All the Pretty Horses
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IMDB rating: 5.60 Plot: Two young Texas cowboys on the cusp of manhood ride into 1940′s Mexico in search of experience. What they find is a country as chaotic as it is beautiful, as cruel and unfeeling as it is mysterious, where death is a constant, capricious companion. |
Actors: Damon Matt,Thomas Henry,Young J.D.,Shepard Sam,Patrick Robert,Black Lucas,Solis Augustin,Blades Ruben,Rodriguez Lonnie,Drama,Western,
How can I start getting my horse to let me clean his hooves?
My 4 year old Mustang is a wonderful horse. He’s coming along so nicely and has such good ground manners and tacking up manners (for the most part). There’s one big thing, though, that I can’t do. I can’t seem to pick up his hooves for more than a second! I’ve dealt with plenty of horses stubborn about their hooves being cleaned, but he takes it to a new level.
He moves about first. I try to grab a hoof, he throws it out of my reach. I finally get the hoof and he starts pulling it out of my hands as hard as he can or trying to like pin me or something. He’s so strong so holding on when he tries to throw his hoof out of my hands is near impossible. It’s so frustrating! I’ve tried pretty much everything to get him to let me clean his hooves, but he just won’t let me.
For a short while, he did, but not he’s just awful. Also, any tips on getting him to behave for the farrier? I think he’s just really bad about his feet period or something. I don’t know why though. He’s never been abused. Any suggestions?
hey.
at first you can try introducing the concept from scratch, massaging his legs and doing the up signal, and lifting his leg, then placing it down again, and massaging his legs again…
and then keep progressing until he’s more comfortable with it..
first try that, then when your sure he’s not scared of having his legs held, try hobble training him with training hobbles so that he stops being bad and has his legs held onto no matter what he does,
it will also help despook him and making him better when you have to handle his legs..
Claire | Feb 04, 2010
He’s a mustang and has strong instincts. Those instincts tell him that if his foot can’t move, he is in grave danger. You need to slow down with this. Look up Linda Tellington Jones TTouch methods on YouTube or clicker training. I bet he is really smart and would love clicker training. There are lots of good videos on You Tube for this sort of thing and good clicker training groups on Yahoo groups.
Just be patient and try to find a way to make his training fun for both of you. It will go so much smoother if you can make it fun and keep from getting frusrated. Check these out:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_qu ery=horses%2C+clicker+training%2C+hooves &search_type=&aq=f
Susan M | Feb 04, 2010
I clicker trained my filly to do alot of stuff, including picking up her feet. Check out the book on Clicker Training by Alexandra Kurland.
I would run my hands down the horse’s leg and say "foot" and when he picks up, even for a second, click and give him a treat. Gradually, reserve the treat for longer and longer periods of time. My mare is now 9 years old and I can say ‘foot’ across the pasture and she will pick up a hoof for me. A lot of people don’t like to give treats to their horses, but my horse is very motivated by carrots and nobody got hurt! By the way, my mare was only a few months old when I taught this, so it’s going to be totally easy for a mature mustang to pick up.
You can get the clicker at any pet store for around a dollar.
Exquisite One | Feb 04, 2010
I agree with what Claire said….right up until she mentioned the hobbles. OMG. Don’t use hobbles to force a horse to do anything. that’s just a wreck waiting to happen….hobbles are not for farrier work or picking up a horse’s feet! A horse shouldn’t even be tied when the feet are being handled by a farrier. That’s just common sense safety.
Your horse is scared of letting a foot be held up….he’s a PREY animal and as such, he knows that without all 4 feet on the ground, he can fall over and be easy pickings for predators.
You have to teach him to accept it, don’t fight, argue, try to grab and hold and make him accept it. You’re just teaching him not to trust you, and that you have a temper.
Your horse is simply telling you that your approach is wrong.
So first: be able to rub his legs with your hands.
Second, work your way to being able to pick up a foot for a split second. the moment he picks up the foot, let it go. repeat til he lets you pick it up for a full second, then a second and a half and so on….always letting go before he gets nervous. rub his leg a lot in between time.
if he moves (don’t have him tied) then move him around….by facing his hip and tell that hip to move away, this crosses the same back foot (left hip/left hind foot) in front of the other hind and this stops forward movement = tells the horse "I want you to stop" "if you move, I move you. if you stand still, I don’t move you." = It’s his idea to stand still.
You are REdirecting his energy. You’re not every fighting or acting mad. When you act mad, you are automatically telling him that you’re a predator and you have a temper, not that you’re trustworthy.
There’s lots of cool reading material about horses and what they’re all about:
Clinton Anderson
John Lyons
Chris Cox
Johnathon Fields
The Revolution in Horsemanship is an awesome book and cheap off Amazon.com
Horse Peepers | Feb 04, 2010
Patience, patience, and more patience is the key when working with a problem like this in a young horse, especially one like a Mustang. There are many hokey training methods out there, and are unnecessary. He isn’t a dog, so treats and gimmicks won’t help you much in the long run. He needs to be able to trust you with his foot and you need to be able to trust that he’ll let you hold his foot without him reacting so badly. Work with him in an area where he can’t pin you or hurt himself. Start with just touching his feet for awhile, then backing off before he gets restless or resistant. Keep the contact on longer and longer each time. Pick up his feet once he stands quiet while being touched on his legs and feet. Only hold his foot for second, then let it down before he pulls. If he thinks you’re going to fight him, he’ll fight you harder. Gradually increase the time you hold his foot, but don’t fight him if he pulls. Give him a calm "whoa", and let him have his foot if he stops struggling for just a second. Develop a pattern, stay calm, and be consistent. It won’t be done in hours, but days, maybe a couple of weeks. It’s a matter of reconditioning his thinking and building his trust.
MavONE | Feb 04, 2010
Mustangs are tricky to train. They don’t trust easily but once you have their trust there is nothing they won’t do for you. But the thing you have to remember is that their prey instinct is much more acute than a domesticated horse. And for a mustang having a foot or a leg up means he can’t run and is easily taken down and killed.
I would start by using your hand to massage the leg all the way down to the hoof until he is comfortable. After he’s comfortable with that, take a soft cotton rope and swing it around each leg until he stands still while it wraps around his leg. When he stands for that, the rope and make a "u" shaped loop around his leg with one end of the rope in each hand and work it back and forth, gradually working it down toward the hoof. Eventually he’ll get to where he’ll be ok with you doing that and stand still
When you can do that, wrap the rope around his pastern, run your hand down his leg and ask him to pick up his foot, then hold it for a second at a time using the rope so you don’t have to be leaned over and in danger of him catching you with his foot if he strikes out. Keep up with this until you can tug upward on the rope and he lifts his foot and you can hold it there for ten seconds, then gradually add 5 seconds each lesson. Every time he behaves, scratch him and praise him, but do not let him put the foot down until you are ready to put it down. If he jerks it away from you, start over again.
I used this method with my first horse, Buddy and he was a Mustang. I had him for 2 years and there was nothing he wouldn’t do for me.
matakibud | Feb 04, 2010