04/10/2022
Hvis hesten ikke står pænt under beskæring, er det så fordi hesten er uartigt? Keder sig? Driller?
Det korte svar er selvfølgelig: Nej. 🙅
Der kan selvfølgelig ligge nogle smede-traumer, som gør det psykologisk svært for hesten at være i det, når der skal sættes sko på eller beskæres. Det kan sagtens manifestere sig ved at hesten sparker, tvinger benet ned eller ikke kan holde benet i ro.
Alle de reaktioner kan dog også være et symptom på at hesten har ondt og faktisk bare prøver at fortælle mennesket, at det vi beder dem om er for svært eller gør for ondt.
Husk at hesten altid har en årsag til det de gør.
Hvis din hest står pænt med først det ene, så det andet, så det tredje, men står helt uroligt med det fjerde eller ingen problemer har med forbene, men bagbenene flyver rundt, kan der sagtens være fordi der ligger en spænding og genere. ✨️
Hesten kan også være beskåret eller skoet således at det gør for ondt at skulle ligge al vægten over på det modsatte ben. ✨️
Why is your horse difficult to shoe?
Is it a sign of pain?
Similar to Dysons ethogram, Mannsman et al. (2011) suggested a pain ethogram for the shoeing process. The study expressed that the behaviours can be the result of bad training, improper handling, or the recall of past pain/punishment but its findings correlated with Dyson and concluded that pain must be considered first!
When shoeing horses we can be asking them to make unnatural body compensations to facilitate our work. The image below shows how shoeing the hinds can affect all the way along the dorsal myofascial line. Horses presenting with pathology along that line will struggle. A common "behaviour" can be hopping around, also snatching or slamming the leg down. Something I have experienced often in horses presenting with negative plantar angles. However, often these horses can have great feet and we are experiencing the effects of higher pain.
Very often the amount of difficulty can be proportionate to how poor the feet are, as they improve with remedial farriery the signs of pain reduce.
In the meantime simple considerations can be made. A horse with very thin soles or pr*****ed frogs, leave the opposite shoe on and do one foot at a time, for example.
As farriers we are well placed to note these "behaviours" as possible early signs of otherwise unrecognised discomfort, or even reactions to obvious poor hoof conformation. Not label the horse as "bad"!
In my experience, and supported by Mannsman et al. (2011) these behaviours desist with the improvement of the feet or higher issues.
Horses, in general, are genuine animals. Recognising pain in the horse is an obligation for anyone working with them and mentioning shoeing observations can be the first step in saving horses from unrecognised higher issues.
Further reading at this link..
https://www.theequinedocumentalist.com/post/recognising-pain-in-the-horse
