Training Tip: Teach Your Horse to Be Confident About Having His Feet Handled

It’s not your farrier’s responsibility to train your horse to stand quietly while his feet are worked on. Long before you make an appointment with your farrier, you should begin working on getting your horse confident about having his feet handled and then preparing him for standing for the farrier.

We begin teaching our horses to be comfortable about having their feet handled from day one. This process is something you work at every day and build on. Initially, you start by just getting the horse confident about having his legs touched. If you can’t touch his legs, there’s no hope of being able to pick them up.

When the horse is confident about having his legs touched and rubbed, progress to teaching him a cue to pick up his legs. We  teach our horses to pick up their front feet when we touch their chestnuts and to pick up their back feet when we gently squeeze their hocks.

Once the horse understands the cue for picking up his feet, then work on getting him comfortable with holding his feet off the ground. This is a gradual process. When you start, just look for him to hold his foot off the ground for a few seconds. With consistent work, build up to being able to hold his feet in a farrier’s stance for long periods of time.

A lot of owners make the mistake of thinking that just because they can pick up their horse’s feet and clean them that the horse will be good for the farrier. That’s not always the case. There’s a big difference between a horse holding his feet up off the ground for a few seconds while you pick out his hoof and having his foot held between the farrier’s legs for minutes at a time.

Looking for more training tips? Check out the No Worries Club. Have a training question? Send it to us at [email protected].