Make it easy for your Farrier to pick-up your horse's feet.

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Mar 13 2010

Make it easy for your Farrier to pick-up your horse’s feet.

Published by Russell under Horse training

”If you can’t BREATHE … nothing else matters!”

That’s a very true saying from The Australian Lung Foundation. A rather similar well-known saying in the horse fraternity is “no foot … no horse“. It’s a fact that most of the horse lameness problems have the origin in their feet. So it’s important for you to regularly check your horse’s feet, if not daily, then very frequently. This brings us to a problem that many people who are new to owning a horse have, and that’s lifting a horse’s foot.

This where some practice should come into play. A horse known to play up when being treated by a vet or farrier can be a real problem. Some farriers will not shoe or otherwise tend to your horse’s feet when the horse is difficult. Farrier care is one of the most important parts of caring for your horse so it’s important to teach both yourself and your horse to have your horse’s feet picked-up without fuss to make things as easy as possible for the farrier, your horse, and yourself.

Don’t leave the training to your farrier.

Here the farrier has no problem in picking-up this horse's foot.

If your experience is like mine, here in southern Australia, finding a good farrier is hard enough, so you don’t want him to refuse to trim or shoe your horse because your horse is behaving badly. Squirmers who snatch their feet away, kickers, wigglers, stompers, lazy leaning horses are the bane of a farrier’s existence. Farriers are always busy and they don’t have the time to train your horse to pick up his feet and stand quietly. That is your job. So, train your horse to do this early and do it well. And yes, it can also be taught to older horses. Just don’t ask for too much too soon from them and it will all work out.

You need to understand some of the reasons a horse isn’t happy about picking up his feet. A horse’s feet are used to run to safety. Holding his foot makes him feel vulnerable. It might be they have not even been shown properly how to lift their feet. He might have been handled badly in the past when having his feet picked up, or there may be a physical problem – like a sore foot.

Also horses seem to have the knack of sensing when farriers, or vets for that matter, are about. This could be caused by a variety of things such as the smell of of other horses clinging to their clothes, or perhaps medical smells. The cause for your horse having this sense is impossible to isolate.

Suggested strategy for training your horse.

Here’s a suggested strategy for you start with to teach a horse to pick his feet up and stand quietly. You should start with small bits at a time, perhaps about 5 to 15 minutes twice a day should work. Having said that though, each horse is an individual so pace yourself accordingly.

Be sure to start in a safe place such as a round pen. Don’t work with the horse tied for your safety and his. Begin by stroking your horse’s neck and then work slowly down to the shoulder and then the front leg. If he’s happy, you’re on the right track. If he fidgets, just slowly remove your hand at the spot he started getting jumpy and start over again until he settles. Keep doing this until you touch his feet. If you can’t during the first session, don’t be concerned. Just end things on a good note and try again another time. This same routine can be used with the back legs. Just remember, slow, easy and calm does it.

Once you get to your horse’s feet, try picking one up and holding it for a mere fraction of a second and releasing it before your horse takes it away. Then praise and reward him. Go on to another leg and so on. When you are first working with your horse you don’t want a long hold, you just want to be able to pick the foot up and put it down right away. This teaches your horse you’ll not harm him. Keep increasing the hold time over your sessions with your horse. Eventually, and who is in a rush here anyhow, you will have your horse stand quietly for not only you, but the farrier. Always keep in mind that trust is a major issue here, so treat your horse with respect and he’ll respond willingly.