--- In [email protected], "SHERREL LEININGER" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Hi I forget who put this story on here. > > > >>>> Hello. I am still shaking. Somebody did a number on Scooter before > I owned him. He is still alittle terrified of the shoer.. > > I too have a horse that needed help dealing with the farrier. I worked for > months with her, 1/2 QH X Appy, she was 7 years old and had not had much > handling and was most adamant that no one touch her feet.
When I saw the original post I was wondering, and searching for a method that will work better with horses who are adamant about not having their feet touched. I think it varies horse to horse, I have a couple who are pretty difficult still, or at least they won't tolerate it for long periods of time. I have also used clicker training and they will lift their feet when I ask them to, they will lift their feet for a quicker inspection. Neither of them cares one bit if I go up to them and do whatever I want with their hooves if they are laying down. I *think* the difference is they feel vulnerable, in my case, with me having a hold on their leg while they are standing, that it really has nothing to do with the hooves. It may be with some horses that someone has abused them, like a farrier and that is where the reaction is coming from, either way, it seems like clicker training is a good way to go. I was wondering if someone could describe in more detail the steps to take, one step at a time, to get a horse like this to stay calm and finally allow their legs to be held up for longer and longer periods. I know I had some who were much worse than they were with their hooves, terrified about getting shots, and with different ideas and steps I clicker trained them to stand still and let me do this, or let a vet do it, as long as the vet is quiet and gentle. What I did was very similar to what Parelli was doing on his video with the toothpick. I got that idea from his method, but stood at their shoulder and had them turn their head towards me and then poked them, clicked and treated. A lot of it has to do with how the person approaches it with that one, like don't run up to them and try to jab them with a needle. As for the feet handling, I have found that the ones who don't like it do better if I am soft about it, and don't try to wrestle the leg off the ground. There must be some more ideas out there? Kim
