hoof help

[Elaine]

My leased horse won't let me pick out his hind hooves. When I try to pick out his hind feet he will move on the cross-ties, and I mean really move. He has thrush in his hind feet and its really important that I pick them out, but he won't stop moving. Can anyone think of a way to keep him still? thanks

Elaine

[nrob1982]

I don't want to depress you but it took me almost a year of patient persuasion to get my mare to pick up her feet for me without dancing around.
One thing that did work was to put on her headcollar and get a friend to hold her and generally stroke her neck and soothe her while I lifted her feet. Of course, this only works if there is someone else around.
Make sure you're not trying to lift your horse's feet too hight either. My farrier says that many people make that mistake with a nervous horse. Far better to get down as low as you can yourself (as long as he/she can be trusted not to kick, that is.)
If all alse fails, you have to go right back to the beginning. Be satisfied with getting the horse to just lift one foot for a few seconds. Don't try to pick it out, just hold it up for a few seconds then put it down. Then praise him/her as if it's the cleverest thing you've ever seen :)
Gradually you can hold the foot up for longer periods. Then try a few scrapes with the hoof pick, progressing to the point where, finally, you can pick the feet out properly.
I sympathise with you because when I had this problem I began to despair that I would ever be able to get my hoof-pick dirty! And the visit of the farrier used to be a nightmare for all concerned. But be patient and persevere . . . they give in eventually!

Good luck,

Neil

[Dori]

We had thrush problems too. At one point the horse got so annoyed at us always working with her feet she started to dance around and lean on us, making it quite difficult. I was able to get quite a lot of good information on ground manners and specifically on hoof issues on this site. I think you can do a search for "Hoof" if you don't want to browse the whole site. Hope you find some useful information. Mostly, just firm insistence and maybe a little help from others holding the horse and reassuring it will make a difference. It takes time. Good luck with the thrush. I hope it isn't as bad as ours was (all 4 feet lasting over a year until cured).

http://horses.about.com/pets/horses/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.cowboy.mb.ca/rbard/questions/default.htm

http://horses.about.com/pets/horses/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.naturalhorsesupply.com/training.htm

[Rebecca]

I have never tried this myself, not having a horse of my own, but you have you heard of Tellington TTouches? If you're in the UK, horse and pony magazine has been running a series on it. (I'm not ashamed to read h+p as an adult; it may have the odd silly thing about David Beckham but it's very informative about stuff other magazines take for granted). Anyway, it's essentially a sort of basic massage you can do with horses, so that you spend time with them where they just enjoy your company, and so that you can get them nice and relaxed around you instead of maybe feeling apprehensive. There are also, I know, some exercises specifically for this problem but I can't remember the details. I think the book you'd want is 'Improve your horse's well-being', by Linda Tellington-Jones. I'm not sure this message is very helpful, but although I have no experince of it I remember thinking the method looked a really good idea.

Rebecca

[Elaine]

Thank you everyone for the replies. I will try your suggestions.

[Elaine]

Something very good happened today! I got Shaw to lift all four feet! But I got to see what he wouldn't let me see, a hoof full of dirt that looked like clay and a horrible smell. Yet I couldn't get a great look because he was very nervous and I didn't want him to do anything dangerous. But now I am at ease because the vet is probably going to see him today if she has time.

Thanks

Elaine