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You are in... Forums > Horse Care > Grooming > picking up hooves

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blackidris

Joined:

May 11

Posts: 17

blackidris says:

picking up hooves

Can anyone offer me any hints or tips? I have recently bought a lovely gentle 4yr old irish draught gelding, but.....he really messes about having his feet picked up. He is barefoot and field kept 24/7. His feet are in good condition and i make the effort to do them every day. He seems to be getting worse every day when i have to do them. He will allow me to lift them but constantly throws his legs about trying to replace them, sometimes to the point he stumbles to place them on the ground. He is nearly always ok with the back ones, but very difficult with both front ones.

I make a point of holding on as long as I can, and persisting until they are done. Once we are all done, and ridden/lunged, before I leave him I pick up all his feet and let them go again just to try and get him used to having his feet lifted. I am hoping he is going to improve as time goes on as we are still in the early days but does anyone have any suggestions? Has anyone else struggled with this and got a marked improvement? I appreciate any feedback :)   thanks

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  • Posted 3 years ago (02 June 2011 21:10)
greyandbay

Joined:

Mar 10

Posts: 2985

greyandbay says:

Re: picking up hooves

My mare is an Irish cob, probably with ID in there as well, has feet like enormous dinner plates, and when we first had her we too struggled with picking her feet up, especially my daughter, who was only 12 at the time !!

She seemed to have difficulty balancing on only 3 feet, so it sounds a bit like yours - we persevered with someone holding her, while another picked up feet, and it did get better over time. Every time she picked up a foot and managed to keep it up, the person holding her made a fuss of her and gave her little treat, if I was there on my own it was a bit more difficult, but I'd do one foot, fuss and treat, then carry on to the next, and so on.

She hadn't had a lot of proper schooling before we bought her, and was somewhat on her forehand, I'm guessing your gelding may be too at the moment - maybe it's to do with their weight distribution?

The outside of a horse is good for the inside of a man - Winston Churchill

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  • Posted 3 years ago (03 June 2011 07:46)
blackidris

Joined:

May 11

Posts: 17

blackidris says:

Re: picking up hooves

thanks, its such a nightmare! I am trying now to go with just picking them up and placing them without picking them out but he still hates it. I will definately try somebody distracting him when I can grab a friend to help. Sounds like mine is quite similar to yours so there is some hope that he will improve :)

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  • Posted 3 years ago (03 June 2011 20:54)
dexxy

Joined:

Sep 10

Posts: 58

dexxy says:

Re: picking up hooves

 I've got some tips from Sarah Fisher's book, I'll post them up later =] 

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  • Posted 3 years ago (20 June 2011 09:02)
DuffyDuck

Joined:

Jul 11

Posts: 931

DuffyDuck says:

Re: picking up hooves

If he's good with the hind legs, start with those so he is aware of what is coming next. Give him a command, such as lift, so he is aware. Also, don't hang on to the feet. As soon as he relaxes the leg praise, vocally, and lower his foot. I had the same problems with duffy and within a week she was picking her feet up on command without me having to run my hands down her legs!

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  • Posted 2 years ago (07 July 2011 20:29)
Magicmoment

Joined:

Apr 11

Posts: 332

Magicmoment says:

Re: picking up hooves

I would say its a balence thing, hard I know but make sure he is fully balenced and comftable before you go to pick his foot up, I had the same trouble with my lad but its 100% now, sometimes tried it on with his front right but he I don't give up.

I think that you must not get stresed or angry about it, ignore the behaviour and carry on, don't hold his legs up high too long, if anything low and often.

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  • Posted 2 years ago (08 July 2011 20:00)
Ladydibs

Joined:

Jul 11

Posts: 16

Ladydibs says:

Re: picking up hooves

my mare, an irish x has had a similar issue and quite large feet, and originally I tried getting her to keep her feet up but in the end found that if she started to wobble or wanted to put her foot & I held onto it it seemed to make it worse for next next so I try as far as possible to say down and put her foot down before she wants to and gradually she is getting much better.

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  • Posted 2 years ago (24 July 2011 12:49)
Shazzam

Joined:

Sep 09

Posts: 401

Shazzam says:

Re: picking up hooves

Had my mare 18 months and have the same issues but with back feet and can advise that please prepare yourself for the long haul!  I use verbal command "up" to pick up and very vocal"good girl" if she stands and lets me do it.  But being a mare, she can be different from day to day!  I do not reprimand even vocally if she pulls her foot straight back down but try at least 3 times with each foot before moving on to next.  I also think it is a trust thing with horses.  We are basically picking up one of their means of escape aren't we?  I also do like you and pick all her feet up after riding without picking out just to get her used to it even more.  How is yours with farrier?  This has got better for us but only due to constant carrots and feed and patience!  I did get a surprise this week though as she actually picked up her front feet for me which is unheard of!   Hoping this may progress to back feet at some point!

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  • Posted 2 years ago (29 July 2011 12:11)
Ladydibs

Joined:

Jul 11

Posts: 16

Ladydibs says:

Re: picking up hooves

Shazzam I'd not thought of it as removing their means of escape, a very good point.

As you can see from my earlier post I had problems but today we had all feet first time, I did have to pick a rear up twice but she was losing balance not being difficult, and she had picked up each foot as soon as I asked, hopefully with patience you'll get there.

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  • Posted 2 years ago (01 August 2011 17:49)
kbrickley

Joined:

Jun 11

Posts: 11

kbrickley says:

Re: picking up hooves

 i have 3 year cob and pick up his back leg o.k very day but in come to him 2 front leg you not get them up. I pull pull and try also thing. just hopping he will come round

kerri brickley

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  • Posted 2 years ago (14 August 2011 16:12)

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