When Horses Get Depressed And Emotionally Unbalanced

I'm a Farrier in the Bay Area California for about 17 years now. Shoeing horses is a great thing for me as I have helped many horses from lameness and bring about much recovery. When horses feet are correct horses know it and I love it when I see horses become happy and better adjusted from my efforts, blood, sweat and tears. Sometimes though horses are just not happy animals, the following story is just such an example.

A big beautiful paint horse i have shod for the past 12 years for the most part has been easy for me to shoe. The horse "always" was not just quite right though. Usually she would bobble on her back feet while I shoe the front and she would always side step when I approached to shoe the rear. However it was nothing serious enough for me to become alarmed or too concerned - until the other day.

It was time to shoe High (the horses name) so drove out to the ranch where she lived. She is a nice horse - haltered her up and walked back to the shoeing platform. I nearly always start with the front feet (they are usually more important as horses carry so much more weight on the front end). I pulled the front shoes off and started trimming and as usual High started bobbling on one rear leg which makes working on the front feet quite a difficult task. So as usual I sort of bark out the command "Quit"! She usually responds favorably, however this time it was very different.

High went into a "Depression". I have never seen such a thing before in my 17 years as a Farrier. She started to hang her head and go into a depression, so much so that I could not reach her emotionally. She would not respond to my verbal input at all. This was a serious problem now - not just because she was still difficult to shoe but because the poor horse is basically "Unhappy" and emotionally ill adjusted. I felt real sorry for her.

I know the owner pretty well and know how High is usually ridden. She does not really get ridden much but when she does she usually gets ridden quite hard - and the owner is a rather big man - probably about 6'3" and I would say 245 pounds. High is a great horse but could use a little more love in her life. She lives with one other horse in a smallish pasture where she really doesn't have the opportunity to run freely. Life could be better for High.

Well I felt a serious need to help High. Unfortunately she was in such a deep funk I could not reach her - she would not let me in - she was completely checking out of reality. When I pulled on her lead rope she got worse. When I tried to get her attention she got worse. I had to do something and what I knew would work have to be done or she would carry around her psychological issue for a long time.

I had to snap High out of her problem. I made a quick surmise and decided to use a tool that is very effective. I place the little tool into her mouth over the gums on the top and utilize the pressure it is designed to do and I proceed to "Get into her head". I command "Back" - lethargically she backs. I command "Back" again. She is slipping deeper into her funk - so I needed to become more firm and direct. The backing continues successfully firmer with each command until - somehow - she starts to pay attention and snap out of her depression. She blinks as if coming out of a ten year funk and finally picks herself up emotionally and psychically. AWESOME!!

She is acting like a horse for the first time I have known her. She is displaying true horse behavior. She is more alert, paying more attention to her environment and is more "Here and Now". I finish shoeing her- it was great - she was much better behaved as if she understood so much more now.

Several weeks later I met up with her owner and asked him how High was as they had just come back from a week long riding event. He told me she was AWESOME and that he had not had such a good ride on her before. You see she learned, and I taught her a valuable lesson - "How to care about herself". Horses are amazing animals and can sometimes have amazing issues. In the worst of cases horses can be worked on and shown the way to improvement. It is an awesome experience to be with horses, they give us so much and they deserve so much in return, that's why I love horses.

Reprint rights allowed providing nothing is changed.

By John Silveira

Author Bio: John Silveira, Farrier, Aikido practitioner, spiritualist, born and raised in San Mateo California the bay area. For information on his shoeing method and the 16 year 100% track record "Not One Single Lame Horse" just go to http://Farrieritis.Care4Horses.com a thank you and remember to Care4Horses.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Silveira