Hey y'all I need some more ideas to help with getting my new rescue boy to lift up his feet and stand for the farrier. I've been working on his feet with him every warm weekend since I got him and I don't seem to be getting anywhere with him. I've tried using a long lead to get him to lift and have space between him and I since he likes to move and try to lie down when trying to lift his feet. And he'd only lift his back left foot for a few seconds and that was it. For a reference he is 17hh Quarter horse, he is a rescue from ryons rescue pen. I am 5'1 so I am super super short and have to work extra hard to be able to get his feet up so please any extra help or advice would be great. My farrier can't help me work with him as she just had surgery done, but his feet are getting bad enough they're starting to hurt him and I don't want to result to sedating him in order to have them done without trying to get him to pick them up.

What I do is grab the pastern and press my elbow into the back of their knee and push them over a little with my shoulder so they shift their weight. Works most of the time :)

Just grab his hoof firmly, lean your shoulder into his, and push, then bend your arm to press your elbow into to back of his knee all at the same time, and presto! His foot is in your hand :D With hind hooves it's a bit harder, but to keep the hoof up I kinda put my knee in front of either their knee or pastern, whichever hoof I'm doing, them if they try to pull away, it hits your knee and and they can't go any further :) If you use the farrier method of having their hoof between your legs, it's super easy for them to pull back real hard out of your grasp then kick out cuz they weren't expecting it to come out that easy xD

Hope this helps, he's a chonky boi so it will probably be more difficult ^^; Wish I could be with you to work with him lmao

Thank you yah my farrier can't help since she just had surgery. But he has a hard time staying still in anyway and struggles so hard with keeping it up or lifting when I go out this weekend I'll get a video to kinda show.
this is my trouble boy

I agree with KPH's advice. I've also found succes with first using a dressage whip or something similar to tap behind the knee while clucking, as soon as he lifts his foot even slightly reward and release the pressure. The tapping should be light but increase the longer it takes for him to lift it up, it shouldn't hurt but should be annoying not to pick it up. The idea is to give them the idea of picking it up on their own with a small tap or click so then you can easily ask for it. I hope this makes sense lol it's late here 😅 for teaching him how to hold his leg for the farrier, I would do what KPH said!

I like Daisy Meadow's method too<3 I taught my welsh pony to pick up his hoof when you tap his leg, cluck, and say 'hoof/gimme hoof'. Now he picks it up when you bend over next to him xD If your horse already knows cues from a crop, then that can be a really useful training tool as well, as he already associates it with having to do something.

My mares are like that too XD they will put their foot into your hand LOL

Gently squeezing a horses chestnut can help with lifting their hooves, especially with a horse who doesn't understand. Just be patient, move slow and reward losts!

Thanks everyone and he seems to know a few things with the whip but not sure how much when I talked to his old owners after I found them they said he's had little to no training at all anywhere in anyway. He is 7yrs old, and as stubborn as an "ass" so to say and he hates standing still at all in anyway and hates walking and just wants to move if I lunge him he won't just walk he has to really move. He is a full on project from head to toe

i have a mustang who was a pain to pick up his feet when i first got him because he would jerk them and side pass and all that and thats when we were actually able to touch him...when we first got him he was terrified of even having his legs touched. The thing that worked with us was getting him to yeild his hindquarters before and after lunging yeilding his forquarters and getting him to have control of his feet before even trying to pick them up. Try ryan rose's youtube channel if you need to hes a great trainer and alot of his methods work wonders. The other important thing that worked with our gelding was taking it in baby steps and rewarding the good but kind of ignoring the bad. When we started with him picking up his feet all we wanted was just 2 inches off the ground. No cleaning no hassle nothing he just has to pick it up. if he did he got a treat and if he jerked it he got nothing but we tried again. he picked this up pretty quick and realized if he holds it up he gets a treat and if he doesnt it doesnt benefit him at all. After doing this for about 10 minutes you should be able to introduce the hoof pick and use the same rewarding tactic. (after 3 days of doing this my gelding now stands for all his feet to be looked at, treated, cleaned, and picked out) its really all about baby steps and not expecting him to go from 0-100 in his training right away. Its a pretty big thing that you're asking from him to stand still and give away the use of one of his legs when hes never really been asked. If hes not really into you touching his legs in general then id start with pressure and release with touching his legs first before trying to pick them up. Lunge him and when hes getting his release from lunging rub his legs and give him a treat or walk away. This teaches him that you touching his legs is actually a release of pressure rather than added pressure. This being because the lunging was the added pressure. This will also make him think of being more relaxed when having his legs and feet handled and he will be alot more likely to stand still because he wants to stand still.

i hope at least some of this helps good luck with your boy

My horse I rescued from a severe abuse and neglect situation and he was abused by their farrier aswell so it was super scary for him, but here is how I got him happy with being his feet and legs handled!

Pick their feet up everyday, multiple times a day

Its going to be a pain at first, but it pays off

I also teach a verbal command 'give' when I ask for their foot

If they do, give a treat (I use a bit of hay)

Work on increasing the time they are asked to hold it. Once they get the hang of it I dont reward with food anymore, but in the beginning it helps them associate it with something positive.

Practice patting the sole of their hoof with your hand if hes going to get shoes, because it'll help desensitize him to it before hand

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To ask them to pick up their foot, I do the same thing as what KPH said, and add the 'give' command

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Also! If your horse doesnt like this specific farrier, get a different one if possible. The first farrier I tried, my horse tried to kick him, I apologized, and the guy said he wouldnt work with my horse, which I get.

The next one, despite being very scared, my horse was less defensive around him. And that farrier was amazing with my horse, super patient and calm, and just had him do circles if he acted up or needed to move his feet, and then brought him back and continued trimming his feet. And gave him lots of pats when he did well

Horses really pick up peoples 'vibes', and if a person reminds them of someone that hurt them, even if its not the same person, they'll react quite visibly.

But 2 years later and my horse loves the farrier and is super good about getting his feet picked up. Its a long process, but stick to it! ♥️