Chance's First Trim

I was a little nervous about this weeks farrier appointment. I wasn't quite sure how it would go, or how Chance would handle some strange guy picking up her feet. Yes, I admit, I was a nervous mom! My farrier called me to see if our appointment was at 2 or 3. I had told him the last time he was here, that I was hoping that Chance would be ready to have her hooves trimmed. I told him I would let him know. When I was on the phone with him to confirm the time of the appointment, I asked him if he would have time to trim Chance's hooves. He said he would be able to do that, and he would just show up at 1:30. I went out to Chance's pasture and opened up the gates to make a 16' x 16' corral, out of the mud. A good area for my farrier to trim her hooves. Then I realized that Chance was probably going to get all worked up and excited and I would probably have a problem catching her once they got here. So I went to get her halter. I was going to put her halter on her in advance, so it would be easier to catch her. Of course once the gates were opened up, she was so excited to have this new, small area to show her stuff. She was rearing, bucking, spinning circles, and having a great time. I got her halter and went back up to put it on her. She was being a slight pain in the butt to catch. It didn't help that my other horses came up to the fence to see what was going on. I had put the lead rope around her neck, but she got away from me. I tried it again and was able to hold onto her and get her halter on. I praised her and then took the lead rope off.

I always have my horses out when my farrier comes, but since Chance was being thrown into the mix this time, I had left them in the pasture. I was thinking that if I had taken my horses out of the pasture, and brought them down to my house where they usually get their hooves trimmed, Chance would get herself all worked up even more, and the chance's of getting her hooves trimmed would be slim. So I figured I'd tell my farrier that I would like him to trim Chance's hooves first, then I could just bring out the other two when it was time.

Once my farrier arrived, I told him my plan. He was totally fine with it. My farrier has an apprentice that he usually brings along with him. We started heading out to the pasture's, and before we even got half way to Chance my farrier says "Oh, looks like she's all rearing to go!"

Yes, Chance saw all of us heading her way, and she was doing 360's in the new 16' x 16' area. Great. I climb over the gate and calmly walk up to her. I always put my hand on her wither and neck area before I just reach for her head. She went to spin away from me and her butt went up like she was going to buck or kick out at me. She came back around and I slowly reached for her wither area. Again, she spun away and went to buck and kick out.

Farrier to apprentice~ "I think you can take this one."

She did not want me to catch her. This is exactly why I put the halter on her in advance. She gets so excited and worked up over little things, that I knew she'd give me problems catching her.

Farrier~ "Uh, actually, you know, her hooves don't look bad at all."

I went to catch her again, this time she backed her butt towards me.

Farrier~ "Watch out!"

I went to get my whip that was laying right outside the gate, which my farrier actually grabbed for me and handed it to me. Chance had stepped forward and when I went to approach her again, she went up to double barrel kick at me, I took that whip and whacked her as hard as I could across her butt. She was so caught off guard that she spun around, slipped and fell on her side.

Farrier and apprentice~ "Oh!! No!!"

Next try. I walk up to her, pet her wither, tell her whoa, and move my hand up her neck. No reaction. She just stands there. I get a hold of her halter and snap the lead rope on. I tell my farrier that they are now safe to enter. It was a total circus act, Chance pulling all this monkey business. And it was actually quite embarrassing.

I was very worried at this point. After all that ruckus, I was thinking there was no way she was going to stand and let some strange guy trim her hooves. I told my farrier that she has been doing really well with her fronts, and she might try to pull her hinds from him.

She was standing completely still. My farrier went to her front left and Chance picked her foot up before he went for it. Good girl. Lots of praise! He held it, trimmed it, filed it. No problem. She didn't flinch a bit. Lots of praise! He goes for her left hind. I got really nervous. He picks it up, trims it, files it. No problem. Yes!! Good girl! He goes for her right hind. No problem. Right front. No problem. She was a little off balance at one point, but didn't freak out, just swayed a little. She never tried to pull her legs away, never tried to kick out at him, she was just plain AWESOME!

Whew!!!!!!!!!!!!! I dodged a bullet, big time!

As soon as he was done, I told them to go ahead and get out before I let her go. I think they were more then happy to get out of there!

When my farrier went to leave, he hollared at me "Great job with the baby!". I am sure he wasn't thinking that while he was watching me try to catch the little stinker. But she was a perfect angel when it came down to the serious stuff. I am so glad that it ended up well. My farrier has even told me some nightmare stories about trimming Mustang hooves. Hopefully he'll remember this one, and in a good way!