In order to handle our horse's feet we must see things from his point of view - and not act like the human predators we actually are.
Common sense should always prevail when dealing with horses, but often common sense is not so common.
One problem I come across time and time again with people who are having problems with their horses is the failure to see things from the horse's point of view.
Failing to understand how the horse perceives things or how he feels about something we are attempting to do is undoubtedly the biggest mistake we can make in our horsemanship (besides, of course, flagrantly abusing the animal). This common sense approach, always asking ourselves how the horse see things, needs to be foremost in our minds.
This common sense approach needs to be based on the following fact:
Humans are predators and horses are prey.
The horse knows full well that humans are predators and it is in his best interests to be suspicious of things we do around him. He knows that at any moment we could choose to serve him up on a community barbecue.
Imagine you had to go to work every day with the threat of death hanging over your head. Could you deal with that stress? Yet that is what our horses deal with every time we show up in the pasture with a rope.
They do not automatically assume that because we feed them it is safe for them to allow us upon their back. Horses do not leap to such conclusions. They are interested primarily in surviving from one moment to the next and our approach to them has to involve this understanding.
We must spend a considerable amount of time convincing the horse that we humans are actually concerned with their survival as well - from moment to moment, just as they are. This is the common sense we need.
Let's apply this common sense approach to a lady who called the horse rescue about her mules.
If you didn't read the blog, the scenario went something like this:
A woman needed to get her mules good with their feet so the farrier could trim them. The farrier had already left because he could not pick up the mule's feet without getting kicked.
The lady had been trying to train them by touching their feet with a longe whip. When they invariably kicked at it, she smacked them with the whip and yelled, "NO!" To the human, this might sound normal. It even sounds like it might work. Punishment, which is what this was, can work on humans sometimes, because humans can understand why they are being punished, but for animals, especially horses, punishment is the least effective method of training. Now, consider this scenario from the horse's point of view--
-- Here's a predator, with some sort of long claw protruding from its hand trying to touch my back feet. I can't run without my back feet, in fact, I'm already in trouble because she has a rope around my face. If she injures my back legs I'm as good as dead. She hasn't hurt me yet, but.....
The horse (mule, in this case) is only concerned with its survival and it fears predatory behavior.
Striking with a weapon and making loud, roaring sounds are predatory actions. All the horse knows is that the predator trying to touch his feet suddenly started acting like a predator, which frightens it even more.
The only way to get this done in a way that is fitting to the horse, is to see things from the horses point of view - and stop acting like a predator.
Try this instead:
- You can touch the horse's legs with the longe whip if you wish, but don't go directly to the foot - that's predatory.
- Start at the hip, or maybe the back, touching the horse somewhere that doesn't bother him.
- Move slowly down the hind leg, keeping a gentle touch all the way, stroking, doing your best to be soothing and non-threatening.
- Go only as far as the horse can handle.
- If you can only get to the hock, then stop there, and start at the hip again.
If you don't push it, the horse will gradually get accustomed to the touch moving all the way down his leg to his feet.
If you do go too far and frighten him (which you are trying to avoid doing) simply stop and start over - NO SCOLDING, NO PUNISHMENT, whatsoever.
If you get frustrated, quit and take it up another day because any predatory behavior will impede your progress.
Eventually the horse will begin to understand that he can survive and allow you to touch his feet.
- Then you might try swinging a lead rope gently around his back legs, letting it slide gently off.
- When he gets really good at that you can try touching his feet with your hands. DO NOT try to pick them up until he is entirely comfortable with them being touched. And never punish the horse if he does kick out - use that as a clue that you have pushed too far and are acting like a predator.
- See it from the horse's point of view - "okay, human, I'm not too sure it's a good thing having you touch my feet. It just doesn't seem like a good idea." (The horse pulls away and gives a half-hearted kick. The human yells and smacks the horse). The horse thinks, "See, I knew it was not a good idea for you to be back there. I knew something bad was going to happen."
You see now what happens - exactly the opposite of what we wanted. By acting like predators we make life more difficult for both us and our horses.
We have to use common sense always and see things from the horse's point of view. This is the attitude that can turn us into real horsewomen and horsemen. Try it.
