Teaching a new horse to pick up feet

[gnasherboy]

Three weeks ago my sister purchased a rising 3 yo. Lovely girl and generally well handled but I don’t think she has ever had her feet picked up let alone trimmed. Naturally they are pretty long and could do with a farrier visit quite urgently.


I’ve been helping my sister and she is happy to be groomed all over and is equally happy for you to run your hands down all four legs. Asking her to lift them up however is another story. Right now I’m concentrating on her front feet before I tackle her back.

Initially when asked to do this she would catapult herself forward and use her weight against you. Each time she has done this I have placed her back in the original spot and asked again with lots of praise when she gets it right. I try to make sure she is standing correctly, able to balance and nice and relaxed. Using approach and retreat we are making very slow progress I feel. Now when I ask her apart from the occasional step forward she generally remains standing but will snatch them up and put them down again equally quickly (hanging on to the foot doesn’t work - she is too big and too strong) At this point I’m not expecting her to lift them for any period of time, I would just like a more controlled response!

So this is where we are stuck at. Has anyone got handy tips on how to progress with this please? I’ve handled quite a few youngsters including my now 2yo homebred so I’m not a complete numpty at this but this one is proving difficult to crack!

[highlanderpony2002]

I can only suggest that you are very quick and make it you that lifts the foot for only a second and put it down again and dont lift it high but barely off the floor even just bending the knee so the heel comes up and the toe stays on the ground and then progress from there. A little at a time Or the age old advice of getting an RA to show you the best way forward

[medicinepony]

whenever I have had a horse of unknown training levels I have always just started having them used to the feel of my hands running down their legs, I f they can't handle that I use a glove on a stick or a carrot stick just to get them used to the feeling of being touched while still keeping me safe

when they can accept that without stress I try and teach a cue for lifting the foot off the ground, I don't lift the foot or catch it just wait for the horse to lift the foot then relax. I do this with foals as well

the cue I use is to touch the chestnut, sometimes you might have to squeeze gently when they lift the foot I reward, eventually bending down becomes enough of a cue

I don't really care how long this takes even if their feet are a bit ragged, I would rather they were confidant about having their feet handled than rush it .

Horse hate anything that hampers their ability to run away and being on three legs will certainly hamper them so they need to trust you first. once you have trust it won't be a problem

[jennyb]

In addition to the running away thing, it actually requires a bit of core strength and muscular control in order to comfortably balance on three legs. At 3yo and with no sign of regular foot handling, these muscles are likely to be very lacking! It takes time to build them up, so as HP says, be happy with the hoof in the air for one second at first. Repeat twice a day, every day, at least. You should see improvement within a few weeks.