Old mare last week taught me a lesson about patience

I had a call last Tuesday out near Springfield to shoe a 20 year old mare that was supposedly easy. The owner said she had been fine for years. Soon as I picked up her front hoof she jerked away and nearly knocked me into the stall wall. I spent 20 minutes just letting her sniff my tools and getting her to relax. Finally got all four done but it took twice as long as a normal shoe. Any of you dealt with a horse that just suddenly changes behavior like that without warning?

2 comments

2 Comments

olivias8825d ago

Oh come on. You had to spend an extra 20 minutes earning the trust of a 20 year old mare who was probably in pain or scared and that's a lesson? That's just basic horsemanship. Sounds like you got lazy and expected an old horse to robotically stand there like a statue. Sudden behavior changes usually mean something hurts or something spooked them. Maybe the mare had a sore shoulder or remembered a bad experience from years ago. Horses don't just flip for no reason. You're the professional, not the horse.

the_tara25d ago

Take a minute to read the horse before you ask anything from it, especially an older one that's been through who knows what. That 20 minutes wasn't wasted time, it was me learning she was guarding her right hind, and once I backed off and worked her from the other side she settled right down. If you skip that check-in, you're just asking for trouble and blaming the horse for doing what horses do when they're hurting or scared.