I have dealt with lots of horses. One of the saddest experiences that comes to mind is a horse that lifts his feet in defense. He is afraid so he lifts his leg high and tight into his body. Then he holds his breath and leans against you with his shoulder. What could cause this reaction?
Some of us are taught to reach down the horses cannon bone and pinch or squeeze the nerve near the fetlock to get the horse to pick up his foot. Some horses are whipped in the legs (leg whipped or whip trained) to teach them to pick the feet up. Well, I can personally tell you, if I were a horse and my owner pinched a nerve to get a foot from me, I wouldn't like it much and would probably build some resentment or fear towards them.
Assuming you are working with a horse that is used to human touch all over his body. I'd like to share this easy and much nicer way to teach your horse to pick up those feet.
Let me help you grasp a concept before we go on. When teaching horses, you shouldn't just "go and take it" from them. It's not fair. They don't understand this direct way of "taking" and their self defense mechanism will kick in and they will brace against you. Instead, think in phases of as little as possible but as firm as necessary. To make it easier for you to understand, try to think of, Ask (how little will it take to ask your horse). Tell (getting a little bit firmer in your request). Promise (what does it take to become effective to get the desired response).
Inside the horse's front legs is a little waxy nub called a chestnut. Rub your hand along your horses neck, down his shoulder making your way to the chestnut. In this case, ask, tell and promise would go like this: Ask=Touch the chestnut. Tell=Grasping the skin around the chestnut and the chestnut itself between your thumb and index (pointer) finger. Promise=Twisting the skin and the chestnut together slowly giving your horse a change to make the slightest try to respond correctly to your request of picking up the front foot. The slightest try could be a slight weight shift. Release him and go through those phases again until he learns that if he picks up on the Ask he won't have to feel the Tell or Promise phase.
Same thing goes for the hind legs. Rub your hand down the hindquarters making your way to the hock. You are not going to pinch the bone of the hock. Simply, the cap of the hock, which is the skin on top of the hock bone. Again, you will be using the technique from above and the phases of ask, tell, promise. Ask=Touch the hock, Tell=Take the skin of the hock between your index finger and your thumb, then Promise= Gently twist the skin paying attention to when the horse makes an attempt to figure out what you want. Then release and ask again. Always starting with the phase of Ask=touch - FIRST.
Never just go to the chestnut or the hock, grab the skin and start twisting because you are in a rush. This is rude. This will only develop fear, anxiety and lack of trust in you as a leader for your horse.
Being successful takes patience, time and empathy for the horses we teach. When we get impatient is when we resort to painful measures and quick fixes in horsemanship. Trust me, your horse would much rather prefer a twist of superficial skin to pinching a nerve when learning how to pick up his feet with confidence.
PLEASE NOTE: If the horse you are working with is not used to human touch on his legs, there are steps BEFORE you use this approach to keep you safe. Do not attempt the above without the preparations of human touch all over the horse first.
Terri Jordan contact Terri at TNG Horse Happenings ntrlgait@acegroup.cc
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