Fidgity horses and "professionals"

["jsalas" <jsalas@tampabay.rr.com>]

When Dough Boy came to live with us he was 2 years old and just gelded. He needed his feet done and I knew nothing about farriers in our area so I called the one everyone recommended. He came about 4 PM and was in a hurry to get home. The first foot he picked up, my boy started pulling. The ferrier became very agitated and calling him cuss words. That was not a big deal. Then before I knew what happened he took his elbow and shoved it in Dough Boy's rib cage so hard it knocked the wind out of him. Dough Boy wasn't as tubby then, he was a very gangly two year old. I screamed at the guy "What the hell did you do that for??" and he replied, stupidly "What? That didn't hurt." So I asked him again, why then, did he do it and he said it was to teach him a lesson. I advised him I didn't need a trainer, only a blacksmith and it would be a cold day in hell before he ever did that again to any of my animals. I found another ferrier who actually knew about horses and behavior and, viola! No chains, no gimmicks, no problems since. This blacksmith will lose his temper with the owners before he does with horses! That was almost nine years ago. Since then, I have seen some pretty ugly stuff at barns that makes my incident seem like kiddy stuff. Some people have it, and some people never get it. There are way too many people who think they know horses. I don't care how many years they have been a "professional", it doesn't mean they are good or that they know what they are doing. Lisa Salas, The Odd FArm