New baby horse will NOT lift her feet

Katyharriet

Katyharriet

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:confused:

I have just bought a dapple grey 5 yr old ISH mare :D:D
she came over from Ireland a week ago and is a perfect little angel in all ways. Rides beautifully and jumps anything and everything...
BUT
... she refuses to pick her feet up to let me pick them out. She just locks her leg and looks at me with a very confused expression.
Shes wearing a full set of shoes so somebody must have been able to get her to pick them at one point.
She just doesn't seem to understand. Is this common in horses that come over from Ireland? Or maybe it's just me...? I'v tried all ways the usual running my hand down her leg and gently pulling, leaning against her, bending her knee myself!! her legs just stay rigid.

Any ideas to help her understand?
 
It could be a trust thing.
You haven't had her long, persevere and be patient.
Remember in the wild, if a wild animal got their leg they were dead essentially!
 
Thanks for the replies. haha. Upskyc me and my mum did actually try that for a laugh...:p

I think it's just going to be a matter of perseverance and repetition with her.

I have also just read this on an Irish dealers website ....

'It is rare for an Irish horse to have their feet picked out. Maybe fronts if they are lucky but it is common for a horse to come to us and be totally confused and baffled by the fact we want to hoof pick up'

Learn something new everyday :o
 
Damnation said:
It could be a trust thing.
You haven't had her long, persevere and be patient.
Remember in the wild, if a wild animal got their leg they were dead essentially!
Click to expand...

^^^this^^^

If you get impatioent though i think Millreefs suggestion may just work :D
 
When she is led in the field do them then!!! :D:D:D


Squeeze chestnut.

I got into a habit of treating Bug after i did each leg when I got her at two, she is now forever got her nose in my pocket while lifting each leg in turn to find out which leg will reap the reward.
 
My Horse did that when I got him, but he genuinely hadn't had anyone pick up his feet.

Squeeze the lower leg as you pick it up, and put pressure on the knee in order for them to bend, then hand on as tightly as you can.

What I eventually had to do because my boy took so long was to have another person hold him in a headcollar, while i picked up his foot and held onto it. I let him dance around and do whatever he liked until he fell over.

Now's he a perfect angel to pick out his feet, and he knows I am not going to let go so easilly.
 
Our youngster was exactly the same! He didnt come from Ireland and again i knew he did pick them up as i had seem him have his feet trimmed in the past.
I spoke to the farrier and he said to squeeze the chestnut too. We did this at first (it works) and just gradually over time he's become so much better. Its habit now, he knows he comes in and has his feet done.
Sometimes its still a bit of a struggle (my daughter often cant do them) but in general its coming!

Perseverance!
 
My mare was a bit like this too but we are getting there, try some different techniques and see what works. Ours responds to a tug of the feather best...... we treated her after each foot initially too. We varied the order we did them too we found she was better if we started on the off side rather than the near side.

And pick them up lots, we do them a minimum of three times a day without fail!

Killed my back when she was leaning and when we were having to tug them up though!

Oh and be careful squeezing chestnuts ours really over reacted to that. However the back man does a sort of karate chop to the back of the knee which works a treat!
 
I've sometimes seen the farrier get a horse to pick it's front feet up by squeezing the leg just below the back of the knee with one hand and having the other ready by the fetlock to catch the foot if the leg is lifted. Or if my mare is a bit awkward I try to lean against her as I'm trying to pick the front foot up - can you get someone else to lean into her to put her off balance so the leg has to come off the floor. Have you tried picking the front leg up forwards - like when stretching the leg to make the girth sit comfortably?
 
My boy wouldn't pick up his feet at firsts but they pick out their feet really weirdly in Morocco. Instead of going to the front and sliding the hand along the back of the fetlock, then doing the same at the back and then onto the opposite side. What they do is stay on one side and get the horse to pick it's legs up sort of sideways (not explaining it very well). They basically do everything on one side. Then they tap really hard with the hoofpick to let the horse know they've finished with that leg.

It could be that Irish grooms do things in a different way - you need to ask one of our Irish friends online.
 
millreef said:
My boy wouldn't pick up his feet at firsts but they pick out their feet really weirdly in Morocco. Instead of going to the front and sliding the hand along the back of the fetlock, then doing the same at the back and then onto the opposite side. What they do is stay on one side and get the horse to pick it's legs up sort of sideways (not explaining it very well). They basically do everything on one side. Then they tap really hard with the hoofpick to let the horse know they've finished with that leg.

It could be that Irish grooms do things in a different way - you need to ask one of our Irish friends online.
Click to expand...

You mean cross picking?? I do that too, pure laziness :D
 
Have a handler on lead rope and get them to ask her back up/ or walk forward a foot at a time so that she lifts the foot you want. ... so firstly position her so you know the foot will be the next one to leave the ground, then have your hand on the fetlock, then the the handler asks her to move, the foot will come up- then praise her and put it down. She'll soon understand what you want :)

This is really very, very easy in practice, you just need a bit of communication between you and the handler. It is how we teach all young horses to lift their feet.
 
Thanks everyone for the help. I tried multiple methods tonight and she managed to be able to pick up one front about 3 times. although she doesn't realise i want her to pick up the others as well haha

If she carries on learning one foot a day we'll be sorted by Friday ;)
 
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