>     BUT, we now have a little problem ..... he does NOT
 > like the blacksmith putting shoes on his front hooves ....
[stuff deleted]
 >     We can't find anything wrong with them ..... AND, he's
 > OK when you clean his feet (front and rear) ..... he's not
 > bad about picking up his feet .... but it's like he gets
 > bored with the idea of his feet being pounded on (putting
 > in the nails) and he starts to wiggle, jump around and all
 > in all act STUPID .
[more trimming]
 > ....  X isn't lame -- nails aren't
 > hurting him ...... shoes are on good and proper ..... It's
 > nuts!!  Any suggestions??
 
Jean
 
What order does the farrier do his feet in?  Does he do the back feet first, 
then the front feet?
 
Maybe he has some small problem somewhere which only manifests itself when he 
is asked to stand in one place for a certain amount of time. 
 And when you are cleaning his feet, you don't hit that "too long" 
amount of time, but the session with the farrier is longer.
 
His behavior reminds me of two things.  First of all, when I stand in one 
place for too long (like at the bus stop or at work), my back starts to hurt. 
 If I am walking around, I'm fine.  And second, X's situation reminds me of 
going to the dentist.  Usually I can't relax and after a while, I start to 
get tense just from the effort of holding still for so long.  It's 
particularly bad when I have to open my jaw real wide for a long time.  If I 
am given a break every now and again so I can close my mouth and then open it 
again, I feel much better.
 
So I'm wondering what would happen if you gave X a couple of minutes of a 
'rest break' in the middle of the session?  Walk him around and let him 
stretch out his muscles and maybe get a chance to relax a little.  Then go 
back to get the other two feet done.  And if the farrier is doing the back 
feet first, maybe try doing the front feet first.
 
I'm also wondering how he is loading his weight when the farrier is working 
on him.  If one of his back legs was getting 'ouchy', you'd expect it to show 
up when the opposite back leg was getting worked on, wouldn't you?  So if 
that's not the case, maybe the problem is somewhere else, like in his spine.
 
He's stil young, so it could be something as simple as muscle fatigue. 
 He's being asked to hold himself up, and there's only so long he 
can do it without getting tired.
 
Let me know if any of this makes sense, or if there are any other clues.
--- Opus-CBCS 1.73a
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