How to Teach Your Horse to Pick Up Its Feet on Cue

Regular hoof maintenance is important for overall soundness, but with some equines that is easier said than done. If a horse offers a hassle instead of cooperation when someone attempts to clean or trim its hooves, it's time to teach it how to pick up its feet when asked. This may sound too good to be true, but all horses can learn this necessary skill. With patience and small steps, a horse can be taught to lift each foot up on cue.

Things You'll Need

  • Halter
  • Lead rope
  • 6-to-8-foot extra lead or soft rope
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Instructions

  1. Getting the Horse Comfortable

    • 1

      Place a halter over the horse's head, attach the lead rope to the halter, and lead the horse to an enclosed pen or area. Choose a time when it the horse is not hungry or distracted in order to get more cooperation. Stand at the animal's shoulder, facing toward its tail. Place the hand holding the lead rope on the horse's withers, or ridge between the shoulder blades, leaving enough slack in the lead to keep from pulling its head.

    • 2

      Hold anther soft rope in a free hand and begin to gently flip it against your horse's hind legs. If the horse reacts, stop, talk softly to calm it down, and stroke its neck, side or back. Start flipping the rope again when the horse is calm, following the same advance-and-retreat process until the animal does not mind having the rope wrapping around all four legs and feet in a random manner.

    • 3

      Flip the rope around one of of the horse's legs and pick up the end, making a loop around the fetlock area. This will show the animal that someone else is in charge of its feet by teaching it to yield them on cue. Choose a signal you will use each time you want to pick up a foot. This can be a whistle, a command like "Hoof," or clicking your tongue loudly three times.

    • 4

      Give the signal cue, and at the same time, apply pressure to the rope to move the horse's foot. Reward the smallest response by releasing the pressure and petting the animal so it will begin to learn what it should do when it hears the cue and feels pressure on a foot. Practice these "gives" until the horse will lift the foot with the loop around it when it hears the signal and feels pressure.

    • 5

      Repeat the process for several days in a row. Keep the sessions fairly short and be sensitive to the horse's comfort. End each day on a positive note, even if the animal has only progressed as far as tolerating a rope around its legs. Work on this stage each day until the horse yields its feet easily with about an ounce of pressure from the rope.

    Lifting the Horse's Hooves

    • 6

      Lay the extra rope aside. Run the free hand down the horse's leg until it is comfortable with the handling. Place a hand on the foot the horse should lift and give the verbal cue as upward pressure is applied.

    • 7

      Apply this lifting pressure until the horse yields the foot. Hold it for one second before setting it down. Repeat the cue, lift and hold three to five times with each foot, holding only one second each time and rewarding the horse by petting and scratching it between cuing. Set the hoof back down rather than allowing the horse to do it so it won't start pulling the foot away prematurely.

    • 8

      Repeat the cue-and-lift process, holding a bit longer each time, but setting the hoof down before the horse asks for it back. This maintains control of the hoof. If the horse resists, reduce the amount of time the hoof is held and practice at that level for a few days before increasing time. This retreat-and-advance process gradually builds up the amount of time the animal is comfortable yielding its feet.

    • 9

      Continue to cue-and-lift each foot several times daily until the horse will lift its hooves for several minutes without resisting.