Still having feet problems

[Marusenka]

I just do not know what to do about my youngster and his feet! Have now had him nearly 6 months and still picking out his feet is a constant battle which i really do not enjoy!

He goes through good and bad stages- some days he will pick them all up nicely and then other days he snatches them back and kicks out and gets quite nasty about them! I must admit he has got a smack off me a couple of times when he has kicked his back feet out sideways narrowly missing me!

I'm not usually there when the farrier comes to trim his feet but the time i was he was fine, picked them all up and barely moved them to be honest, other than on the last foot when he was getting bored.

I just do not know what to do next- have tried clicker training and lots of praise, moving him in very small circles, getting cross with him and nothing seems to work.

He is so stubborn- first he refuses to pick them up and once they are up he will often pull them away if i am taking too long or waggle the back ones around while i cling to his feathers to keep the foot up! When he is having a bad day i don't bother picking them out at all- just pick them up and put them back down on my terms!!

But i just don't know why he is being like this- he knows what i am asking him to do and it has been 6 months- i can do anything else with his feet- wash them, comb his feathers and handle his legs all over and some days i can pick them out just fine with no problems. I just don't want it to be a battle and would like anyone to be able to do it! At the moment we are battling with it 3x a day as i don't know if he just needs lots more practise or what!

 

[chunky monkey]

I wonder if something has happened with out your realising it.
My horse has started snatching back his front feet.
He has been on box rest for several months for a fracture. Normally he was excellent for doing his feet. He was barefoot before, but now I to have shoes on for at least a year. He's fine when the farrier comes out, he will stand there no problem.
When he first went lame I couldn't pick up any of his feet as he couldn't balance. I was advised to poltice the foot due to a suspected abcess and to get circulation going back in the foot and leg which he wasn't using. He got fed up with me picking up his bad foot and trying to put the bags on to wrap it up for poltice. After I stopped polticing I didn't do his feet for a few weeks as he was still not able to balance but once I was able to do them I noticed he started snatching. It only seems to be the fronts he does it with.

Thats what makes me say somethings happened. I think my problems started as a result of the injury and polticing. I think that it will be a question of time and building back up the confidence to stand whilst I pick them out. It is really frustrating though and I have lost my rag a few times, but I don't think telling him off is the answer, I think I need to whisper nicely in his ear.

 

[Yann]

Just out of interest what is he like otherwise? Sometimes getting general ground manners better will improve this sort of problem if there's no other apparent physical cause.

 

[Marusenka]

I think that is pretty interesting as thinking back he has got worse with his feet the past few weeks since the farrier last came out- he had to stay in for the day when the farrier was coming as there was no-one available to fetch him in for me from the field so he may have been a little fidgety and the farrier has given him what for- can't say though as i was not there, he may have been a little darling and usually is better for the farrier as he is stronger than me and so can take a bit more of his silliness.

His ground manners are really quite good really. He leads well and for the most part does as he is told, backs up and moves over on command. Get a bit of baby silliness occasionally, mainly an inability to stand still first thing in the morning and an occasional bit of nippiness but nothing too bad and for the most part he is a very sensible, chilled out 4 year old.

I did wonder if maybe he was in pain somewhere but it is never the same foot he is silly over- sometimes none, sometimes one or two, sometimes all of them and he sure gets worse if his feet have been left for a day. Think i will just have to persevere, maybe get the clicker out again and try my hardest to be there or have someone there for farrier appointments who can distract him a bit before he gets naughty! My farrier is a great guy but at the end of the day it is not his job to train my horse and he has so many to do and is so busy that patience can wear a bit thin with the fidgety ones!