horse won't let me handle feet

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ebsy

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May 7, 2003
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Hi.
Can anyone please give me advice. My horse will not let me pick her feet up. She is a big stocky (and stroppy) cob so I don't really argue much with her! This makes it really difficult to clean and pick out her feet. The problem is I think she may have thrush because I have noticed a bad smell and there are damp patches from two of her feet when she has been stood in a dry stable. Would pouring a water/bleach solution onto the stable floor and have her stand in it help. Any other tips or advice would be gratefully appreciated, thanks.
 
My gelding was like that. You need to work with her every day several times a day try picking her feet up. She could also just be being pushey with you.Lean into her with your shoulder as your trying to pick up her feet. When she does as you ask praise her and give her a good scratch. You need to keep those feet clean or the thrush can get really bad. Don't let her bully you if she knows your a push over she's going to continue doing that. Also if you apply a little presure with your fingers along the long leg bone on the backside they will lit their feet Keep trying don't get discoursged Keep trying. It is very important for the health of her feet for you to be able to touch/work with her feet. For the thrush you can use bleach/water as a soak. But it will keep comming back If THE FEET ARE NOT CLEAN. Thrush thrives in dark airless places so if you do not get the mud and manure out of the frog areas you will never get rid of it. Good luck and keep trying!!!!!
 
carbon copy!

HI Ebsy
Your post is a carbon copy of something I wrote a few months back. I got a new mare 3 months ago and only this week have we managed to get feet picked out. Also she's big....16.1hh so arguments were out of the question! In short heres what I did;

1. In month 1 I assumed she wasnt ready to trust me yet as I'd only just bought her. So I left her alone to settle in before asking again.
2. IN month 2 I noticed her stomping her back feet a lot and thought "mites" and figured the irritation was making it sore for her to flex her joints when I asked for her feet, so I left her alone until the mites were treated and cleared.
3. By month 3 I realised it was neither of the above and having started doing some Parelli I tried to work it out. Basically, get her used to you touching her legs. Rub your hands down as far as you can get without her getting "antsy". If she starts to react, remove your hand and only go as far as you can go with her reacting. Repeat this for as many minutes, hours, days or weeks it takes for her to be comfortable with you touching her legs.

Never lose your patience with her...just persist quietly and calmly. Dont make her feel "wrong" for reacting as she does.

Having gotten to this point with my mare, we stagnated. She'd give me her leg but that was it, she wouldnt let me pick it out. At that point I bought a Mark Rashid book and found that his method worked on my mare. Its a bit long and complicated to go into here, and the exact approach depends very much on your horse and what the cause of her problem is.

It would be worth your while getting that book "Considering the horse".....

I'd be interested in hearing how you do.....its taken me 3 months to sort it all out but my mare is fine now. She will immediately give me her foot and make no qualms about it. 3 months might seema long time but it was more because I didnt really know how to solve the problem.
good luck
M.
 
hello!

Firstly welcome to New Rider!

What the others have said is great advice, but i got the following from Mike Peace's book Think Like your Horse.

If you want her to pick up the front feet, start on her neck and slowly run your hand down her to her leg, then down teh back of her leg. When you get to the fetlock, take the feathers and gently ask her to lift up the foot. At first her even transfering the weight off that foot should be praised, then, with time, ask her to pick up the foot a tiny bit.

It may take a few weeks till you can pick her feet up sufficiently to pick them out, but taking your time now will pay off in the long run. If she snatches her foot awy from you when you have it up, let her take it, then immediately re balance her asn ask for the foot again then try to release it before she wants to snatch it from you.

Good luck!

bye!
 
Thats a good point to check for mites especially as hes cobby I presume he has feathers. Also if you can, check the heels as My last cob came to me with very sore, and weeping heels(,Under neath his fetlocks mainly, but hidden by feathers) thought to of been caused by a bad bout of mud fever he had been suffering from. I could see it caused him pain especially in his back heels as when he flexed his feet, it would wrinkle his sores..( owww!) First I treated the mud fever, and after lots trials and errors he eventually picked his feet up. He was a 16.3hh ShireX so I didnt feel much like arguing especially with his back feet! and at the time I didnt know what he could of been capable of doing.

Good luck with him

Helen x
 
I had a similar problem with our shetland mare, who we bought last September for our son. She would let me lift her back feet without a problem, but hated her front ones being lifted, never mind picked out. I appreciate your horse is a lot larger and heavier, but believe me, Shetlands are strong for their size! Being so small, makes if difficult too, as you cannot lift her feet very high, so bending over means I am not in the strongest position to lift and hold her. Even the farrier had problems, the first time her tried to lift her front feet for a trim; first she reared and backed away, then threw herself on the ground on her knees. He was surprised and said horses usually worry more about their back feet than the front. He could find no obvious problem causing her to react this way.

He just suggested I perserve and once I get her lifting her feet, hang on for grim death, as if she got the upper hand and beat me, she would keep trying it on. She gradually got better, although still tries to lock her knee and refuse to let me lift her feet sometimes. I just do the ones she will let me do easier and come back to the awkward one. Even if you have to groom them, feed them etc first, keep trying the foot until you get there, then lots of praise.

Lesley
 
Dolly can be silly about her feet, but with her it's plain naughtiness rather than anything else. So I just persevered. She is fine with the farrier and doesn't play up at all with him, because he just holds on. So I tried it and now she's stopped messing about. However she does lose her balance if I hold her feet up for too long, so I go round and pick out her feet one at a time, then go back round to spray them with tea tree oil after (she also has thrush)
 
Thanx for your advice everyone.
After reading your replies last night I thought right I'm gonna get them feet ! I have been a bit scared of trying too hard because she does bully me a bit, she's not nasty just young and big!
I managed to pick up her front feet for a short time and picked a bit of the crap out of them, not all of it but I thought its a good start and I won't push my luck too far !
I did not attempt to get her back ones , she's a bit more touchy about them and just stamps when i have tried before.
I will keep on with the front and I hope eventually she will see sense and let me clean them all. I know how important proper foot care is and I want to be able to look after her properly.
Thanx again for the inspiration guys, will keep you posted.
 
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