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You Are Here: Home > Hoofcare > Articles > Horse Training and Hoof Handling
Horse Training and Hoof Handling
From the Apr/May/Jun. 2003 NoHoof-NoHorse Newsletter
by Cheryl McNamee Sutor, MHG
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Preparing to Pick Up the Hoof
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I often see horse owners try to pick up their horse's hooves by walking straight over to the hoof,
leaning into the horse's shoulder or hip to force him to shift his weight, then pulling on the horse's tendons
to pick up the hoof. Please don't do this! It is not only disrespectful, but also goes against
the horse's instictive reactions. Most horses will instinctively lean back against you when you lean
into them to shift their weight, and you will be putting forth too much effort to handle their hooves.
A horse can pick up and hold his own feet, you should not have to bear his weight! Also, please do not
squeeze or pull on your horse's tendons. This can cause damage to the tendons and pain for the horse,
which can also cause resistance in picking up the feet.
Most horses have already been taught to give to pressure on the halter (if yours hasn't, don't
even think about asking a trimmer to handle your horse's hooves!) If your horse can give to pressure on
the halter, you need to start there. If not, you'll need to start with halter training before proceeding
to teach the horse to pick up his feet. For halter training basics, visit the Horse Training section of our website.
Put a halter and lead on your horse and stand at his left side. Please don't have a death
grip on the halter or lead, as the horse should be taught to stand still with slack in the rope. If
your horse can't do this, go back to halter training. Next, use one finger on the side of the horse's
muzzle to apply pressure and wait for the horse to move his nose away from you. When he moves his nose
away, release the pressure. While you are doing this, pay attention to the horse's shoulder and front
leg. Repeat this cue on the horse's muzzle until you see his weight shift off the left fore hoof. Remember
to reward the horse for responding to each cue by releasing pressure and lightly rubbing the spot where
you had applied the cue. Once you can ask the horse to shift his weight off the left fore hoof with a
light cue on the muzzle, you can move your cue closer to the leg (now try asking the same thing on the
horse's jaw, then the neck, and eventually the shoulder). If you get a great deal of resistance from the
horse on the neck or shoulder, just move back to the place where he was responding to pressure,
practice in that spot for a minute and slowly move your way closer to the trouble spot again until he
is taking weight off the left fore with light pressure from your finger on his shoulder.
Then, practice
asking him to shift his weight off the right fore hoof by switching sides (stand on his right side),
and applying pressure on the right side of his muzzle... moving the pressure rearwards until he is
shifting his weight off the right fore by light pressure on the right shoulder. There should be no
pushing or shoving. Instead, apply the cue and allow your horse to think through the process. We want
our horses to be "thinking" individuals, not "reactive" ones. Give him time to figure out that the
pressure you are applying is slightly uncomfortable, and that the only way to remove that pressure is
to shift his weight away from it (not toward it). So, if he shifts his weight toward it, hold the
pressure steady until he figures out that leaning into the pressure is not the correct answer to your request.
If you release pressure while he is leaning into you, you will be teaching him that leaning into you
is the correct answer to your cue... don't do that!
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Next, you'll need to teach your horse to do the same thing with his hind feet. However, this
process is slightly different. Instead of applying pressure on your horse's hip to ask him to take
weight off the hind leg, you will do this at your horse's head using the halter. Stand at your horse's
left side, facing his withers. Use your left hand on the lead rope to ask your horse's neck to bend,
to bring his nose to his side. Do not pull his head around! If you feel you have to pull his head,
you need to go back to basic halter-breaking training so he will learn to respond to light cues
on his halter and to make the effort to move his own head. Continue with this cue until the horse
either shifts his weight off the left hind leg, or moves his hindquarters away from you. By correct
timing of your cues (pressure on the halter) and rewards (release of pressure), he will quickly learn
that this cue means to shift his weight off the left hind hoof.
Your goal is to get the horse to shift his weight off the left hind hoof and rest his toe on
the ground (so the sole of his hoof is showing) when you ask with a light cue on the halter. So, each
time he does this, release pressure on the halter and stand still to give him a rest (reward). The
instant he attempts to put the hoof back on the ground flat, ask again for him to rest the toe on
the ground. Continue with this until he will leave his toe resting on the ground for at least 1 minute.
Then, practice the same exercise on the right side of the horse to ask him to rest his right
hind leg.
Once you can ask your horse to shift his weight off of each hoof with a light cue on the
halter and/or shoulder, the next step is to rub each leg while the weight is shifted off of it. Continue
with this "friendly" game until the horse will stand still, shift his weight off the leg and allow
you to rub it while it is non-weight bearing. If the horse decides to make the leg weight-bearing
while you are rubbing it, simply use your cues to ask him to shift his weight off it again so you
can rub it again. Repeat this until the horse will allow you to rub his leg while remaining non-weight-bearing
on it. Do not actually pick up the hoof at this point, just
rub it and talk to the horse, letting him know you are going to respect him, be gentle with him and
not cause any pain or reactions from him. This is the trust-building step. Once you can do this
with all four legs, move on to the exercises below.
