picking out hooves

[scout4361]

I recently rode a very wise old horse who knew every trick in the book. I went to untack him and pick out his hooves he gave me a hard time about lifting up the front ones, but i managed. When I went to do the back hooves, he would lift up the other leg as if to give me a good kick!!! This sounds stupid but it kinda unnerved me a bit. Can you get kicked this way or am I too far over to the one side? I want to do a thorough job grooming him, but don't want to end up on the other side of the barn!!!! What can I do to show him I'm the boss??? I think he knew I was a novice and took full advantage of my fear. Common sense tells me if I lift up the one foot quickly he will have to stand on the other one, making it unavailable for kicking, but I'm just afraid to get too close.

[Peace]

Hi, andy!

Is this a school horse you're riding? If so, I think your best bet is to ask one of the stablehands or the instructor to help you with this horse's feet next time. They get paid to help with stuff like this, so they shouldn't mind. :)

I'm not sure I've got this pictured correctly anyway. Suppose you're going to pick out the horse's left hind hoof. Are you standing with your right shoulder against the horse's rump, facing the opposite direction to the horse? If so, I don't see how he could kick you with the right hind, since you'd be pressed against his left side. But better safe than sorry - I'd ask for help if I felt at all unsure!

Of course, you're not going to be able to pick up the left hind until he puts the right one down!:) Somebody posted the other day that her horse has a "trick" of picking up feet other than the one she asks for.;) Maybe that's what this fellow's up to! Sometimes leaning your shoulder into their rump will encourage them to put their weight on the opposite foot.

[galadriel]

Not that it's necessarily relevant, but racing TB's are taught to pick up one leg, then the other. Both are picked out from one side. So if you are on the horse's left side, he picks up his left front, then right front, then left hind, then right hind.

I think Kat must have always had hers done right leg first, because she always tries to offer me that one :) no matter where I am.

[kelsey]

My barn owner picks the horses' feet like that, galadriel. (She picks them all out every day after turn-out, so it saves her time.)

My horse picks up from one side for her, but won't do it for me!

[horsemad]

My horse sometimes lifts up the 'wrong' foot when I'm picking out her feet, but its just because she isn't concentrating on what she is doing! She does try to be helpful - in fact sometimes she lifts up a foot too quickly for me to get a hold of - so she stands there with her foot dangling in mid-air. Aaaah - bless!:D

[Peace]

I've heard of people doing this, but I've never actually seen it done! Do you reach under the horse's belly for the off side foot, or how exactly does this work?

Maybe that is what your horse is doing, andy!

[galadriel]

Yes. You do the near side foot, then the horse picks up the other foot, you reach across, hold it just like the previous foot. It's usually not more than a couple inches extra to reach, and easy to do if the horse is cooperative.

[Lucy J]

i do it both ways with ciara and always try and start with different feet to keep her paying attention.

[Cathy Reynolds]

Several people on our yard pick out 'from the wrong side'. I get in amuddle, but I do go round in the same way. Both mine will pick up as I go round. BUT, scout, this has taken a long time. Benny the pony was an absolute PIG when I first got him and used to swing round on me, clamp his feet to the ground etc - every trick in the book, when we first got him.