Why does my horse buckle her foot under her when I pick her hoof?

Question 1)


She%26#039;s 3. She was probably started a little earlier than she should have been because the people I got her from thought she was about 6 months younger than she was until I tracked her records down. She%26#039;s a spotted draft and she%26#039;s awesome! She learns very easily and she is really good unless I fail to work her like I should. She has been great about having her hooves picked for about 6 months and lately when I go to pick the first one she kindof buckles her foot under like she%26#039;s going to go down on her knee. She does it slowly. It%26#039;s almost like she%26#039;s beginning to rely on me to hold it up...to hold her up. Do I just need to be firm w/her about holding it herself? Should I be alarmed?





Question 2) Maybe I%26#039;m asking these in backward order but she also seems to be a little clumsy. At first I thought it was just her age and growing into those gigantic feet and all of that. I still kindof feel that way. She turned 3 in May. Does that sound about right?

Why does my horse buckle her foot under her when I pick her hoof?
Spotted drafts do grow slow as do all drafts and draft crosses. It is hard for something that is so much a baby and has so little coordination anyways to deal with holding up their heavy legs and not being clumsy. You are right in the clumsy thing, our draft crosses we do not start until they are 3 and at walking only because of that. We dont start trotting them until they are at least 4 years old. They just dont have the balance or coordination. I would rather take it slow than have an accident.





I would make it a point to show her that she is to hold it up. Usually you can do this by pushing on their belly to get their attention. Another way to do it is when she is holding it up for you, then hold for a few seconds but before she puts her weight on you, put it down and reward her (even if you have not picked it out all the way). Then try again, repeat. Do this everyday everytime until you can pick out the hoof without her leaning on you. She should be able to stand on her feet even though she is young with no problems, she just needs to learn what she needs to do. Young horses like testing and figuring out what they can do differently. So, this is a way that she is trying to untrain herself.





The farrier will not appreciate her leaning on him, and if he is like most farriers he will make her stop. It is better for you to do this and get it corrected before the farrier has to.





No reason for being alarmed.





Good luck with her and take it easy with her. I hope that this helps!
Reply:Drafts are great let me tell you. I have one that is my personal horse. Drafts are kind BUT they tend to get lazy. Your mare sounds like she is just getting lazy on you and you are allowing it, maybe not intentionaly alowing it but you are. After you rule out that she may not have a problem bearing weight on her other hoof then you need to give her a slap on her belly to pick herself back up again. If she has learned leaning on you allows her to get her foot back on the ground she will continue to do it.
Reply:That depends on how you are holding her hooves. When ido barn duty I put their haunches between my legs and on their forearms I hold them just along my side.
Reply:she might have hoof sensitivity problems or had a hoof joint trauma when younger, may be expensive but u might wanna have it looked at by a vet or just watch that hoof when she%26#039;s in pasture playing or walking around.....or try and try again tell her no and drop it...give her a treat when u do it with another hoof ..a back hoof pick it up stretch it out and reward her...and look into some sturdy shoes or finding move even land for her to walk on, or padded shoes.
Reply:Mine use to do this alot. Annoying, huh? I eventually just got tired of it one day and let him fall down. He hasnt tried it since.
Reply:shes just young but horses dont need to lean on you at all..a lot of horses have this problem and its not a good thing but can easily be fixed..yes, she is relying on you to hold her weight and no, its not good habit at all!! whenshe does this, firmly poke her in the side and ask her to move off of you and let her know you dont like this..i use to have a horse that did this and my farrier would do this and if it didnt work he would hold the horses foot up really high and he didnt like it so he learned really quick that it wasnt acceptable. when your farrier comes out, let him know and he can help you out with it!! good luck!!
Reply:Is she buckling on the leg you are trying to pick up or the opposite foreleg ? Is she standing squarely on all fours when you go the pick up the first hoof or is she in her stall head down eating hay while you are picking out her feet?. She should be standing square with her weight evenly distributed on all four feet. Start with your hand at the top of her leg and run it down to the area where the chestnut is on her leg (the horny growth about midway down the leg. Squeeze this area to get her to pick up her leg supporting the cannon bone (lower foreleg) with your other hand. Doing it in this manner will alert her to the fact that you will be picking up her foot before you actually do it that way she will be more prepared to shift her weight on to her three other legs. Hope this helps :)



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