horse dislikes feet being picked!

my pony hates her feet being picked she'll knock me into her stable walls if I try to pick them up!!!
how can I make it easier and safer to pick them?-|

When I got my mare she wouldn't even let me touch her legs. I just spent time brushing lower and lower onto them, rubbing them, and then finally picking them up for little bits at a time and doing a quick clean. She realized I wasn't going to do anything scary down there. She's still iffy but taking little steps turned into leaps within a few days. Maybe doing little foot exercises like that would help your pony?

My horse was the same, but now he picks his feet up before I even really have to ask. It will just take time so be patient and don't get mad at your horse. Keep rubbing her legs and don't attempt to pick her feet up until she completely accepts you touching her legs and doesn't flinch. This may take several days so don't rush and be patient. Start with the front legs, and pick them up, when she picks them up, put it back down and praise her. Don't pick them until she's confident picking both front feet up and holding for a little while. Remember to always praise.
Then do the same with the back feet :), with my horse we just used to tilt his feet on to the toe so they weren't off the ground and empty them as he hadn't worked out how to balance himself, but he picks them all up fine now, just be patient :)

When doing any excercises with a horse funny about its legs, please put a hard hat on, just in case!

Collect together, Hard hat, gloves, stout boots, and a long soft cotton rope.
I was going to explain it all, but I'll just find the video instead

Here we go, so much easier to watch rather than explain

Hoof Desensitizing training at One True Media - share slideshows, slide shows, Facebook slideshows, free video sharing, video montages.


My new horse is a bit reluctant to give me his feet, but using this technique he has come around really really quickly, I highly recommend it.

My horse had baaaaaaad farrier experiences in his past so he was very frightened about anything happening to his hinds. Whether it was picking, lifting, moving, trimming... anything really. All it took was patience and accepting a little at a time. Now the worst he does is refuses to hold up his own hind feet so I got to figure out how to teach him that's a no-no without going backwards.. sigh.

I would start gradually brushing her, farther and farther down her legs, then graduate slowly, into rubbing her legs with your hands, just make it as comfortable as possible for her. Then, I would move towards picking them up quickly, and putting them down just as quickly, so that she gets the feel for what you're doing. The main point I'm trying to get across, is make it as plain and simple as possible, and make her feel as comfortable as possible in order to reduce her energy level.

Go slowly at first like what the others said

Something that hasn't been mentioned is to stop doing it in the stall, you need an open space so you are not knocked into the stall walls.

Thank you everyone!xxx