# Leaning on me while cleaning feet



## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

I notice farriers give horses a poke in the belly with the rasp when a horse leans on them. So I copied that move through the years, usually a bump with the hoofpick, or my elbow. Reminds them to support their own weight.


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## Sharpie (May 24, 2009)

If I'm on a soft surface (in their stall, dirt, grass) I just keep their knee bent but don't hold them up. Let them slowly lean down until they think they're going to fall over or their knee actually does hit dirt. I only had this problem with one mare though, and while this fixed the leaning as she learned I wasn't going to hold her up, she was the type that found other trouble...


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## Creampuff (Dec 1, 2010)

allisonjoy said:


> She's finally good and lets me do whatever i please with her feet but now she gets so comfortable she leans on me! *She leans and licks my face or smells my hair.*


This is what stood out to me with reading the original post. _That_ should also be stopped; she needs to respect the space of humans, and if the farrier is working on her feet and she does that to him, he will less likely find it as cute as you do. 

My farrier was trimming a young Thoroughbred gelding (17 hh); the gelding whipped around to bite him, and he popped him in the nose shortly after the bite nailed him. The owner flipped, and my farrier informs: "Usually I hit the owner, _then _the horse." It's very important you keep your horse, its training, _and _your farrier intact.


As for her leaning, it could be that she lacks balance... Bamber bowed the first time I picked up one of his feet. But I just did it over and over, now he stands well for his feet to be handled because he found his balance... without me holding him up.


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## natisha (Jan 11, 2011)

As soon as she starts to lean or get heavy, rudely drop the hoof, then quickly pick it up again with no resting breaks. Repeat as many times as she leans. Timing is key but I promise you this will work & soon you will be asking her to put her foot down after you're done working on her feet.
Unless she is a draft, for some reason this method doesn't work so well with them, though I'm not sure why.


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

natisha said:


> As soon as she starts to lean or get heavy, rudely drop the hoof, then quickly pick it up again with no resting breaks. Repeat as many times as she leans. Timing is key but I promise you this will work & soon you will be asking her to put her foot down after you're done working on her feet.
> Unless she is a draft, for some reason this method doesn't work so well with them, though I'm not sure why.


 
does this actually work bc i tried that accouple of times and my horse got fed up with me dropping his hoof. so he started refusing to pick his feet up... caused a bigger issue

just wondering... :/


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## natisha (Jan 11, 2011)

kait18 said:


> does this actually work bc i tried that accouple of times and my horse got fed up with me dropping his hoof. so he started refusing to pick his feet up... caused a bigger issue
> 
> just wondering... :/


It seems your horse is more clever than most. With a horse like him I would make a big deal of using lots of praise once you get his foot up & then try to gently put it down a split second before he does. Don't even try to clean the feet at that point. Using a looped lead rope around his fetlock will save your back while you're teaching him. Lightly dropping his hoof a few inches & catching it in your hand will also help him to hold it up. 
Don't give up too soon. I hope this helps.


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

If you do decided to drop the foot, not on a concrete floor and not tied incase she stumbles.


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## HarleyWood (Oct 14, 2011)

When my boys do this i elbow or hit their stomach not hard but like Hey im here. and if they get worse i will pull their leg up so they put weight on the other leg. just be careful.


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

natisha said:


> It seems your horse is more clever than most. With a horse like him I would make a big deal of using lots of praise once you get his foot up & then try to gently put it down a split second before he does. Don't even try to clean the feet at that point. Using a looped lead rope around his fetlock will save your back while you're teaching him. Lightly dropping his hoof a few inches & catching it in your hand will also help him to hold it up.
> Don't give up too soon. I hope this helps.




haha yes he is :/ we have worked past it already just wondering if it had worked for anyone else. taping the rasp or hoof pick in the hoof seemed to worked better with my clever devil  

good luck with getting the leaning solved i know farriers hate that


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