Farrier hitting horse?!?!?

RayofHopeFarms

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I had a farrier come out to trim our horses hooves and he seems kinda cocky when he got out of the truck which I didn't like so much but just ignored it, my sisters horse went first becuase she is the most calm and she picks up her hooves very easily, well the first thing this guy did was walk over and jerk on moonshines lead and make her jump, this upset me but I gave him another chance he then proceeded to pick up her hoof, which she did no problem but when he started to trim her hoof it scared her and she went backwards and he turned around with the tool and hit her very hard in the stomach with the nippers which absolutely floored me! I was walking towards him when he picked her hoof up again and started again, she did the same thing and he hit her a few more times with the tool and then kicked her hoof where she had a small sore and made it bleed really bad and made it worse. I told him he was done because now she is bleeding and panicking. My sister got her back to the pen and got her calmed down, he told me I needed to be more firm with her so she would stop that. I wasn't mad that he was firm with her just that he didnt need to hit her with the tool, open handed I may not have freaked out as bad but with the tool that was totally uncalled for! It just seemed to me like he had a very bad attitide and now everytime you go to touch my sisters horse she freaks a little bit. Has anyone else had this problem???

Thank you!
 

marlowmanor

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I'm not a horse person but that sounds like animal abuse to me.
 

BarredRockMomma

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My neighbor is my farrier, he is also the one who raised the mare. He only get physical with the horses if they bite or kick him. Other than that he talks to them like misbehaving children.
 

77Herford

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That is very unprofessional behavior and should not be tolerated. Horses can handle a much tougher slap than any of us could but using his tool isn't the right way to go about it. Now the mare may associate that tool with pain and not want her hooves worked with at all.
In my area Farriers are getting harder to come by but I have learned to do a decent job of it. Talking to them and being patient usually works better in the end, though it may take longer.

His over all attitude from the beginning didn't sound good and the horse probably picked up on it right away. Jerking on her lead rope is just stupid as it gets them on edge. I would work with her right away and make sure she's ok with people around her feet again. Make her know its ok and that she'll be safe.

I hope you find a good farrier.
 

secuono

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I don't even hit my horses when they kick out or nip, I either yank the lead, yell at them or run them round until they burn some energy and stop.
If I was you in that moment, I would of kicked him in the butt and told him to get lost.
A farrier/trimmer needs to be a calm person who works with the horse, not a hot headed idiot.
 

goodhors

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Having been a Farrier, I am always a bit on their side. However his first approach to the horse
sounds like he WANTED a fight. Someone with skill, had done a bunch of horses, would
more likely have just sauntered over to the standing horse, tried picking up a leg, to see
how horse would react. Then depending on how OWNER managed the leadrope, how
horse stood, would dictate if Farrier needed to do anything for self-protection or for discipline
to encourage better behaviour.

Owners and handlers of horses put up with a LOT of bad behaviour. What is OK by them,
is not going to let Farrier get horse trimmed or shod without some handler work.

Does sound like THAT Farrier was overboard in his reactions. You are not saying what YOU
folks were doing to get horse to stand quiet. Did you just tie horse and "let him have at
trimming her"? Were you holding the lead and correcting her pulling back? There are
a variety of ways this session could have gone, good or bad. As a horse owner, I definately
would NOT have let him whale on her with tools. But I have a lot of experience, know faster
what I am seeing, than the family horse owners would notice. He does sound mean, but not
hearing his side, she could have scared him several ways, in her pulling away, so he reacted badly.

Having already given him the "heave ho" off the place, you won't be using him again. I would
now evaluate my horse's behaviour. Was she truly unsafe to handle? Could she have hurt him?
Would I want to trim her myself, acting the way she does right now? If you can't tell, maybe
another person knowledgable about horses, could come over to help evaluate your horse's
for behaviour to get their feet done. Will horse stand square, quietly (no biting, lipping, pulling on the
Farrier), while you HOLD THEM for the work? Does horse quietly give their hoof, front or hind,
hold it up without leaning all their weight on you? Horse is HEAVY to hold up!! And will horse
hold that leg up for a time, not just a few seconds?

