I just bought a new six-year-old horse and it has a problem with allowing people to pick its feet up. I just found out that the previous owner had to use some sort of stock to forcibly shoe the horse. Supposedly this caused the horse to "freak out." This definitely is the down-side to an otherwise great horse.

I am determined to gain this horse's trust so that I can pick his feet up and prepare him to be shod in a normal fashion. She allows me to rub her legs and even her foot, but picking them up gets her a little nuts.

Do you have any suggestions for me? My farrier would appreciate any
help you can give me in this area. Thank you.

Patty Seifert

As the owner of a farrier school, we are constantly dealing with horses that do not appreciate our efforts. We use a headstall called a Noavel, and you would not believe what it has done for us. A few years ago we used a lot of Dormosedan, but last year we probably only worked on 4 or 5 drugged horses compared with previous years of 4 or 5 a week. It is an iron headstall that was created by Rick Wheat from Arkansas. Using it allows us to easily and quickly get by most horses. You really need to learn how to it use by going to a clinic before getting one, but you will not be sorry. We sponsor a clinic along with Farriers Formula on the use of the Noavel every summer. Rick does clinics all over the place, so you should be able to find one close to you at some point.