There's this mare I see every month who hates having her feet handled. Last time, I tried just chatting to her like a person while I worked. She settled down and let me trim all four hooves without a fuss. It cut my time there by half. Might sound obvious, but I never thought it would work so well.
Got asked to add pads for height on a sound horse. It felt WRONG because the hoof was perfect. I argued against it but the owner pushed hard. Saying no was tough but the horse's health came first. That moment showed me how gray our choices can be.
I began cutting time on hoof scrubbing to handle more appointments each week. A client's horse ended up with a bad infection from missed gunk in the frog. Now I scrub every hoof thoroughly, and the horses stay healthier, but I still feel stupid for ever skipping steps. Anyone else learn a lesson the hard way like this?