That one client who told me his horse was 'just fine' then got mad when I pointed out the abscess

Had a guy in Lexington last fall swear up and down his mare was walking normal. I watched her from 20 feet away and saw she was dead lame on the right front. He argued with me for five minutes before I showed him the heat coming off her hoof. Anybody else deal with owners who think they know better than what their horse is clearly showing?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_laura2d ago

Oh, the "he's just fine" crowd drives me up a wall. I remember this one gelding that was so lame he was practically hopping, and the owner kept insisting it was just the gravel on the trail. I finally got her to let me pick up his foot, and there was a nail buried right in the frog. She had the nerve to say I must have put it there to make a sale. Some folks just can't stand to be wrong about their horse, even when the animal is screaming at them. It's almost like they think admitting a problem makes them a bad owner or something.

allen.ivan2d agoRising Star

Owned horses for 30 years. Seen this play out a hundred times. Best approach is to not argue. Just say "mind if I check your horse's hooves real quick, no charge, I'm just curious." Most owners let you if you're casual about it. Had a guy yell at me once for suggesting his horse was sore. Two weeks later the horse went lame in a field. He never apologized. Some people just gotta learn the hard way. Save your breath, let the evidence speak for itself.

the_charlie2d ago

I gotta push back a little here, @the_laura. Honestly, some of us have had the opposite experience where we're so quick to assume the worst that we end up stressing the horse out for no reason. I've got a mare that's a total drama queen on trail rides, tossing her head and hopping sideways, and for months everyone swore she had ulcers or something in her hoof. Three vets later? She just hates the color of certain gravel. Not every stumble is a crisis, and sometimes the "he's fine" owner has actually been burned before by a farrier or vet who wanted to sell them on expensive treatments for a phantom issue.