A small miracle occurred today. Since the day he came into my life, Sammie has always had trouble with farriers. He dislikes them intensely and nobody could manage to shoe his hinds without a great deal of doping or a knock out injection.
His problem wasn’t helped by his hind foot problem which resulted in an operation in 2006. I can’t describe the hell he went through and how he nearly gave up. I’ll never know how he came through it all but he did and he was still prepared to try and trust.
After the operation the only way to shoe him was with the Vet giving him an injection so he was hardly able to stand up. This happened every five weeks for some time. It wasn’t the cost that made me feel ill every time, it was the whole awful process.
After about 10 months of doing it this way, the Vet agreed that we could try him with Sedalin. The farrier disagreed. I don’t blame any farrier for not wanting to take on a difficult horse, so I had to find an alternative.
I eventually found a farrier that would work with me and my clicker training ways; a very patient man who seemed to have all the time in the world. He instantly recognised that Sammie’s problem was pure fear rather than him being “aggressive and difficult.”
I had to hold the hind feet for him while he did his job (not at all easy for either of us) and Sammie got rewarded with a click and treat for good behaviour. Sammie just wouldn’t let the farrier pick up his hinds, no matter which way we tried to do it.
Over the months I gradually reduced the amount of Sedalin. We had a few set backs and Sammie was still showing signs of fear, but we were getting somewhere. My friend (Max’s owner) was also coming across to do the click and treat at the front end which was an enormous help and comfort.
On this special day, I asked the farrier if he would mind just trying to pick up a hind foot and put it down again. He had the option to say “No” if he didn’t feel safe. He picked the left hind up with my friend and me at the front end treating Sammie with pony nuts like crazy. Then he continued to remove the shoe, trim the foot and put a shoe back on. No problem. Sammie didn’t flinch or kick out once (he has managed to kick out under a knock out injection before) - truly amazing!!
I asked the farrier how he felt and he said that he didn’t really feel in any danger at all. Then we made the mistake of tackling the right hind and that proved to be a step too far for Sammie. Why do us humans always try and push things? So we went back to me holding the foot. But we still achieved something truly fantastic. Sammie was only on a few mils of Sedalin – he was most certainly awake enough to give the farrier hell if he had chosen to.
I was gobsmacked (and I still am to a certain extent.) I’m just hoping that we can now build on this progress. It’s taken time, effort and patience, but it seems to be paying off. As I said before, Sammie really makes you earn his trust and this is a perfect example.
Something or a series of horrible things has obviously happened to Sammie with farriers before we partnered up, but if we can keep taking these small steps then one day he might just learn that he can’t tar all farriers with the same brush.
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