Teach nervous horse to lift leg

fidleyspromise

fidleyspromise

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Hi all,

I have a 3yr old Newfie that has come on a LOT in the time I've had her. She's now calm when running my hand down and touching her legs so ready to move onto teaching her to lift them, ready for farrier work.

When I got her was totally unhandled, and swas incredibly nervous. I have been taking everything at her pace so that now she can be groomed and although a little wary, can get a rug on/off her.

Can anyone give me hints/tips/advice on how you would proceed with this?

Thanks in advance. :)
 
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If she is good to handle them, get a long rope and put it around her fetlock. This way you dont have to get to close if she panicks of moves away. Gently ask her to lift it and as soon as she does, release and reward. Gradually she will understand what it means, and you can build up the amount of time you hold it up for. Remember that a farrier needs her to be happy to stand on 3 legs for quite a while so teach her this.
If she is awkward just hold her foot up until she relaxes, but not so much that she gets frightened.
Same with the hinds. get the rope around the fetlock, and pull the rope forward forward to lift the heel of the ground. Then gradually lift the foot higher, staying out of kicking reach. She should stay still too. Not walk around. If she kicks out, just hold the rope until she relaxes and then reward by releasing the rope. If you do this gradually over a few days, you can start to hold them up for longer and as if the farrier is working with them.
This works well for me, but you also have to be patient. She may pick it up really fast, or it may take her a while to fully understand.
 
I have a rescue pony that has huge problems with picking up her feet, particularly her hind ones.
I have had great success using the trust technique with my nervous and untrusting pony. although feet handling is still a big big challenge.
If you find anything which helps your horse I would be very interested to hear about it, maybe it will help mine too.
 
would it help by trying to gently touch/ pick up the hoof while the pony is eating ? or standing next to another horse for comfort, and picking the other's feet out in full view - the hooves are the means of flight or fight, so it can take a long time to overcome the fear.
 
If you can run your hands down her legs you can pick her feet up.

Try squeezing the chestnut on each front leg, ad the point of the hock on the hind legs. Stand to the side so you can't be kicked - but you should always do that anyway?

Most horses automatically pick up their feet when you squeeze the chestnut. Just catch it when she picks it up and then put it back down gently. Shouldn't be an issue.

It IS a little harded with the hind legs, but the same principle.

I'd be a little wary of having rope around the fetlocks - I can imagine getting tied in all sorts of knots if anything goes wrong, and then the rope being dropped and causing issues by getting tangled or just being frightening. Maybe I just can't quite visualise how it is done?
 
Don't know right/wrong but with my youngster at first after accepting me touching legs etc would lift up one foot got a reward,got this for each foot,then built up to 2 feet before getting reward then 4 feet then reward.Did the same theory for length of time lifting up.Hes 2 (plus not the btightest)so still has the odd wobbly bit but on the whole is pretty good
 
I used Clicker Training to get my mare farrier friendly, shaping the behaviour from taking the weight off that foot (when I touched the leg) to allowing me to hold it. She wasn't able to be trimmed before I got her (nervous to the point of being dangerous), but my farrier trimmed her without problem, less than two weeks later. It got rather awkward with the back legs as I'm by myself, so had to coordinate clicker, hoof-holding hand and treat, but she'll not bat an eyelid to me picking up her feet and trimming, now. I did her today, untied, loose in the field.

If you want some nice guidelines on using CT, I'd go through Karen Pryor's website or hartshorsemanship.com

Sorry to the person who suggested it, but I'd be very wary of the rope method, too!
 
have to say i always use a broken lunge line, down the leg works great for a kicker.if your pony is of the forest it should'nt have to many issues as they have seen most things at a young age another good way of touching ponies legs if their not happy about it is a long handled bath brush.
 
I had a very nervous horse. I spent the time as you have so I could touch her legs all over and she was happy. I just used to ask her to lift it 1cm off the floor and then let go and lots of quiet praise (rather than asking to pick up and hold it). Worked a treat. I started only doing the fronts and forgetting the hinds until she would lift the fronts comfortably. Then I did the hinds no problem. If she ever got snatchy and untight I went back to stroking and brushing her legs.

Putting a rope around her legs would have sent her into a state on panic. Would have been too much pressure for her brain.

Just ask for the tiniest lift ever so quietly and build it up over days.
 
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