Make your vet and farrier love you
What do vets hate most about working with client horses? And how about farriers? You guessed it, horses that don't stand still.
It's a sliding scale too. A horse that wiggles around a bit is tolerable. A horse that moves abruptly and dramatically is dangerous. And vets and farriers don't like working with these animals. It's also why they revert to drugs so quickly to make the animal docile. They don't have time to risk their lives doing the hard work, so they shoot up the tranquilizers and go about their normal duties. Or if it's a farrier, they might just cancel their service with you. But what if it could be different?
What would it take to really make sure your vet and farriers have a good time with your horse and as a result, treat you like a queen or king rather than a dirty sock?
Short answer. Get your horse good at standing still.
Long answer. Practice the box game. What's the box game? It goes like this...
On the ground, set up a standing spot indicated by lines, cones, markers of any kind. That box is roughly the size of your horse and clearly marked so when your horse leaves the spot, you know it's time for a correction.
In my book Leadership and Horses I talk a great deal about the 6 different types of desensitization strategies. The last one, repositioning, is one of the greatest tools you'll ever encounter with horses.
Imagine a horse isn't good with his feet being held. What does he do? He might kick, but usually it's always some sort of drifting out of the box that gets people in trouble. The trainer often makes the mistake of trying to hold the foot while the horse is out of bounds, making it about the foot rather than about the box. This then translates to new things, the horse won't stand still, so the owners or trainers chase him around, trying to hold it all together until the horse gives up. It's not necessary to work that way. Watch this box training video with the mustang Freedom and learn what I'm talking about.
Here is another great video with Justice the Mustang, stand still for picking up your feet.
If you practice box training you will get great results, and... your vet and farrier will love you because your horse stands still for everything.
Thank you for ready, as always I love your comments.
Have a great day, Don
7 Responses
Donna Ebel
PS: Least I forget! One of the biggest lessons from the Clinic I learned is to HOLD MY GROUND when working with my horses! ;-)
Donna Ebel
I am so glad I was able to attend your recent 2 day clinic in Vermont and also for the two days of follow up with my other two horses. This gave me the chance to get back to safely and confidently working with all three horses who have very different temperaments. I could tell things were getting unsafe and I needed help. Unsure of where to start I was feeling stuck. As a horse owner I have the responsibility to make sure everyone who works on one of my horses will be safe, no excuses. Now I have those tools in my tool box and I feel such relief. Thank you for showing and posting “The Box Game” video on YouTube. It is so handy to be able to refer back to it.
Thank you for your patience with me while I was unlearning years of bad habits and creating new neural pathways pathways and muscle memory. You were so kind, supportive and positive, a true Master. The depth and breadth of your knowledge about horses and the human learning process are evident in your lessons and clinic. You have studied and worked with the top clinicians and condensed all that information into a very easy and confidence building format for success. The key building blocks I focused on are:
connection/bonding, boundaries, positional awareness and timing. My next steps are to keep consistent with this new information continue to practice what I just learned. Thank you Don for showing me the way and for your support.
Kathy
My horses have responded so well to the box! I’m excited to apply this technique while riding when they spook….
Alison
The article and videos are so helpful. I especially appreciate the patience needed to keep replacing the horse in position. As you said it’s simple. But it can be challenging to stay emotionally neutral.
Jean
I learned about the box game from you a few years ago. It has been a game-changer with both of my horses. My farrier is very selective on who are his clients. He once told me what bothers him the most are clients that never try to train their horse to stand still. After a couple of times, he will drop them. And just for the record, he is only 31 and very fit. He has been my farrier for 12 years and I have had the same vet for 15 years. So I think my horses are passing the test.
Really enjoyed your clinic here in Vermont. Thanks for all the great information.
Charlene Foley
Thank you Don. The repositioning of Blu works very well in general for most things with the exception of administering the Strangles Nasal Vaccine. He will rear up as the vet approaches.
Thus far, I’m not sure what will work for this application. I have worked with my finger in his nose as well as a syringe in his mouth, none of which matters at that encounter with my vet.
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Susan
June 04, 2022
This is a very important article. You want to keep your vet and farrier safe and agreeable to coming back when you need them. It is our responsibility to make sure your horse is a good citizen. When I got my mustang, she was fearful and jumped every time the tools hit the concrete, plus she would pull back. I took her to the area where the farrier would work every day, dropping tools on the ground, etc. Each time she was able to “hold it together”, I would take her away giving her relief. The farrier’s area is kind of like a box in that there are mats in which the horses stand on.