Training Tip: Handling a Horse’s Legs
Question: Do you have any tips on getting a young horse to stand for the farrier? I’m training my 3-year-old gelding on my own and he does not like his back feet being touched. He tries to kick out. I’m a little nervous about getting kicked.
Answer: Before attempting to handle your horse’s feet, set him up for success by doing some groundwork with him and getting him to use the thinking side of his brain. Then work on desensitizing his legs to your tools. Start with desensitizing exercises in the Fundamentals Series using the lead rope and then the stick and string. Using your tools to desensitize your horse’s legs to touch allows you to build his confidence about having his legs touched while keeping you a safe distance away from him. That way, if he did kick out or strike, you wouldn’t be in the line of fire.
Your horse should stand still and relax while the lead rope and string wrap all around his legs and while you rub the inside and outside of each leg with the Handy Stick. If he doesn’t, you need to spend more time getting him used to these sensations before putting yourself in a vulnerable position by trying to touch his legs with your hands.
When he’s comfortable with your tools touching his legs, move on to desensitizing him further with the lead rope. You’ll loop the lead rope between each of his legs and then seesaw it back and forth and down each leg. Begin with the colt’s back legs, starting up high and then slowly working the rope down his leg. To safely get the rope between the colt’s hind legs, stand up by his shoulder and swing the tail of the rope back behind his tail so that it falls between his legs. Then you can either lean forward and catch the rope or use your foot to drag it back up to his shoulder and bend down to pick it up.
It’s best to start seesawing the rope up high on the colt’s leg because the lower down the leg you go,
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