated or I tried to insist she keep the foot up longer then it was over. Plenty of people had gotten into this mare, I’m sure of it. She would tremble like a leaf. The hind feet were impossible…finally when out equine dentist was out working and sedated her with valium to do her teeth. I quickly went in and did her hind feet before it wore off. It helped relax her so she could move past the terror. Unfortunately it also involved me holding her up 😮

That’s what we have done. It is a fine line. Some are actually just trying to get one over on you, others have only been done in stocks and people never took the time to work with them out of stocks. With our babies we start with their feet from day one. From there I actually do their feet while they are eating from a bucket. It teaches them that I am still in charge, even when they are eating. It also teaches them to associate feet with positive reinforcement (eating). Works for us.

Good luck with your fella. Enlist the help of someone before your husband gets hurt.

Beth

[PestoPower]

The probiotics tend to really help out. Like Jen said the change of season along with the change of forage from grazing to mostly hay.

What type of hay are you feeding? Some cuts may have high levels of clover or mixed legumes, sometimes this triggers loose stool.
If you’re really concerned you can do a couple weeks of ulcer guard, or even straight gastro guard for a week. Did your vet do a fecal?

Beth

[Author]

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