Leitrim
Well-Known Member
My yearling doesn't like having her front feet picked up but is great with the back feet.
As it turned out she had an abscess developing in one of the fronts which explained why she didn't like that one being touched or why she didn't like the good one being picked up (because she then had to put a lot of weight on the painful one).
But following treatment for the abscess she remained very wary about having her front feet picked up and there was no way I could, on my own, force her to hold either of them up without creating the danger of her stumbling onto a knee, me spraining a wrist or - worse still in my opinion - creating a stressed situation which would stick in her mind forever whenever her front feet need to be handled.
I found this video on YouTube and was so impressed by the slow, calm, patient and kind way in which the trainer dealt with the rescue yearling she was handling that I hoped it might be inspiring and reassuring for other new owners too.
In particular I like the way she explains what small signals are there to be recognised in order to understand the yearling's reaction at many stages. I hope you like it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRoJy-RFdKY&list=UUy72xZ9u1o1HtVXwiHFfutg
As it turned out she had an abscess developing in one of the fronts which explained why she didn't like that one being touched or why she didn't like the good one being picked up (because she then had to put a lot of weight on the painful one).
But following treatment for the abscess she remained very wary about having her front feet picked up and there was no way I could, on my own, force her to hold either of them up without creating the danger of her stumbling onto a knee, me spraining a wrist or - worse still in my opinion - creating a stressed situation which would stick in her mind forever whenever her front feet need to be handled.
I found this video on YouTube and was so impressed by the slow, calm, patient and kind way in which the trainer dealt with the rescue yearling she was handling that I hoped it might be inspiring and reassuring for other new owners too.
In particular I like the way she explains what small signals are there to be recognised in order to understand the yearling's reaction at many stages. I hope you like it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRoJy-RFdKY&list=UUy72xZ9u1o1HtVXwiHFfutg