That's what I did with my dog and your donkey sounds much smarter than my dog. It just took her awhile. Make sure you sound enthusiastic and happy when you tell her your marker word and not to make the training session too long.

 

Awesome! Thanks! I only did it for like 2 minutes, so I'll be sure to keep the session pretty short. Thanks!

 

"Shake" is one of the first tricks I teach my horses and it is very easy. Also, it sets the stage for many other tricks like counting, Spanish walk, bowing, and pretending to limp.

I take a stick and gently tap the hoof, tap tap tap tap, until the horse lifts the foot. Then a treat and stop. I do that about 3 times a day. It doesn't take long before they lift the hoof when they see the stick pointing to the hoof. Then, they don't get a treat until they extend the hoof out a bit . . . which they will do when they don't get the expected treat. And then a little more, and a little more each day until they are gently thrusting their hoof out for you to shake.

Be aware that not all horses are interested in doing tricks. I have read (and found it to be true, personally) that a good trick horse is going to be mouthy. You want an equid (donkey or mule or zebra as well as horse) that enjoys people and wants to do things with and for them. It took me FOREVER to teach Isabeau to shake and she did it with great disdain and disgust. I would tap her foot a hundred times and she would literally roll her eyes and sigh. She clearly thought it was stuuuuupid. Chorro, on the other hand, couldn't wait to do tricks. "What are we going to learn today, Mom, huh? huh?"

Don't beat yourself up if your equid doesn't want to do tricks. Some love it. Some hate it. Remember it's like jumping or working cattle. Some animals can't wait and some would be happy to never do it.

By the way, I teach the horse to differentiate between "shake", "count", "bow", and "limp" by where I put my hand (because soon you can dispense with the stick and just point your finger), and also a verbal command. Some horses respond perfectly to just verbal commands and other ones only go by the way you hold your body.

If you are enjoying tricks, "hug", "kiss", and drinking from a bottle are also very simple easy tricks that horses can learn in just a day or two.

 

Oh, and PS: DO NOT teach "kiss" by holding the treat in your mouth!! People have gotten badly bitten that way. I hold the treat near my face and tap my cheek, saying "Kiss". In just a day or two, all you have to do it tap your cheek and treat after the kiss.

 

Oh my gosh that sounds like so much fun! I am totally going to try it that way! I have always wanted to teach something to count! Maybe Lilly can do it! She is definitely a "people-pleaser" lol! She loves to make me happy and does everything the best she can. She literally only looks for a treat when she knows she did something good, otherwise she just stands there and doesn't want to take the treat cause she wasn't good lol!
I can totally see Isabeau not wanting to do tricks lol! She is one special mare for sure!

Oh my gosh that would hurt so bad!! Okay, mental note: don't hold treats in lips (never thought I was gonna say that lol)

 

Especially as a hoof care practitioner, my advice is please DON'T teach your horse to 'shake hands', unless you understand how to ensure its taught with a unique cue & taught properly to ensure the animal only ever does it on cue. And you ensure you teach it thoroughly enough before the next farrier visit.

Bowing, not taught properly is annoying enough, but teaching them to throw a foot out in front when you're trying to pick it up can be dangerous. Just be very aware of 'tricks' being dangerous - or just extremely annoying - when considering what you decide to teach, and how thoroughly/carefully you might have to be to ensure safety.

Now I'll take my mother/responsible person hat off & tell you how I'd do it...

Remember first, horses(& donks & most every animal without a verbal language) learn from instant association. So you picking her foot up & holding it, rewarding her for that, is teaching her to allow you to do that. If that's all you want 'shake' to be, fine(& not at all dangerous), but if you want her to pick up her foot & stick it out by herself, you need to get her to do it herself.

So I'd be using a method like Knight rider suggested such as tapping the back of the lower leg, to motivate her to move it. Start with rewarding her for doing so, before beginning to ask, in baby steps, for more - higher, holding it up, forward, for eg.

I also wouldn't be giving a cue word until I got the behaviour. Wait until she is doing an approximation of what you want, before 'attaching' a cue to it. Then it will become more strongly associated with the behaviour.

 

I know... she is picking her hooves up really good now, and that is still really good to consider. I didn't think of her doing it by herself to get a treat. I will definitely work on that! I don't think she'll end up sticking her hoof out when I go to lift them (I don't think. could still be wrong), cause I have to be standing right beside her shoulder when I lift them or she begins to back away (weird i know), and when I ask her to shake I will stand right in front of her.

Okay! I'm gonna try working more with her tomorrow and see if this makes a little more sense for her! I will tap her with the stick until she lifts it, then click and treat, continue till that's solid, then begin asking for more and more! I'm excited to see if this works!