The Big Decision

Well I had to make a decision and I've made it.

A second visit from our very kind farrier this week to see if Sammie’s backs could be sorted (it’s a long story) and Sammie was not having any of it. You could just feel the tension and fear in him, and when we made the attempt to remove the shoe, the adrenalin kicked in. No damage was done but I just knew it wasn't going to happen. We had a couple of goes, but the feeling was not good at all. I just know it from handling him over all these years. The Sedalin didn't even seem to be touching the sides either. I think Sammie knew what was going to happen well in advance.

Farrier looked at me and said if I was his daughter he wouldn't want me putting myself in this position. I think my 'SAS roll' of Monday when Sammie shunted me aside shocked the farrier more than it did me.

So as I said, I've been thinking long and hard. Where do I start?

Firstly, my farrier is not going to be around for us forever and I know there's not another farrier that would do what he does.

Secondly, whilst Sammie has improved a bit, one can't afford to make one mistake in this area at all, but we're human and mistakes are going to happen - whether that's the farrier accidentally touching a leg with a rasp or what happened on Monday when Sammie stamped at the wrong moment and pricked his back hoof with a nail. If you make a mistake you take more than one step backwards, Sammie almost reverts right back to the beginning again.

Thirdly, I know it puts the fear of God in Sammie having his backs shod, and I just hate the fact I have to do this to him. That pulling and banging is just too much for him - I can feel it - it's like a time bomb waiting to go off.

And fourthly, yes I admit, being flung across the yard has knocked my confidence and reminded me what a dangerous position I'm in - not because Sammie wants to hurt me, but because by trying to get free, he could fling me in a really awkward way and I could do some real damage to myself. Then who would look after Sammie?

Some might think I'm a coward, but believe me you wouldn't want to feel that tension and fear in your hands holding one of Sammie’s back hooves while the farrier gets to work.

So I had three options.

Number one was to go back to what we used to do - knock Sammie out within an inch of his life on Sedalin with vet sedation and just hope he can cope with it (although he's still capable of kicking off in that state). I don't want to have to do that to him every five weeks - we all know it's not good for a horse.

Number two is to send him away to someone who can work with him on the problem. I have my doubts here. This is a really ingrained fear in Sammie and one that he just hasn't let go off. Sammie is also a different animal away from home, so I think that he might show signs of improvement whilst away but revert when he comes back. I also think it would knock him back in the confidence and trust stakes if I was to send him away into the hands of someone else.

Number three is to get the Vet out to dope him, remove the back shoes, get kind and patient farrier to trim the hinds and try him barefoot on the back. Yes I know, my worst fear because of what happened before (abscess), but to me this is the option I have to take.

I really have thought about it. Sammie's feet are stronger than they were after his operation, his frogs are so much better and the hooves are in much better shape. My farrier does a lot of barefoot trimming and has managed to improve Sammie’s hinds even though he can't do the complete job he would like to do. I know Sammie can take the trimming and rasping on the hinds and he can tolerate the shoeing on the front. Ok we might still need some Sedalin and help for the hinds but the things that panic Sammie are when the shoes are being wrenched off (especially if the pinchers get a bit caught) and when the shoes are being banged on. If he panics at the pulling off stage (and believe me it's not easy getting those shoes off) we've set him off feeling bad for having new shoes nailed on.

I'm going to talk to my vet about it and do everything I can to try and help Sammie cope barefoot on the hinds - whether it's me learning to rasp to keep the feet in shape between visits or supplements or whatever. My farrier has a lot of knowledge about barefoot horses and said all he'll do the first time is just roll the toe back a bit. I think we stand a better chance than we did with previous farriers who were less patient, less understanding and perhaps a little afraid of Sammie, and didn't have the knowledge trim for barefoot, but trimmed for shoeing.

It will mean changing our exercise routine to toughen the feet up a bit. Lots of walking on tarmac and soft ground to let him acclimatise. I know I can do all of that stuff and I'm happy to walk with Sammie for miles. We'll still be able to do stuff in the school. I'll just have to watch it on the hacking front until we think they're strong enough. That's if we get that far of course. Yes, I know the worst might happen and if it does I'll do the right thing by Sammie as awful at that sounds.

I haven't taken this decision lightly. I’m not just giving up or being a coward. But I do have to be realistic and I do have to take into account the other people involved here. It's not a money thing or a making my life easy thing - it's a whole lot more than that.

My farrier didn't pressurise me at all. He was prepared to come out again on Saturday and give it another go. I just looked at him and he said, "You've been thinking haven't you?" I think Monday brought a lot of things to a head and I knew it was time to make a call on the whole thing.

I've got to be brave, I've got to be responsible, I've got to be realistic and I'm going to have to be very positive.

I'm going to try and get the Vet out on Monday or Friday, when my farrier free. And then of course I'll be worrying myself stupid when those shoes are off. My yard manager had a good old chat with me about it and I said that I'll know immediately if it's going wrong, so she asked me to explain all the signs. She said she'll do anything she can to help and will obviously keep an eagle eye on him as well.

Sammie went out to his field quite happily this evening and I'll just take him for a walk tomorrow although I'm finding it hard to batt back the tears when I look at him at the moment. But that's not going to help so I'm just going to have to control myself.