Farrier Problems

I probs know notheing but sounds like she has a had a bad experiance with a previous owner maybe... if there was one. Maybe a burn or nail. Rearing is what horses do when they are VERY scared if its that kind of rear not the little pops they do when they are excited

Prettyblue: ok so I feel your pain! Only my girl is ok with the front but NOT the back...

My mare doesn't do the extremes that yours does but she isn't good for the farrier. We have been working with her for 2 years and my farrier is a GOD SEND. He is so good with her. She will let me pick up her feet, clean them out and tap on them with a hoof pick. I used to have all 4 feet with shoes but she was getting really bad to put back shoes on so we went to just front shoes. She is an angel with just front shoes but when it comes to doing the back she just wants to get away from the farrier. I have had her x-rayed (they were clean) and a chiro out (3 times and she was all in line) ... I am at a loss of what to do. We have found that tieing her in her stall and he will do both front feet and then get the tools he needs to do the back and just approach her without his cart thing and get in and out as quick as possible has worked for us.

Oh and we tried the happy drugs and they made her worse- weird I know...

Anywho have you thought about asking the vet if something hurts? (that is why I did x-rays) Also have you thought about just doing front shoes?

Good luck and keep us posted!

^^ I realized I didn't make it clear- we don't put back shoes on her anymore, just a trim and file (her back feet ware pretty good on their own) and that has helped some but she is still antsy... my thought is something happened before I got her but it is taking forever to cure her ...

Did something maybe happen to your mare and now she is scared?

If your not the first owner I would definently look into her perhaps having had a bad experience and fear as the underlying issue... If this is the case then possitive reinforcement can go a long way....when she acts up correct her and when she behaves reward her....if she is scared you need to encourage her she's ok...treats my friend lol treats....

If respect is the issue I would get her in a round pen and do a join up with her...it worked wonders for me! I went from having a stubborn pushy gelding to having the one that tries his absolute best to please me and is never pushy over anything. He views me as his leader now...and your girl very well may need a leader.

Hope this can help some! And good luck with your girl!

People have made some great comments. Respect all around will go far in all aspects.

One thing I would add though is that by giving her a treat when she put her foot DOWN taught her to put her foot DOWN. Wrong timing. When she holds her foot UP you should be praising her and giving a treat at that time. When YOU put her foot down, praise her again, but I wouldn't give another treat.

It doesn't matter if she had a bad experience before or not. She is who she is and you have to deal with that regardless of her past. Often times people want to use a horses past as a crutch( Fluffy was abused so he can't be tied, shod, loaded in a trailer, ect ect.).

i don't think that is what ppl mean .. they just are trying to find out why the horse acts like this and that may be the reason. So rather then getting angry and thinking that the horse is being bad you can realize that the horse might just be scared or think it is going to hurt ...

For example I had REALLY bad experiences at the dentist when I was younger in to my teens ... to this day I HATE the dentist. I am 25 and it shouldn't matter b/c I know that they aren't trying to hurt me but I rem that pain and at all costs will avoid the dentist

actually that's not uncommon. So don't worry, you're not alone!! We have a nasty mare who hates the vet, but she has bad stifles and needs them injected. She gets the crap TQed out of her! And has a lip and ear twitch and has someone holding up the opposite back leg he's injecting and she STILL fights to the death (throws down leg being held up and trieds to kick with leg being worked on). And when its all over she can barely stand up to walk back to the barn she's so TQed, but the adrenaline is just too strong for the TQ to take hold

I was going to say that!

yes but what I think he means is, it is what it is now. Theres no point in knowing what the problem was before because you can't change that at all. So there is no sense on dwelling on what "could have" happened, and focus on what SHOULD be happening and how you will make it happen.

^^ yeah it is weird how even with drugs they can fight

I agree that you should use it as an excuse but I like knowing what the past holds so that I can ensure that the future is better :)

It looks like I'm the first to mention this but are you sure she isn't in pain? Maybe something is going on that causes her pain, which would explain her violent reactions.