Need ideas for teaching foot handling to mare

[MustangAppy]

Gypsy is a 5 year old mare who was basically unhandled when we got her. She has never had her feet trimmed, EVER. We are just now getting a halter on her and teaching her to lead. She will allow brushing and petting, but is very antsy about her feet. Even if you slide your hand down her leg, she starts jumping around and pulling away. She is very skiddish about her feet. She does have an old wire cut across the front of her left cannon bone, so I suspect that may have something to do with it. However, you can rub a Parelli stick all over her and down her legs, and she seems fine with that. So, kinda different reactions, depending on the stimulus used. Any ideas?

[penny/pals]

Maybe try moving your hand further and further down the stick until you are actually touching her this might help since she is used to the stick she doesn't fear it. so thats my suggestion hope it works.

[Tockita]

Symphony would lift her feet but not let us hold them. So they had me pick up a foot with a leadrope around her ankle.

The trick was to let her walk if she had to and them keep picking it up, but to release it as soon as she held it up herself even for a second.

Her backs were a bit harder but she LOVES to have her teats cleaned so I started trading rear feet for clean teats!

The neighbors probably think we are nuts but Sym ends up with clean feet and teats, so it's all good!

[beckybee]

Web is really sensitive too. He started with preferring an inanimate object instead of a hand as well.

Web was okay with brushes, so I would start with what he knew. After he settled down with brushing his leg, I would add in a stroke with my other hand: brush brush brush *hand* brush brush brush. By the time he realized my hand was there and could move, I was brushing again and he settled back in. Then over days (weeks?), I slowly progressed to a higher percentage of hand/brush until I could stroke/scratch/rub his leg alone. Did the same thing with the other legs.

It also helped him to throw in "this means move" to help him understand "this means stand still." So as he was learning to stand still for brush/stroke/rub/scratch, I would throw in a squeeze and say "foot." He would shift his weight from that leg, I would say "good boy," and before he walked off (usually) I would immediately go back to brush/stroke and he would settle back in.

Meanwhile, I also worked with tossing a rope around him until he was totally accepting of that. By the time I was ready to have him start picking up his feet, I could loop the lead rope around a leg (especially the back ones!) and give a little tug, say "foot," and as he lifted it, I could use the rope to hold it up for increasingly longer times. Then as he was consistant (and I was relatively confident he wouldn't kick me!), I moved to using the rope to "ask" for the foot, but hold it with my hand until I could ask for the foot and hold it.

Beleive it or not, that's my short answer! Good luck and stay safe. If you don't feel comfortable, they usually aren't either, so build slowly. I tried to rush it and was initially so focused on how bad he needed a trim, I got nowhere. After I had him for 2 months, I finally sedated him to get him trimmed to take the pressure off. Once I changed my goal from "getting his feet done" to "getting him comfortable with me handling his legs" we did much better.

[MustangAppy]

Thanks for the input...I do remember using a rope to catch and "hold" a foot from a Parelli clinic I attended with Paladin. Gypsy is more inclined to try and whack you with a foot right now than let you touch it, so we will be going real easy. Truthfully, I am pretty intimidated by this horse. She isn't any wilder than Pal was, and in some ways she is further along than he was when I first got him. But, I honestly don't think she is as smart (with Pal you can always see the wheels turning), and she is about 1200 lbs. to his 850. I keep wishing money would drop out of the sky as well, since I really could use a round pen right now.

[Tockita]

just use a long one so you have lots of room..

Boy they are all different aren't they?

[wendyp]

I bought a PMU mare that was almost halter broke - nothing else, couldn't touch her anywhere. She came around pretty quickly, except for the hooves. I actually used Clicker Training for the 'picking up the feet'. I could touch her legs, and if she lifted the one I touched, I clicked and treated (you have to teach the 'click means that's what I wanted, and then you get a treat' concept first). I would then not click until she held it up longer than a nano second - she was a very quick learner, and within a couple of weeks I could clean her fronts without much trouble at all. I worked a little with her hinds, but quite frankly, my farrier worked with her once on her hinds and she was great after that. She colicked and died a year ago, but she was a pretty cool Perch/QH cross, and also a big mare. I just made sure I was staying well to the side of the front leg, and made sure the clicker training was well understood before I asked for the leg. It's amazing how clear the clicker training can be for the horse............

You eventually stop using the clicker/treat (wean them off it slowly by only rewarding some times) and the move has become a habit by then.

Hope this helps. There are several good books on clicker training, and it is very handy to have in your tool box.

WendyP/Bend, OR

[MustangAppy]

I use clicker training on my rescue dogs, I don't know why I forget that I can do the same with the horses! Smack hand to forehead now....thanks for the reminder. We did really well with the haltering yesterday, and she is learning to lead okay, but need a lot of coaxing and "atta girls." I am begining to think part of her problem with what we are doing is not just that she doesn't understand, but that she is afraid of failing when she tries. Interesting....I am being very encouraging if she even attempts to do what I want, which seems to make her try harder.

[wendyp]

It sounds like she might do well with the 'positive reinforcement' that clicker training offers. Let us know how she does..........

WendyP/Bend, OR