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Ed Kilpatrick said:

> > i have found that it is very important to get the horse accustomed to
being touched all over the leg, down to the foot, and on the foot before
trying to pick the foot up.   many people make the mistake of rubbing,
tapping or doing something irritating to the horse to make it pick up
the foot.  i think it is much better to condition the horse to being
touched all over the leg and foot first,  if he picks up his foot while
you are rubbing or touching his leg, just keep touching until he relaxes
and puts his foot down.  you want him to stand still and not move his
leg or foot regardless of where you touch it. then, when you are ready
to pick up the foot, just grasp firmly above his foot, flex it at the
fetlock and pick it up.<<

This is almost exactly the opposite of what I do to teach a horse to
pick up its feet. Notice that I do not say teach a horse to let me pick
up its feet, this is not irrelevant or a mistake.  Personally, I do not
want to have to pick up my horse's feet (in fact, a person really can't
pick up a horse's foot, only the horse can really pick it up, and this
is what you are striving for).

So, here is what I do.  I walk up to the horse (facing backwards) and
with my inside hand I reach down and touch the horse on the fetlock and
say "Foot."  If the leg is slightly unweighted it will almost be a
reflex for the horse to jerk the foot up (if it is not unweighted, I
will probably lean into the horse with my shoulder in order to shift the
horse's weight off it; however, don't continue to lean on the horse
after he has shifted his weight over, since then you will just be
teaching the horse to lean on you to hold his weight up).

When the horse picks it up (I don't try to hold it, I just want the
horse to pick it up), I prasie the horse (in whatever way this
particular horse likes to be praised).  If the horse doesn't jerk his
foot up, then I will kinda harass the horse (usually pinching the
chestnut will work) to get the horse to pick his foot up, and then I
will praise the horse when he does. Repeat this exercise until the horse
learns that when you touch his leg and say "foot" that he is supposed to
pick his foot up.

Only after the horse has learned this do I try to "hold" the foot while
the horse has it up (note I still do not say hold the horse's foot up; I
don't ever want to be holding a horse up).  I will lightly put my hand
around the back of the leg and wrap it under the foot.  If the horse
jerks it away, I will provide a "small amount" of resistance (to see if
I can suggest to the horse that he is supposed to continue to hold up
his foot if I have my hand wrapped around and under it), but I still do
not try to hold on to the horse's foot such that the horse thinks it
can't get it away from me (the most important thing to teach a horse
when first holding its foot is that letting you hold the foot doesn't
mean that he will have to struggle to get the foot back).  If the horse
pulls his foot away, that's fine.  Just wait until he puts it down and
then touch the fetlock and say "foot" again.  If the horse doesn't pull
the foot away, then after a short while, take your hand out from under
his foot and let him put it down (what frequently works best is to let
go before the horse decides to pull the foot away).

Praise the horse and tell him what a good boy he is.

Repeat this exercise until the horse learns that when you have your hand
under his foot that he is supposed to continue holding his foot up with
it in your hand.

If, during the process, the horse leans on you, don't let him do this.
Briefly push back with your shoulder with the hope that he will shift
his weight back onto his other foot.  If he doesn't take this hint, just
step over so the horse is no longer touching you (being prepared to get
out of the way entirely if the horse starts to fall over towards you),
until he figures out that you aren't going to hold him up.

If, during the process, the horse puts more than the weight of its foot
in your hand while you are holding it, briefly push the foot up with
your hand (don't hold it up, push up and then ease up) to remind the
horse that HE is supposed to be holding up his foot, not you (you are
just holding it, you aren't holding it up).  If a couple of "pushes"
doesn't get the horse to hold up its own foot, let go and let the foot
drop to the ground (being prepared to get out of the way entirely if the
horse starts to fall over towards you).

Eventually the horse should learn that when you walk up to his leg,
touch it lightly and say "foot" to pick up his foot, letting you wrap
your hand behind the leg and under the foot at which time he can rest
the weight of his foot in your hand, but no more.  And then to put his
foot down when you take your hand away (it is polite to warn the horse
that you are about to do this).

AFTER the horse has had this lesson is when you can teach the horse to
resist the reflex to pick up his leg when it is touched if you haven't
said "foot."  However, if I went into how to do this here, it would just
double the length of this post (and has nothing to do with advice on
picking up feet).

The advice on picking up feet is: "Don't do it. Instead, teach the horse
to pick up his own feet when asked."

kat
Orange County, Calif.



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