Distraction with food is how I got him through all his previous trims and the first two shoe-ings (barely on the shoeing).
And I will suggest Dorm is not enough for a front foot snatcher. Owned one of those. You need Torb in the cocktail. You can add Ace also if you need it to last for all 4 feet. You can get 2 shod with Dorm/Torb. My vet will give me a dose to give IM usually. I am doing this for my one horse now who has discomfort holding up the hind feet (and then got worried about that and then was on extended stall rest making him extra jumpy). He could probably do fine now without but it helps his comfort much better than Bute or Robaxin.
My front foot snatcher horse did ok with some hay to much on when he was young. But if he was out of work for any length of time, he needed some drugs. The snatching all started after he had a front tendon injury and was constantly being poked and prodded and scanned. And even after that healed he just didn’t have much patience. Undoing associations can be hard especially if you are still in the thick of a discomfort issue.
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Have you tried Horslyx? I have an arthritic senior horse who is the best boy but now struggles to hold his front feet up for the farrier. Somehow even though it’s definitely a physical vs behavioral issue, the Horslyx distracts him so well that he stands in complete bliss. I have my own now but my farrier carries one in her truck and swears by it.
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Thanks so much to everyone who weighed in. I discussed the issue with my vet. She felt it was likely behavioral. She gave me trazadone to try the next time he is shod.
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