How to get a cob to lift their feet nicely?

LD&S

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I have recently bought a cob, she is a tiny bit bargy but on the whole really good and improving all the time however there is one area I'm having a slight issue with, her feet.

She is getting better and though reluctant to lift her fronts I don't have a major problem getting her to lift her feet but I had the farrier out today to remove her front shoes and give her a little trim and she would not hold her feet up, I know they are heavy but a little help would have been good, the farrier is no spring chicken and he was NOT impressed.

Any suggestions or is it just a case of repeating it time and again?

Her near hind is a little more difficult, again she is very reluctant to pick her foot up coupled with me being a complete wuss and a tad nervous of her as though she doesn't actually look for me and aim a kick she does do a little cow kick sometimes, my friend thinks I sending mixed messages which makes it worse but I'm not brave enough to stand within kicking range, though again she has improved and she's only been with me 10 days.

Again any suggestions welcome or is just me being a wuss as she's only been here 10days?
 
Has she had a check over by a physio / chiro etc? I know when my mare is sore through her back she becomes reluctant to lift her feet as she doesn't want to displace weight.
 
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Personally I would persevere for at least another two weeks. If you still have a problem or if the issue gets worse then perhaps contact a physio to establish if there is a reason that she isn't willing to pick her feet up for you.
 
If the reason for being reluctant is just because she is unbalanced and hasn't been taught, then I would start with basic ground work. You say she's a bit bargey, so I'd work on leading, stopping, stepping back and standing still. It really helps if you can move your horse into a position where the three legs standing make triangle shape (stable position) before you ask to lift the fourth leg. If your ground work is good, it'll be much easier to ask her to take a step back or forwards to position her before you ask for the leg.
I'd also get myself a "fake hand", e.g. a stuffed rubber glove on a stick to run up and down her legs to desensitise her without risking a kick. That might be particularly helpful for the hind legs. Even better if you can find something like an old walking stick. If you wrap some padding around the handle and hold it by the bottom end, you can slide the handle under the fetlock of the hind leg, and gently pull forward to ask the horse to take the weight off that foot and lift it slightly as a first step.
 
Clicker training, ideally get someone who knows what they are doing to teach you.

It helped my pony from being unable to lift his feet because he couldn't balance himself to being willing and more importantly understanding what we wanted xx
 
I know forums tend to go OTT with suggestions for simple things like this, but i just thought i would throw it out. A lady at my yard has just finally had a diagnosis of a broken navicular bone in her horse. He was sound to any vet and physio and instructor (but just "not right" for owner who knew him so well) but the only thing that has changed now that shes got him on meds is that he will PICK UP HIS FEET. Before he would never do it hence her knowing he was not right in himself. She thought physio and all that too but nothing helped apart from the navi meds. Just something else to think about if a physio etc doesn't come up wtih anything. This lady had to quite literally show up to the vet surgery and demand xrays for him and lo and behold!!
 
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