Picking Up the Hoof
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A good way to teach your horse to lift his hoof it to use his own
instictive reactions... squeezing the chestnut (the horny growth to the inside of the leg - above
the knee or below the hock). Most horses instinctively react to this by lifting the leg (as if to
swat a fly).
The easiest way to do this is to run your hand down the horse's leg and squeeze the chestnut
Each time you squeeze the horse's
chestnut, it should be done in three phases. First, a very light squeeze, then a firm squeeze,
then a demanding twist. The reason for this is to give the horse a chance to respond to very
light squeeze each time. If he doesn't respond to the light squeeze, you proceed to a firm squeeze, then to a demanding twist. You should only wait 2-3 seconds between each phase before moving on to the next phase if the
horse is not responding. The instant the horse lifts it's
foot, release your pressure and praise the horse by rubbing his leg. Do not release pressure on the chestnut until
the horse lifts its foot, or you will be teaching him to ignore your cue to lift his foot.
Repeat this until you're able to hold the hoof up for 1 second, then
2 seconds, and eventually several minutes. It's important not to push the horse beyond his comfort
level. If you feel that the horse will begin to struggle or resist after 5 seconds, then set the
foot down at 3 seconds, rub the leg or pet him, then repeat the cue. Stay at that level of comfort until you can pick it up for
4 seconds without objection, then 5 seconds, etc. Every time the horse does as it's asked, praise
him! When the horse shows that he is comfortable with that step, you can ask him to hold the foot
up for longer periods. NOTE: If your horse is a kicker, start with a rope around the pastern
to ask the horse to pick up its foot so that you can stay out of kicking range.
Standing Still
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It is impossible to "make" a horse stand still if he doesn't want to. However, you can make
it hard for him NOT to stand still. Begin by asking the horse to pick up his foot. Hold the foot,
clean it out, rub all over his leg and hoof, etc. If the horse pulls his foot away or begins to
move off, make him work. You can do this by asking the horse to do a series of exercises...
back up, side step, move hips over, lower head, back up, move shoulders over, etc. etc.
Keep him moving constantly and keep him busy until you feel that he is ready to try standing
still again. Ask the horse to stand, and calmly proceed to pick up the hoof. Repeat this as
necessary until the horse learns that it is much easier to stand still than have to "work" every
time he feels like moving. You will not only be teaching him that standing still is the easiest
answer, but you will also be refining your halter-training skills at the same time. It's a double-whammy!
Accepting a Rolling Stool
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Many natural or wholistic hoofcare practitioners prefer to sit on a rolling trimming stool
while trimming. This decreases strain on the trimmer and also on the horse, because the hooves
can be held directly below the horse's body, instead of being pulled out and away to place in-between
your legs, which twists and torques the joints.
You can do a simple exercise to accustom your horse to this type of handling before the trimmer arrives.
Start by desensitizing your horse to a bucket. Place the bucket on the ground and allow the horse
to sniff it, then push it around (allowing it to make noise from contact with the ground) near
the front feet. Continue with this exercise until you can push the bucket all around the horse
while he stands still. Then, if you feel safe to do so, you may sit on the bucket and practice
cleaning the hooves out. Allow the horse to rest his cannon bone on your thigh (some horses need
practice at this since they may not understand the concept of "relaxing" the leg in this manner).
Horses are so much calmer and less resistant to being trimmed in this position. The reason for this
is that the hooves are not twisted up and away from the horse's body as they are in the traditional
farrier stance. In addition, there is NO constant pressure on the hoof which causes the horse
to relax... in fact many of them will practically fall asleep while being trimmed.
Accepting Power Tools
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Due to the strong demand for natural or wholistic hoofcare practitioners, efficiency is of
utmost importance. For this reason, many trimmers are now using power tools to get the job done,
especially in dry weather where the hooves are rock-hard and dry. The power tools are also helping many hoofcare practitioners to keep their hands and wrists
from developing carpal tunnel and other related problems. Power tools that are often used
are an angle grinder, dremel or rotozip.
If you have a pair of clippers
laying around and your horse is accustomed to them,
practice rubbing the clippers (while turned on) on the hoof allowing the horse to hear the noise
and feel the vibrations. The dremel will be louder than clippers, and an angle grinder is
quite a bit louder than a dremel, however, this simple
exercise will make it much easier for the horse to accept power tools when your hoofcare
practitioner may need to use them.
The information on this site is not meant to diagnose or prescribe for you. This information is not intended to be used as medical advice and is for informational purposes only. Cheryl McNamee-Sutor is a certified mentor hoof groom, wholistic bare hoof specialist, horse trainer, reiki practitioner, and an educator and distributor of therapeutic-grade essential oils; NOT a licensed doctor or veterinarian. If you are sick, injured or otherwise unhealthy, please consult with a licensed doctor.
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