Horse will NOT pick up his feet for picking.

Well guys, I've tried it all. The tapping definitely seems to work for the left one, but NOTHING works for the right. Oh well, just gotta keep working with him I guess.

I had the same problem with my horse, only it was the right front.

Have you tried pushing your elbow into the back of his knee? It didn't work for me until a while after I got him picking it up a different way, but whenever he's being like that now, it does work.

OR maybe forcing him to take a step back, and when he does, grab his foot before he has a chance to put it back down?

I'm trying to remember the way I forced him to pick up his right front when he didn't want to, but I'm drawing a blank. I'll edit this if I remember... (:

So your horse knows how to do it, the key now is to get him to start behaving and lift his feet. There are a lot of options available to get him to start doing it again. Be persistent and repeat, repeat repeat.

Oh yeah, he knows how to do it. He's just being a jerk about it. Yes, I have tried elbowing him in the knee. And if I try to grab it when he's moving it, that's when he'll usually slam it back down before I get a good grip on it. :roll:

Pinch hard and TWIST those chestnuts...like you were trying to remove a stuck lid. If that won't do it, pinch the back tendon using the sharp hook part of your hoof pick (instead of your fingers) against your thumb.

I'm just consistent with the tapping of the hoof pick. If you aren't doing it to where he'll lift. You aren't tapping hard enough. You should be able to hear the thunk, thunk, thunk. Keep doing it in the same place until he lifts. Think " chinese water touture" lol... Tap tap tap in the same spot consistently harder, he'll pick up the hoof. If he puts it back down before you can pick it up....Tap some more. He'll get tired of it and give in. Just stay focused on the same spot.

He KNOWS what you want. He sounds like he's testing you...Like he's trying to win one of the "little battles" :roll: Sorry fella...You lose, pick up that darn hoof!!!

The chestnuts are actually a result of evolution. So are ergots which are the growths on the back of a horse's fetlocks. Horses used to have 4 toes. One evolved into the toe they walk on (or the hoof) and two have evolved into chestnuts and ergots. The fourth toe has since disappeared. Just some interesting info.

Keep trying and getting tougher with your horse, it sounds as though he just would rather not pick up his feet for you. Good luck.

I knew what they were but I never knew why!! Learn something new everyday! Thanks!

My horse has the same issue only with his back feet today I pushed him over with my whole body and grabbed his foot, he almost fell over I felt kind of bad but he's stubborn! On his front feet all I have to do is bend over and he lifts his foot for me then I catch it and pick it out then move on, with his back feet its a neverending battle!