>Susan, I pick up his feet all the time. He is just >scared of the shoer. It is weird. I bang on his feet >and trim his hair. The minute he smells a shoer, >watch out. Lorraine
Maybe it would help him to learn to put his feet on on hoofjack or shoer's stand with clicker training. Having you feet picked up feels different than having them stretched forward onto a hoof stand or held between the shoer's knees. Make sure he is standing in a balanced manner and if he get's scared, or off-balanced let him have his foot back. Maybe a farrier got mad at him and whacked him with a file (I've fired two for doing that)-those leather aprons and gloves probably smell similar with all farriers and Scooter may just lump them all together. On the other hand, nothing really bad may have happened to him, most farriers will hang on for dear life if a horse starts trying to jerk his feet away, and a few horses feel very trapped by this. I have worked three very terrified horses and one very aggressive horse through feet problems so if you have any more questions, let me know. Of course, you can always learn to do a barefoot trim yourself! Cherie
