I'm sure we've all had them - the wrigglers who take their feet away, kickers, wigglers, stompers, sluggish leaning horses which are the blight of the farrier's life. Discovery an excellent farrier is difficult enough the way it is, so you do not need him to refuse to trim or shoe your horse as your horse is acting like a total fool. Farriers are always booked and so they do not have time to coach your horse to lift up their legs and halt quietly. That is definitely your responsibility. So, teach your horse to do this early and do it well. Yes, it can also be taught to mature horses. Just do not ask for a lot early on from them and it will all work out.
You absolutely need to grasp a few of the explanations why a horse isn't a cheerful camper about raising his hoofs. A horse's feet are used to canter to safety. Holding his foot makes it feel vulnerable. It might be they've not even been exposed properly to know how to lift their feet. He might have been handled poorly in the past when having his hoofs picked up, or there could possibly be a physical difficulty - such as a sore foot.
This is how you start to show a horse to lift his feet up and pause calmly. You begin with tiny bits at a period, about 5 to 15 minutes two times per day should work. Having said that though, every horse is it's own personality so pace yourself accordingly.
Begin in a safe space for example a round pen. Don't work with the horse tied for your security and his. Begin stroking his neck and work leisurely right down to the shoulder and then the leg. If he's contented, you're doing an excellent job. If he moves, just gently take away your hand on the spot he started getting grumpy at, and begin once more until he settles. Keep doing this until you contact the feet. If you cannot over the first session, it does not make a difference. Just end things on a good note and try again a different time. This same routine can be used using the back legs. Just take into account, slow, easy and calm.
Once you can touch the feet, try picking one up and supporting it for only a mere portion of a second and letting it go it before the horse lifts it away and compliment and reward them. Go on to another leg and so on. When you find yourself first working with them you don't need a long hold, you only want to have the ability to lift the hoof up and lay it down right away. This teaches the horse you will not injure him. Keep on escalating the hold time over your periods with the horse. In due course, and who's in a hurry here anyway, you will have a horse that remains quietly for not only you, but the farrier. Reliance is a major problem here, so treat your horse with respect and he will respond.
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