No doubt we’ve all heard this one before: “No foot, no horse.” How correct. Farrier care is amongst the most crucial areas of caring for your horse, and typically not trouble-free unfortunately.
No doubt we’ve all had them – the squirmers who snatch their feet away, kick, wiggle, stompers, lethargic leaning horses which are the blight of a farrier’s life. Discovery a quality farrier is difficult enough as it is, so you do not need him to decline to clip or shoe your horse since your horse is being a total prat. Farriers will always be busy and so they do not have the time to train your horse to pick up their hoof and pause peacefully. That is certainly your job. So, instruct your horse to do that early and do it well. All right, it may also be taught to older horses. Simply don’t ask for too much early on from them and it will all work out.
You’ll need to understand a few of the explanations why a horse isn’t a happy camper about picking up its feet. A horse’s feet are used to canter to protection. Holding its foot makes it feel susceptible. It may be they have not even been exposed properly the best way to lift their feet. He might have been handled roughly in the past when having his hoofs picked up, or there could be a physical difficulty – like a sore foot.
Here is how you begin to show a horse to raise his legs up and pause peacefully. You start with tiny bits at a time, in the region of 5 to 15 minutes twice daily should work. Having said that though, every horse is it’s own personality so pace yourself fittingly.
Set up in a secure spot for instance a circular pen. Do not work with the horse tied for your security and his. Start off stroking his neckline and work leisurely right down to the shoulder and then the leg. If he’s happy, you’re doing a superb job. If he niggles, just gently take away your hand on the spot he began getting jumpy at, and begin once more until he calms. Keep doing this until you contact the feet. If you cannot during the first session, it doesn’t matter. Just end things on a positive note and begin again some other time. This same routine can be utilized when using the rear legs. Just remember, slow, easy and calm.
Once you get to the feet, try picking one up and holding it for a mere fraction of a minute and releasing it before the horse lifts it away and praise and reward them. Go on to another leg and so on. When you find yourself first trying with them you don’t need an extended hold, you just want to be able to lift the foot up and put it down right away. This teaches the horse you won’t harm him. Continue increasing the hold duration over your classes with the horse. Sooner or later, and who’s in a hurry here anyhow, you’ll have a horse that stands quietly for not just you, but the farrier. Faith is a major issue here, so treat your horse with respect and he’ll comply.
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