08/03/2026
Equine service providers - STOP punishing horses! I just watched another video of a farrier losing it on a horse and it dawned on me, the horse is the wrong victim. It's the owner who needs to learn a lesson, not the horse. If a horse is not behaving appropriately or safely, stop, breathe, and tell the owner you won't provide the service unless they better prepare their horse.
First and most important Equine professionals need to be SAFE doing their job. As safe as we can possibly make it for them. They also are paid to do their one job, whether thats hoof care, vet work, body work, whatever, unless they are a trainer their responsibility is not to train your horse. Their job is just the care. Our job, the owner's job, is to prepare the horse so everyone is safe.
Horses don't know what they haven't been taught. If they have been taught to pull, fight, fidget, or even act out, this is what they'll do. They aren't doing these things because they know they are "bad" they are doing them because they have worked to solve their problem in the past. So if a horse doesn't behave appropriately for their care, before you raise your hand at the horse, think about who is really responsible for their behavior.
Now, its our job, as their owner, to make sure they are able to have their care done in a way safe for the professional. As a rescue i have had to get creative sometimes to accomplish this. Sometimes their care becomes dangerous not because of poor behavior, but because pain or extreme trauma. Utilizing protected contact in creative ways is a big help in these situations. Problem solve and train your horse before the professional arrives.
We just got a new mustang who needed hoof xrays. He wears a halter but doesn't know what it means yet, he doesn't really know hoof lifts cues, and he is scared of most human items being moved around him. We had 1 week to prep him. So we spent 1 week preparing him for all the funny tools and objects, teaching him to step up onto the xray mat, and practicing adjusting his hoof position. We also focused on getting him comfortable with multiple people all around him moving with different objects in hand. While his xrays took a bit more time to get him positioned perfectly and comfortable with the 2 new people in xray safe coats, it was done in full contact and safe for everyone. He never had to be punished, the vets never had to worry for their safety, it wasn't as easy as a trained horse, but it was SAFE.
This is our goal. Sometimes we have to be slow or creative to work around special cases. We have horses who have to stand on special pads while getting their hooves trimmed. We have some who only get needles by me while the vet watches from a distance. We have some who need numbing cream for needles or trazadone before vet appointments. We have some who need extra pain meds on farrier day. These are things we do to set up our horses and equine professionals to be safe equally, while doing their job and recieving their care.
