First Hoof Trim

So my friend Randi called her farrier to trim her horses and we made an appointment to get Kirwan's back racing shoes off, they had managed to remove her front shoes before I got her. When the farrier arrived he did Randi's horses first and then said he would take on the new horse. He had a sedative in case she was too crazy and upset. He put his hand on her hip to start down her rear leg and she kicked out at him so fast we barely saw it! He threw his hands in the air and said "THAT'S IT!! I'M DOPING HER!!" Randi said hold on a minute, try it again, she had known this farrier for years and had a good relationship with him. He took a "moment", big breath, and started at her withers pressing on her spine as he moved toward her hip, when he got to the point of her croup, between her hips, she nearly fell. She was so sore, she had been raced 35 times that year and wasn't winning (no surprise) but they kept racing her and making her so painful. The previous owner told me no one at the track would work with her anymore because she had become so difficult.

So the farrier just bent her foot enough to remove the shoes and we put her back out in the pasture. I called my vet to ask what we should do and he said to let her rest and keep an eye on her and then when she settled down we could do some chiropractic work on her. So for the whole winter I just brushed her, gave her treats, let her know humans aren't all bad and waited for spring....