Watching a horse in Spokane spook and kick a freshly set shoe clean off taught me to always keep a hand on the leg until the clinches are cut.

I was finishing up a front shoe on a young quarter horse last Tuesday when a delivery truck backfired outside the barn, causing the horse to jump and strike the anvil stand, snapping the shoe off before I could even pick up my clinch cutter, so what's your go-to method for keeping a green horse calm during those final minutes of a shoeing?

2 comments

2 Comments

thompson.xena3d ago

Yeah, that moment with the delivery truck is exactly why you can't just rely on holding the leg. I've seen a horse pull a leg back so fast it'll rip the hoof right out of your grip, hand or no hand. My go-to is to keep talking in a real low, boring voice through the whole finish, and I'll rest my forearm along their cannon bone while I work. It's less about holding them still and more about keeping a steady, calm pressure they can lean into if they get nervous. That way if something spooks them, your arm is already there as a block and they might just push into it instead of jerking away.

margaret_lane3d ago

Oh the "rip the hoof right out of your grip" is such a perfect way to put it, @thompson.xena. That low, boring voice thing is key, it's like you're trying to hypnotize them into not caring about the UPS truck. I always feel like my arm along the leg is less of a hold and more of a suggestion, like just a reminder that we're both still here and it's fine. Makes you realize how much of this job is just being a calm, heavy piece of furniture they can't easily knock over.