Taking the mick or potential issue?

[Moobucket]

No special way. He just asked with his hand around the hoof.

I think I am hesitant now because I anticipate there might be a problem which he takes advantage of. It was the same with his bridle for a while. I know he's telling me he thinks I'm a numpty because I'm tiny and worry about him.

I asked the farrier, " why is he happy to let me pick his back feet up and not his fronts? " Answer " because they are a long way away from his brain."

 

[Gloi]

I asked the farrier, " why is he happy to let me pick his back feet up and not his fronts? " Answer " because they are a long way away from his brain."

It's often easier to pick up back feet because they don't have to rebalance themselves as much with a back foot up like they do with a front foot up.
Personally I just think he's taking advantage as he knows you aren't strong enough to make him hold his foot up if he doesn't want to whereas the farrier is.

 

[LaurenBay]

Mine went through a stage of doing this. She was perfectly fine before then all of a sudden she didn't want to pick her fronts up. People told me she was taking the mick so I carried on, until one day she fell forward and smacked her head and landed on her knees. I was lucky I got out the way just in time. I got the vet out who tested for various things (wobblers being one) and said it was a muscle problem so pysio was needed instead. Got the pysio and she said she was tight down one side, on her second visit, Horse was lame so vet back out who said it was a stifle problem and she ended up needing steroid injections and 3 months worth of pysio.

Moral of the story, listen to your Horse!

 

[eatmyshorts]

I would definitely ask a vet to have a look at him. You mention that he reared the last time the farrier came, which if this is unusual, suggests that perhaps he was pricked by a nail, or something else hurt him enough to cause quite an extreme reaction.

If the farrier accidentally caused him some pain during his last visit, it is possible that the problem may have developed because your horse now has an expectation that when you do something with his feet it is going to hurt. It's really important to rule out pain first, so as has already been suggested it may be worth asking the vet if you can do a bute trial. If this doesn't make any difference to his behaviour at all, then it may be more likely to be the expectation of pain.

If this is the case, just go right back to basics, as though he is a youngster and you are starting from scratch. Make sure he is happy to stand still whilst you touch and rub all around his legs, all the way from top to bottom first. Then move on to gradually ask for a little weight shift, and then build up to actually ask for the foot. Make sure initially you only ask for it for a tiny second, and then let it be put straight back down, and then gradually increase the length of time. It may be helpful to have someone giving him food, or having a haynet whilst you are doing this to help him relax his mind a little and take all the focus away from what you are doing.

The fact that it is a problem that has only recently started (if he was always fine with you before) indicates that there is (or certainly was at one time, perhaps with the farrier) an issue with pain so is a problem that needs to be worked through with patience and understanding to rebuild his confidence.

I wouldn't worry about picking his feet out for a while whilst you work through the problems. Good luck!

^^ this, good advice IMHO. Really important to rule out pain - i remember hearing once about a horse who became difficult when lifting his feet & it turned out to be a trapped nerve (can't remember many details tho, sorry, not sure if it was front or back legs). One thing i'd try (once pain is ruled out) is, on a day he is refusing for you, don't push it but just get someone else to ask him, see what happens & then go back to asking yourself. Pay attention to how they ask if succesful, however sometimes it's not even how it's being asked but who is doing the asking - i have seen horses (especially cobs who can be unreactive at the best of times!) perk up & pay attention for strangers, then go "Oh, it's just mum again" when handed back to the owner - so you absolutely may be doing nothing wrong at all. Groundwork first is a very good idea - even doing a little moving around to get control of the feet before asking him to lift them might help. Hope he's not hurting and that you manage to work it out.

 

[eatmyshorts]

P.S Just another thought - have you ever done any clicker training? Might be an idea in this instance to get him back on track, especially if he's food motivated.