Horse won't let me hold feet?

Question

A horse that I help care for is very bad with holding his feet... I haven't spoke with the owner about this, but every time I try to pick out his feet it takes a while (once in a rare while he'll pick it up for me) to pick up his feet, and once I have it he begins to pull on it.... I am slightly afraid of getting hit as he pulls harder to release his foot.

I am not hurting his feet or anything, and flies aren't the problem because he did this also when I had tried in Feb. (but flies make it a lot worse as they bother him...) since then I've tried a few times, some successful, but mainly let the owner worry about his feet..

How can I teach him to hold his feet? He almost never picks up on command, I usually have to squeeze/pull and push his shoulder. When holding his feet he pulls... If I let go that sort of 'rewards' him, but if I hold on then it's a tug-of-war that he'll obviously win. When I speak to him "whoa" or "stand" it helps but not much. THANK YOU!

Answer 1

To get his feet up signal him to lift and then lightly tap on the leg bone with a hoof knife handle while signalling them to lift.  Careful this is not done hard enough to hurt just to irritate them enough to lift the leg, you do not want to get kicked here.

Once you get his feet up, pull his feet up and away from him.  If he leans then let him fall.  He will not fall more than a couple of times before he gives that up.

Holding the feet up and out (out a little, up all the way)makes it uncomfortable to put too much weight on it and since it is already up as high as it will go, the horse has trouble pulling it away from you.  As I said if they do lean anyway hold it off the ground as the horse lays on it.  Let the horse fall if it tries that.

Answer 2

my horse hates having her feet picked up she tried to kill the farrier when he shed her

Answer 3

Before retraining someone else's horse, you should talk to the owner. Some owners are funny about the methods used on their horse.  

Have you talked to the owner about this?  Perhaps the owner can tell you the cue or command this horse knows to lift feet?

Answer 4

Well horses feel very unsafe when they have their feet picked up (unless they trust you) because they cannot run on only three legs. Be patient and understanding. Try picking it up a tiny bit at first, rewarding, and just gradually getting higher and higher instead of just diving in there. Keep hold of his hoof until he stops struggling, even if it takes help. He'll get the idea.

Answer 5

The most common reason for a horse to not be able to stand on 3 legs is muscle tension in the back, glutes, shoulder, or stifle.  If this horse only does this with you it may be an issue of respect.  If he has problems when the farrier works with him I would suspect he is hurting somewhere.

Answer 6

Have you checked his feet and legs for injury? Sometimes they won't put weight on that foot and won't pick up a different foot, because that would mean putting weight on the injured one, but if you don't think that is the issue here is what i would do.

Set aside a session just to teach him this. Don't try to do it while the farrier's there or if you actually need to do something with his feet.

Everytime he lets you pick up his foot, hold it until right before you think he will try to pull it away, or if you can't tell just immediately set it back down and give him a pat on the shoulder and talk to him. Eventually he will willingly give his foot to you.

If you can hold it for a little longer each time, he should eventually begin to trust you. The issue is that when you are holding a foot, the horse can't go anywhere. They are basically giving you their offense and defense. You have to build that trust.

Since this isn't your horse, maybe you need to gets it's owner involved in the process.  

If the horse gets violent at anytime during this process, make him do some lunging or some sort of work immediately at the time of the offense. He will realize that it's much easier to be nice then to be running his butt off. Make the lunging session very short, like within 3 minutes tops, and then go back to what you were doing like nothing happened. Don't be angry or it will make your issue worse.

Answer 7

my horse is just like yours. he is getting better though. ok here is what i do. if he is so concintrated on you picking up his feet then give him some oats or grain or hay. while he is eating try squiezing the vizable tenden under is knee. have the other hand around the hoofe and when he eventually picks it up you need to say "foot". don't pick the hoof up very high. don't even pick it just hold it for a few seconds then slowly let go. do this on the two front feet until he is done eating. once he gets better on the front feet start the same thing on the back. they usually push hard when you pick there foot up to high.

