Lesson Days

Every Monday I have a lesson with my trainer Michelle Merkin. We worked on picking up feet today because my farrier Andrew was unable to do her back feet last time he was out. She suggested I work around her legs with a rope, first rubbing her with it to desensitize her to it then I criss cross it and hold it like a pulley right above her hoof and lightly tug back and forth until she picks it up. The release is important, because it tells her, "that is what I want." It worked really nicely and by the end of our session, she was picking them up and holding them up. For me, I was safely out of her kick zone which is always a plus. Another trick is to softly touch the chestnuts on the front legs and increase pressure until they pick up their feet. You do the same with the cap of the hock for the back legs. It is important that once the foot is up, to gently circle it and when ready do some tapping. This is the approach I was using, but the rope technique seemed very effective and much safer.