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Horse Behavior and Training
Dropping its foot during trim hooves
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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!
thank you for this and you time
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