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Post by Angela H on Jan 8, 2012 14:10:11 GMT
I am working with a 6 year old, who has a big issue with lifting his hind feet... he is getting upset and worried and striking, making it difficult to work around him and the farrier cant get near him. I have used a walking stick to begin desensitising him, but anyone any good tips?
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Post by junetimp on Jan 8, 2012 21:00:35 GMT
When first training my yearling to pick up her feet I did the following:-
1. Say the word ‘UP’ loudly when asking her to pick up.
3. I don’t lift her foot very high and I let go if she panics and pulls it away.
4. As soon as she lifts her foot I say loudly and enthusiastically ‘Good girl’ many times.
5. I only hold the foot up for a very short time.
6. I repeat this process morning noon and night – every day.
7. On a successful practice she gets a carrot treat – depending on what you feel a carrot after each leg or only one carrot for the whole practice.
8. Now when I bend and say ‘UP’ she automatically lifts the leg for me with out my hand on her leg.
9. I repeat this process morning noon and night – every day = Familiarity helps to remove the fear of the unknown and fear of what’s coming next.
My advice would be try it on the front legs for a few days and only then when he knows whats wanted then move on to the back legs
10. Don’t try and rush this or you will have a problem for life. Ask for a little at a time and reward each little milestone. Make sure he knows what you are asking for, could be he is confused. Thats why I like the spoken word, its amazing how they understand what we are asking. Hope this works.
Good Luck.
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Post by daviesbaby20 on Jan 8, 2012 21:31:05 GMT
Could this not be a pain issue ? Do his back feet look healthy ? If he's ok withy the front .... X
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Post by cayo on Jan 9, 2012 8:20:01 GMT
Could this not be a pain issue ? Do his back feet look healthy ? If he's ok withy the front .... X i agree are you sure he dosent have a physical problem which makes him do this ,if not try the other sugested methods  |
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Post by ladyndibs on Jan 9, 2012 9:05:25 GMT
I had a similar issue with my mare and someone suggested instead of trying to lift her feet up take them back a little bit beyond her bottom rather than trying to tuck them underneath her.
Calm and consistant, if Lady didn't want her feet done I would back her up a couple of steps and try again and would keep doing it until I was able to get her foot up for a second or two, even going back and picking a front up again before trying the back again. I tried to make sure that I didn't rush but did make sure that each day I did get all four feet up and that I put them down she didn't snatch it away. I always used verbal cues as well, up when I wanted her to lift lots of good girls when it was up, down when I wanted down. I also used to and still do rub her legs before and after. Gradually over time she improved and now she is by far the easiest of my three to do.
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Post by maddie on Jan 9, 2012 11:01:20 GMT
We had a fell colt which as a youngster was a nightmare to handle his hind feet. I had never known a pony with such a fast kick out, there was nothing wrong with him ,he just did not want his feet picked up. I got a lead rope put it on the floor and got him to walk over it, then i would get both ends and quietly pick them up so he could feel it round his fetlock. Once he was used to this which did not take long,using the word up I put a bit of pressure on lead rope to pick up his foot a bit. if he started kicking out i was safley out the way.Within a week of working with him I could pick his feet up with no problem and he has been great since. It might not be ideal but it worked and no one got hurt.
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Post by daviesbaby20 on Jan 9, 2012 13:25:27 GMT
When I first got my section d he wouldn't pick any of his feet up for love nor money took weeks and weeks of perseverance - when he came to me he had shoes on and had been diagnosed by prev vet with arthritis (he came to me quite quickly due o prev owner saying they were going to shoot him because they couldn't have a horse with arthritis as they're producers - he went out in the field and loosened a shoe so as a quick fix had the farrier up and had them all taken off he has been sound ever since and my vet has cleared him of any arthritis the lameness he had was due to poor shoeing. I now have a barefoot trimmer and the first time she came to him notice a vast amount of bruising to his back feet ( these were the worst of them to be picked up ) hope this helps x
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Post by rubydoo on Jan 9, 2012 13:55:08 GMT
i uses to have a sec d that was a nightmare with her back feet after having bad mud rash she associated me picking her feet up with pain , i used to loop a lead rope roud the top of her leg and let int drop down to the fetlock this helped alot i could just repeat it over and over without getting kicked ,i always rewarded her afterward and after a few weeks she let me pick up her hooves with my hands . hth
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Post by shellywell on Jan 9, 2012 14:09:27 GMT
You have two things going on here,
1 - his uncertainty with lifting his hind feet, its all about balance, he has to reorganise his balance, and where as he is used to lifting his forlegs - to strike, to paw in play, very rarely do horses life their hinds - to kick or to buck, but you never see one waving its hind leg like they do the front, if you get my drift. so in order to lift his hind leg he has to work out out if he can stand on his other hind,
2 - you're no doubt weary now of lifting his leg, because of the kicking, he will sense your reluctance and this won't help his own issues.
Richard Maxwell has a super technique in one of his books in how to lift a horses hind legs, safely for horse and handler.
If I was you, I would leave it for a bit, let him build his trust back up in you and you in him, carry on picking up his front feet, telling him to "pick it up" as you do so, brush down his quarters and his legs (if you can) but try not to push him out of his comfort zone.
Find and Intelligent horse instructor close to you, or someone knowledgeable that is kind and considerate as opposed to "tie him down and make him pick them up".
If he is good in every other aspect then you can be sure he is reacting like this because he doesn't understand and "all" you have to do is teach him that it will be ok. (and try and find that Richard Maxwell technique)
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Post by blackhairyjobs on Jan 23, 2012 20:18:03 GMT
i agree about using a long rope
we use a 12ft long one so that you can stand at ponies head safely away from flailing limbs and gently apply pressure and use voice
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