Instructions
Begin by making sure the foal is not afraid of you and has learned that you are a source of scratchings and love. He should come to you and look for your affections. This is critical before you attempt to pick up his feet.
Place your left arm around his chest and snuggle him towards your body. Use your left fingers to scratch him, while also scratching him with your right hand on his shoulder on your near side. Rub your right hand up and down his back and shoulders.
As you are rubbing him, extend the rubbings to his lower shoulder, his chest, and then work down to his upper forelegs. Move from down to up, then back down again. Keep the movement constant and smooth, while using your voice to softly praise and reassure him.
Continue this until you can run your hands all the way down the foals legs to his feet, then back up again. At this point, it should be a simple thing to use a bit of pressure to ask him to bend his leg and pick up his foot. Once he does this, bend the leg and hold it for just a moment, then place it back down--all the while praising the foal with your voice and other hand.
Work first with the front legs, then move to the rear. With enough time taken on each leg before the actual lift, this should actually be a very easy lesson to teach a foal. The key is patience, patience and more patience.
How to Teach a Foal to Pick up Hooves
Foals are impressionable creatures. Like small children, they can be influenced for good or ill for the rest of their lives by the treatment you give them as youngsters. Teaching a foal how to pick up its hooves at an early age, even before he is halter broken, will make everyone's life easier later.