Picking out feet - lesser of two evils?

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pnap

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Sometimes I have a bit of a fight on my hands trying to get Jack to lift his front feet. I do the back ones first and he lifts these no problems and even lifts the second one without me asking. When it comes to the fronts it's a different matter - he first of all will refuse to lift it - if I squeeze his chestnut then it will pop up but only for 2 or 3 seconds before he starts pawing and trying to pull it off of me. I always make sure I'm on a level surface and that he is standing square etc before trying to lift them. So rightly or wrongly sometimes I just don't bother fighting with him and trot him up outside to get the worst of it out. Is this okay - I'm starting to panic that he's going to get cancur or something but it just doesn't seem worth the fight.
 
I had trouble with my mares back feet so have religiously picked them out- fight or no fight every time i bring her in. Purely because when farrier comes/vet or whoever needs to pick them up doesnt have trouble. But on the other hand I have seen plenty of horses/ponies who stand around in a field all day and hardly ever have them picked out. I personally would fight and pick them out but I know what a mission it is with some horses!!
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i think u need to stick at it until he accepts having his feet picked out.
is he a youngster or a big horse or is there another reason you're having probs? sorry i don't know about your horse
my filly is great with her hinds but still not great with her fronts. i do her feet in the stable and i won't leg go of her foot until she stands still briefly then i let her have her foot back. she still tests me the odd day even with her hinds but i still do them regardless or she'll never learn.
 
He's 17.2hh and a stubborn 13 year old so kinda set in his ways now. I've worked through the rearing when he doesn't want to do something problem that resulted in his last owner giving up and selling him onto the lady I bought him from. I do persevere and pick them out every 2/3 day but because it's a fight every night sometimes I admit I take the lazy way out and don't bother. Thing is he's fine with the farrier. Horse is a bleedin weirdo.
 
What i did with one of mine who would stamp her foot down regarless of how hard you held on to it was to always start at the same foot - and always do them in the same order - but if they play up on say foot number 3 - go back to the beginning and start with foot number 1 again and so on (havent yet worked out what to do if they play up on foot 1 - just pick a good foot!!!!) They soon get bored of doing the same thing over again. dont shout or anything, just go back to the beginnning.

Worked for me!!
 
Because that is what i started off doing!!! Lets face it - we all get a bit miffed if we think they are taking the piss out of us!!

I found that by not giving any reaction, but starting the whole process again each time horsey screwed up, was a really clear message, and a carrot or something when you get successfully to the end soon makes it crystal clear for them!!
 
Stick with it - it will be worth it in the end. my boy used to be a real pain about his hinds - fronts no problem. when we arrived here nearly four years ago my new farrier suggested we removed the hind shoes to rest the feet. shoes came off, daily routine of picking out feet continued, and today, although my horsey won't really hold his hinds up for very long, we can at least pick out, trim, rasp etc. with very little difficulty. he's been without hind shoes since then.
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I have to admit some days I am a lazy @rse and don't do their feet, but they have walked a few mins up a road so most of the muck is out, plus I'd have seen if they were lame. You could ask someone to walk him out so you can see his feet when he walks just to check for obvious things.

My advice would be - if you aren't in the mood to fight it through, don't even try that day. Don't get into a battle you can't win. But do keep at it regularly. Sounds like you have already been making great progress so no reason a 13 year old can't learn!

With my baby, when she was very young someone told me to get an old leadrope (no buckle) wrapped around her fetlock as that gives you a much better chance of keeping the foot up. Also, when you get it up, bring it right up under their elbow, gently of course. Again this makes it harder for them to snatch it away from you. Then as they relax let it a bit lower to pick out.

A farrier also said to hold it by the toe, but I've never been able to make that work for me.

The one thing I can't do is tell you how to get the blasted thing off the floor in the first place! Circus tricks with carrots as bait maybe
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