Answer 8

Unfortunately there is no easy answer - I've worked with horses many years (41 years old not a day without a horse) - both older horses with poor hoof holding habits and teaching foals to pick up their feet.

Patience, time and consitency is the only way.

If you are picking his foot up right and he's standing so as to support himself well - I say this because I've got an older QH with EPM who can't control his hind end well due to nerve damage - he can't hold his feet up long at all.

So after ensuring all physical reasons for him are not the cause.

Pick up his foot and do not allow him to put it down.  If he gets really rough jerking and pulling and you can't hold it, that's ok - but immediately start the process again.  In short - while it might take a whole day to clean all 4 feet the first time, doing this work without giving in will teach him you WON"T give in and you won't give up, he'll just have to accept it.

Here's another part of it - if he's jerking and he's moving to a different spot each time, he may be trying to get you to a position where you can't work and he's learned how to do it.  (My filly's at this stage now a little).  When he gets away from you, but him back in the exact same spot as when you started - showing him he can't use his superior strength against your smarter brain.

He's obviously learned this type of behaviour will result in someone giving up.

It doesn't sound like he's dangerous or kicking from what you've described - but if he is, you need professional help from a good trainer.  If he's not kicking or striking AT you, just trying to get his foot away, keep being persistent, patient and consistent - losing your temper, shouting or smacking him won't do a bit of good and will allow him the time to stand with his foot down.

Likewise - he probably does other things related - like perhaps he won't stand still when you're leading him and stop.  A horse may stop, then start shuffling his feet or pawing.  You might think it's ok if he steps to the left, but he better go no farther - no, it's not ok - if he moves a step to the left, he needs to be put back where he started to teach him that the movement is a waste of time.

My old Morgan gelding likes to play this trick with strangers who don't handle him much.  I can pick up all feet with a touch to the fetlock on the front or a tap on the hock for the hind.  I've gotten him to this point by being consistent.  However, let another person try to pick up his foot and he plays "tree" with it - plants it and stiffens it down while sniffing the person's hair or rear - he's testing them to see how smart they are and how persistent they'll be.  I recently switched farriers and he tried this the first time.  I was mortified.  So I picked the foot up and put it back down just fine - the farrier tried and "tree" again - but the farrier's a good horseman and knew that consistency was the key - after asking a few times the horse picked up his foot as if to say "OK, you're just as stubborn as she is - let's get it over with" and sighed.

When the horse has successfully stood while you pick out the feet - even is he only gets away from you 4 times this time rather than the 6 times it took before - reward with rest for a minute and praise - he'll get better and better.

Good luck!

Answer 9

there could b several reasons he does not allow you to pick up his feet. you must discuss this with the owner before taking any action.

check if its a pain problem in his front and back feet. it could b his frog & sole or even his hips.

after u are sure there is no discomfort or pain issue u can probably begin correcting the situation.

let the owner demonstrate how she picks up his feet, because its could be a trust issue, there is also the possibility he is just plain stub boron but you need to work with the owner and horse to fix this.

good luck!

Answer 10

You need to establish yourself as the leader, therefore, you need to go back to ground work.  Your horse needs to be able to move out of your space whenever you want, always turn towards you, and stand still as long as you say.  Once you can do that, he will know you are the leader.

Picking up feet, is difficult mentally for the horse.  They feel much safer when they are in a position that they could run away if a predator came.  Your horse needs to trust you a lot to pick his feet up willingly.  Start slow.  Just let him lift his heel of the ground at first.  Try to build up the the leg lifting.  Always reward him with a pat and a "good boy" when he lifts his leg higher.

Answer 11

There isn't much you can do other than be patient.  Maybe you can have someone hold him by the halter while you pick up his feet and he can get a little treat when he picks it up AND you have time to count to 10.  Lots of horses hate to have their feet picked up.

Answer 12

many horses do this. when you put the foot down, its not saying ok heres a reward, its saying ok by you pulling on your foot, you can over power me and get what you want. you just need to hold the foot up until you are done. DONT GIVE IN or he will know how to control you!

good luck! :)