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Part 6 - How To Convince Any Horse To Pick Up His Feet For Cleaning Handling your horse's feet is a necessary part of his grooming
routine in order to clean out accumulated debris that gets packed
in around his shoes. If left uncared for, your horses hooves can
become sore or overgrown, leading to varying degrees of lameness,
so it's best to train your horse to cooperate when it's time for
hoof cleaning. After all, if a 1,000+ lb. horse isn't inclined to
left his leg, you aren't going to be able to lift it either. As with most training, it's better to begin lessons when your horse
is very young and far easier to manage, but even a full-grown horse
can still be taught to pick up his leg for you. The trick is to use
gentle stimulation to get him to lift his own foot, rather than
trying to muscle it up yourself. In lifting his own foot, your
horse will automatically position himself to best maintain his
balance. Irritant training is ideal for teaching your horse to lift up his
foot on command. As I said earlier, your aim is to be mildly
annoying - not painful - and the horse's reward for doing what you
want is that you immediately stop being annoying. In this example, if you find the right spot on the lower leg and
give it a tickle, the horse will automatically lift his foot as if
trying to shake off a fly. To begin, position yourself next to your horse's left shoulder,
facing toward his rear end and keeping yourself away from his front
to avoid being kicked if he feels startled. Next, locate the
tendons just behind the knee of your horse's front leg and give
them a tickle or light tapping with your fingers. If you've found
the right spot, your horse will automatically respond by lifting
his leg. Praise your horse immediately so he associates the tickle,
leg lift and praise all together. Slide your hand down to gently
grip his leg just in front of his hoof and hold it for a brief
moment, praising him for his cooperation. Repeat this exercise
several times until your horse is responding to your cue to lift
his leg easily and quickly. For the rear leg, position yourself even with your horse's thigh at
his left rear leg. By putting your left hand against his hip you
will be doing two things. First, keeping yourself ready to push
away if your horse kicks when you stimulate the nerves on his rear
hock, and second, giving him a little assistance in keeping his
balance. Be aware though that you cannot keep your horse from
loosing his balance all by yourself, you could end up crushed. If
your horse struggles for balance at any point, you should let him
put his foot back down to regain his position and simply begin
again. This being noted, let's move on to the stimulus cue. Your left hand against his hip, use your right hand to slide down
the back of his rump, letting your fingers find the tendons that
run down the inside of his hock. When you tickle this area, your
horse should again pick up his leg automatically. When he does,
slide your right hand around his lower leg near the hoof and hold
the leg up for a moment. Praise your horse for his cooperation.
Then, still facing his hind quarters, gently pull his leg backward
behind him slightly, as if you were getting ready to pick his hoof,
and run your hand around his hoof to get him used to the feel of
you handling it. Then return his leg back underneath him and allow
him to set it back down. Repeat this exercise several times until
you horse is responding comfortably with your request to lift his
leg. You will need to repeat this training on his right side as well. A word about balance; It's just as important for you to maintain
proper body alignment to keep your own balance and avoid pulling
the horse over with you. Keep your legs under you and your
shoulders squared and face directly toward the rear of the horse
when working with his feet. If the tickle doesn't work, you can use tapping on a fleshy part of
his upper leg. Only tap on fleshy body parts as you don't want to
damage any bone or tendon such as on the unprotected lower leg.
Tap firmly, persistently and quickly on the leg you want lifted.
Be irritating. You can use your hand, fingers, fist, knuckles or
gently use a whip. Whatever you find easiest. Eventually he will
lift that hoof off the ground to move the whole leg away from the
tapping. As soon as he does this, stop tapping and praise. Keep
repeating the exercise until a few taps results in him lifting the
hoof, and then you can try moving to the tickle/tap as before. Use
this on any leg he is reluctant to lift. With patience and praise,
your horse should soon be cooperating when it's time to clean his
hooves. This irritating tapping trick is so simple to use and
works wonders on many horses.
Next time - how to use irritant training to discourage an
unstoppable horse. Thanks! Phil Tragear
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