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Horse Behavior and Training

Dropping its foot during trim hooves

Hello!
my mare 2.5 years old drops her foot when trimming her hooves, do you have any suggestions on how to correct it or videos that might help me out  
Kicki -- Sweden
Hello! 100 lessons completed 150 lessons completed 200 lessons completed 250 lessons completed 300 lessons completed 350 lessons completed 400 lessons completed 450 lessons completed 500 lessons completed 550 lessons completed 600 lessons completed
Hi rebarbert and welcome to the Uni! :)

There is a very good series of lessons, called "Standing still for the farrier", at the very end of the "chapter" titled "GROUND WORK, FOUNDATIONAL LESSONS".
I hope you can gain some insights from them.

That said, I would like to point out that there could be a number of reasons why your mare drops her foot, other than adolescent misbehaving, but it is a good place to start.
Let us know what happens!



rebarbert
Hello!
thanks, I will check the video out and I will let you know

thank you for this and you time

bahila73
Hello! 100 lessons completed 150 lessons completed 200 lessons completed 250 lessons completed 300 lessons completed 350 lessons completed 400 lessons completed 450 lessons completed 500 lessons completed 550 lessons completed 600 lessons completed
Hello Rebarbert and welcome to the Uni.  
What you described about your horse is most common with young horses.  Standing relaxed on three legs is something that has to be trained into the young horse with patience.  This is not a natural act for a horse.  The trainer has to bring about a scenario of relaxation and CONFIDENCE for the horse to understand that raising a leg and holding it up is OK.  Therefore, the horse must realize that this request is part of a  sequence of events that will be asked of him throughout his life [NO BIG DEAL]...

With all of Monty`s approach to working with horses, they LEARN BEST by incremental approaches to the subject. [BABY STEPS]  make the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard for them with your approach.  This must be done on a routine basis with short periods [pauses] between your training efforts.  Since this is YOUR HORSE, don`t wait for the farrier to do this for you.  I say this for many reasons, the primary reason is that you have an advantage because your horse knows you and hopefully the element of trust has been born in your relationship.  The farrier is someone who your horse is introduced to every 5-7 weeks.  HE IS NOT THE ONE TO TRAIN YOUR HORSE TO STAND UNLESS HIRED TO DO THAT.  I am a farrier and my job is to trim your horse`s feet to the very best of my ability.  Obviously, the quieter your horse is, the better that I can do my job. 

With young horses [babies], I always start with raising the back feet first because the horses seem to be able to maintain their balance easier. .All training like this is successfully done again with patience as the horse LEARNS that she can balance herself on three legs.  Start with pulling the back leg forward and wait for her to relax before asking her to place her foot backward.  Hold it there for a few seconds-then place the foot gently on the ground.  Repeat this many times, but only increase the time  with the foot off  the ground if she is relaxed.. IN HER MIND HAS TO COME THE A CONFIDENCE OF THIS REALITY.  Getting a horse to stand still and raise their leg in a relaxed fashion is not a difficult thing to accomplish.  It just takes a little time and concentration on the exercise on your part.

Kicki gives the right advice with where she directed you to with the lesson information.  I would suggest that you form a plan of action to help your mare after you read the information provided by the Uni.

Please keep us posted with your progress..

Bud
rebarbert
Hello!
thanks for that and thanks for your time I must say that Reba, the young mare, would let me rasp her hooves in the past and she would drop them once every so often but lately it has increased I thought maybe it was her hormones changing as she matures into a mare or she might be in estrous and is just acting out of sorts