Barefoot trim turned a wild mustang into a teddy bear in 8 months

I've been working this BLM mustang that came in with hooves all chipped and cracked. After 8 months of consistent barefoot trims and letting him move on varied terrain, his feet completely transformed and his attitude did a 180. Has anyone else seen that big of a behavior change just from fixing the feet?

3 comments

3 Comments

abby_fisher12d agoMost Upvoted

It connects to something bigger I've noticed in people too. When you're walking around with pain or something off in your body, it puts you in a bad mood and makes you snappy at everyone. Fix the physical problem and suddenly the whole world seems friendlier. These horses can't tell us their feet hurt, so they just act out instead. Once the source of pain goes away, their whole personality comes back.

the_laura12d ago

Wait, are you saying fixing a physical pain can actually change a horse's whole personality, like it's a different animal? That kind of hits me hard because I've never thought about it that way before, but it makes total sense when you put it that way. I guess if I had a toothache I couldn't explain, I'd probably be pretty grumpy too until it was fixed.

wells.evan12d ago

Found the same thing with my old dog a few years back. She started snapping at my kids out of nowhere, which she'd never done before. Took her to the vet expecting a behavior problem, turns out she had a bad ear infection. Cleared that up with some meds and within a week she was back to her sweet old self, letting the toddlers crawl all over her. My own back pain does the same thing to me - when it flares up I'm short with everyone until I get it adjusted. Makes you realize how much of our "personality" is just how we're feeling physically in the moment.