The Lead Mare

This horse is recuperating from an injury on its' left front foot. You can see how the hoof became distorted from the injury. There is a distinct line where the new hoof is growing in and the older damaged foot is almost grown out.

The first summer I worked with Bob, there were a couple of horses in his customer list that were intimidating. One was a roan horse who is a bully. I pulled front shoes off him, but had a hard time. When Bob worked under him that day he had to get after the horse. The next time we went to that barn, I was too scared to work under him and declined to do so.

It was the first time I told Bob I wouldn’t work under a horse. Up until then, I worked under any horse that Bob said. The first rule Bob set was that there is not crying in horseshoeing. The second rule was that if I didn’t feel safe working under a horse it was OK. The horse was still a bully and he had to get after the horse again. I watched closely to see how the horse acted as a bully and how he acted when Bob got after him.

Another eight weeks goes by and we are back with the roan. I worked under the horse. He repeatedly yanks his front foot off the hoof stand as I am rasping clinches in preparation to pull shoes. He won’t keep his hind foot on the stand on his rear leg. I see Bob coming in the barn to stand at the horses’ head. I tell him not to do that. By the hangdog look on his face, you would think I just kicked him out of his own barn. He asks why.

I tell him I can’t have him in there because this horse scares me. I chickened out working under him the last time and I need to know I can do it. He doesn’t answer me, but he does leave the barn to lean against the shoeing trailer. I do have to get after the horse. Once. Twice. The horse is still moving around a lot as I try to pick up a hind foot. I asked Bob if I am in over my head yet. He said no. “Look at the horse”.

The horse is just starting to lick his lips in submission. Very soon, the horse finds a comfortable spot to stand and I finish pulling the other three shoes, paring the sole and trimming. For me this was a big day. I was able to work under a horse I was previously scared of. I also had to work under his hind end without my stand and was able to do that.

I bring up this story because I had to work under a horse this week that has been in my customer list for almost a year. He is a big boy and is the dominant horse in his herd. This horse keeps me up at night. I probably should not work under him, but I like his owners and the rest of the stop is great. I keep trying different ways to work with the horse so we are not struggling so much, but so far nothing seems to work.

I think, though, that we finally figured it out last week. We came to the conclusion that he is afraid of the hoof stand. He doesn’t seem to care about putting a front foot on it, but he is scared of resting a back foot on the stand. Once I threw the stand out of the mix on his back feet, we seemed to do OK.