shoeing hind feet

[Darolyn Butler <darolyn@swbell.net>]

Hi jin,
put him in a round pen.... reason with him, join up, bond up, what ever U
want to call it.... once he is bonding with you... handle all of his feet.
sometimes I cheat & use a soft cotton rope to desensithize his legs ...
start right at the elbows & go down with the rope wrapped around the leg &
use a sawing motion.  when u get to the fetlock, pull the leg a bit toward
you until it is off the ground.  take smallllll steps, when u can do that
with the front feet & also bend them up in the shoeing & trimming position,
start with the back feet.  remember if he is aggressive or moves away from
you, go back to your basic premise of moving HIM off & making him work some
more.  Soon he will want to stay with U & let U handle all of his feet.  I
especially like handling a potential kicker with the rope first.  Keeps my
head & other body parts a little further away until we get a safer attitude.
once all 4 legs can be handled safely... get a horse shoe & a little hammer
that U can handle, & put the horse shoe on his foot and just bang it....
like the same noise a farrier wud make.  when u can do this at liberty, and
to all 4 feet, U are ready for the farrier to try it.  I had one horse we
had to tranqualize for years..... then we got where we cud shoe him if we
put him in a small stall,  just got so tired of all that malarky... did the
round pen reasoning on him finally, & the first time we shod him w/o drugs I
actually had the farrier do it in the roundpen so he wud associate the whole
thing with the cooperation he had learned there.  when that worked... we
gradually elevated to the normal barn shoeing area.  he eventually was just
like the "other guys" about shoeing.... it was certainly worth the training
effort.

I've been working with a BLM mustang since May.... he's really smart, bonds
quickly and comes right along... only trouble is, he "forgets" quick if U
don't work him regularly.  Granted, he comes around quicker each time... but
boy does he regress quickly too.  Anyway.. I tried that same method on him
shortly after he came here, cause he needed trimming so bad & the farrier
looked at me like I was crazy when I suggested it.
when I finally got the farrier to try it... the horse never move an inch.
Farrier was amazed... & we did do the procedure in the round pen.. I believe
I had a halter on him, but never touched him in any way pressure wise.
the passive method never ceases to absolutely amaze me.  I learned it when I
produced John Lyons video back in the late 80's.... wish I had been aware of
it my whole life.... what pain & agony it would have saved me & the many
critters I worked as a young woman.
djbd
  CYPRESS TRAILS:  SPECIALIZING IN ADVENTURE TRAIL RIDES, ENDURANCE RIDING &
LESSONS
          SEASONED HORSES FOR SALE OR LEASE---- FOR TRAIL COMPETITION OR
PLEASURE
             REP. FOR SHARON SAARE SADDLES, PROFESSIONAL CHOICE, AND KM (The
Human Electrolyte)
                                     HORSEMAN VIDEO SHOWCASE  --
Instructional Equine Videos
                     Darolyn Butler-Dial & Mark Dial
21415 Cypresswood Dr. Humble, TX 77338
                         TOLL FREE # 1 800 228 8768           Farm:  (281)
446 7232      Fax: (281) 446 0113
                             e mail: darolyn@swbell.net    Web Page:
http://home.swbell.net/darolyn/