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picking feet up!!

2K views 12 replies 5 participants last post by  crystal8489 
#1 ·
Okay, I have a yearling Arabian colt who just does not like his feet being touched, it will kinda let me pick the front two up as long as somebody has a good hold of him; The house where I keep him she use to train horses still does sometimes. but anyways, she told me to put him in the round pen and run him until he is worn out then pick his feet up. should i do that? Please no harsh opinions or anything against me please please please. I just wanted to know what yalls advice is. and also he throws his head up ALOT everytime I walk to his stall, when he goes outside he almost seems to almost fall sometimes because he throws his head so much and so far. is there anything I can do to prevent that. Also the past two days when I put him in his stall and close the door he goes kinda crazy kicking at the door and the walls and stuff. Any suggestions for that? other than that he is doing good, he does not bite at me, kick at me(until I close the door) He acts like he respects me until the moment he is loose. Any advice is welcome!! THANKS!:D
 
#2 ·
Rolls eyes, I love people who couldn't be bothered to actually work with a horse, just run them into the ground to get the job done. Good for you for not listening.

For the feet I would start with a nice soft, long lead rope. Gently toss the rope all over his body working your way down towards the legs. Keep tossing and wrapping it around the legs until he stands still. Leave him to chew on that for the day. Next day do the above again to make sure he's still good with the friendly rope. Next take your lead rope and try to lift his leg up, not much just a tiny bit at a time. Usually the fronts will come first then the hinds. If he's making a fuss try to disengage the hind end and start again. They really don't want to give up the hind end, but once you have control over it you have some control over the horse.

You can also start up at the shoulder and rub up and down the leg for several minutes then as your rubbing stop at the bottom and give a squeeze to see if he will volunteer the hoof. Same goes for the back, start up at the hip and slowly start rubbing, going lower and lower. BECAREFUL where you stand, make sure your hip is right up against his, that way if he cow kicks it doesn't have any force.

You can google for many more techniques.

As for the stall problems, it sounds to me as if he's not getting enough turn out and has too much energy. How much turn out does he get? What his feed program? Is he going to be gelded soon?
 
#5 ·
Rolls eyes, I love people who couldn't be bothered to actually work with a horse, just run them into the ground to get the job done.
In this situation I am going to take the way the OP posted the suggestion as a condensed statement. As a yearling, they have little patience. Free lunging is a good tool to make them work, yet not cause them stress. You try to pick up a leg, horse resists, send them back out to the rail to trot for a bit, repeat.
 
#4 ·
Definatly get him desensitized to the rope and having his body touched. Also remember when he does lift his foot for you to immediately reward him by putting it back down. Then he won't panic and think he has to hold it up forever. Slowly increase the time he holds it and I'm sure he'll do great. I did this with the young ones I train and now I can hold their feet for twenty minutes if need be without a halter or lead on them. Remember to reward early for the slightest improvement and I'm sure he'll be picking them up fine soon.
 
#6 ·
I used to deal with drafts that would either refuse to pick up their feet or put them back down. The general barn response was to hit them and show whos boss, but that only works for so long and it isnt good reinforcement for a young horse. I think a give and take approach is better where if he gives you a response you give him praise until he gives in all the way and lifts his feet.
 
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