There is a lot more to having a horse "good" for hoof work, than just picking up his hoof for 5 seconds.
Owner MUST work with their animals to keep training current, so horse KNOWS how to behave
well for hoof care. Do you have any men, family or friends, who will come pick up and hold all
the hooves so horse will handle for strangers or male people, not just females. Not cranking
the legs outward or hiking them REALLY HIGH under the horse, can be another problem with
larger farriers, people with body soreness, who don't get down and under the animal. My old
mare was ALWAYS bad if you tried to pull her leg outward, just VERY TIGHT MUSCLED and it
was PAINFUL. She would fight that EVERY TIME. If you just picked her legs straight up and stayed
under her belly, no issues at all. As she got elderly, the hinds were almost toe on the ground,
you just didn't lift it to trim off the hoof wall, kept it low when you brought it forward to smooth
off the hoof edges with a rasp. Those hocks just didn't fold like they used to. She was good, if
you kept hoof way down. Lot of horses have hidden issues, or don't like their joints cranked out,
so a Farrier needs to be able to work on them and not cause pain during the process.

I would be doing an evaluation of my horse training levels, for hoof work. Should be looking at
hooves for dirt, rocks, nasty stuff almost daily in this wetter weather. Horses improve their behaviour
with practice. Can you put the horse front hoof between your knees for cleaning, some gentle
tapping with a small hammer on the bottom? Rest a hind hoof over my thigh to clean and tap on?
If you don't have physical issues, then horse needs training so you can get the hooves up, held, cleaned
and tapped on for practice. Needs to be longer than a minute, by the clock! May seem long for you
holding hoof, but really is only 20 seconds! Work up to a couple minutes with a clock, for each hoof.
Horse learns with practice, so it needs to learn a couple minutes holding own leg up won't hurt him!

Maybe your next Farrier visit will then go smoother for horses, you AND Farrier. Maybe your horse
was really perfect before he got it stirred up, so a bit of practice will calm her down for that next
Farrier visit. Jump in FASTER if problems start, to stop any escalation of bad behaviour on horse OR
Farrier part.

Lastly, be willing to PAY for a good Farrier's services. Don't just call the cheapest one you hear about.
We have good Farriers who CAN manage a nervous or scared horse, without turning it into a war. They
leave horse with a good experience, he is less reactive the 2nd visit. Just don't expect the Farrier to
be the horse trainer, breaking out never-handled horses to being trimmed. Not his job!! A Farrier
who has been in business for a LONG time, is usually pretty skilled. You pay for the JOB, not how long
it took him to do the job.

We have local Farriers, experienced over many years, that can do an
EXCELLENT trim on all the hooves in 10 minutes or less. Horse is so surprised they stand WELL, not
bored or trying to get away in that SHORT time on each hoof. WORTH the money for that good kind
of work, great experience for a horse. AND you can pay off the Farrier, saddle up, go riding as long
as you want, horse is NEVER sore or lame on that new trim or shoes.
 

terrilhb

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I say it is animal abuse. To hit it with a tool and then to kick it where it already had a sore and make it bleed. Uncalled for. That is abuse. I would turn him in. I am glad you sent him packing. I am sure a ferriers job is very hard. But I am quite sure someone else would have handled it like a professional and a human being. Totally uncalled for. :somad
 

cluckfan

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I HAD a farrier that did almost the same thing. The keyword is HAD.
 

sawfish99

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I agree with everything Goodhors said.

I am a barefoot trimmer and have worked with a lot of different horses. Some were downright dangerous in their behaviour and the owners didn't even recognize the problem due to lack of experience. That said, when I work on a new horse for the first time, I do a much slower approach and evalutation of the temperment of the horse to determine the appropriate response for that horse.

As for the hitting, I only hit a horse when it is a serious safety issue for me, which does include biting. A horse simply pulling a foot away is not addressed by hitting.

Now that the heat of the moment is over, I agree that you should evaluate your horse to be sure there isn't an issue the farrier recognized and you didn't. I would also recommend that you consider a barefoot specialist if you just need trimming. I'm not saying farriers are bad, but barefoot specialists may take a different approach. Discuss what happened with whomever you next trimmer is and ask for their feedback about if the horse was the problem.
 

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