THE ALMIGHTY FOOT

If horses could talk, they would tell us that the most important part of their body is their face, feet, and legs. It is the foot that allows motion and protection. Flight from predators, fighting, feeding and breeding, in other words, survival itself, are only possible through the almighty foot. If you talked to experienced trail riders and asked them which part of the horse’s body is the most important, they would also say the foot. Working under loads and over varying trail conditions demands a good foot. All trail riders need to avoid poor feet and a poor working relationship with their horses’ feet - if they hope to avoid the physical breakdown of the hoof and leg, trauma on the trail, vet bills, difficult and dangerous handling situations, and in general, enough anguish to make a sane person quit horses altogether. In this first of two articles on the foot we will look at how to work with horse’s feet.
First, it needs to be clearly understood that the movement of the horse’s foot (and the rest of the body) is tied directly to the horse’s mind. Free movement of the horse’s foot is only possible when the mind is willing and respectful. Stops, starts, turns, leading, picking up the feet to clean, trim, and shoe, are activities fundamental to trail riding, and they do not happen by accident; proper training is necessary. To approach a horse that is untrained, fearful, or has a mind clouded with unwanted baggage, and attempts to physically lift its foot without proper training, is fools play, possibly dangerous, and very possibly lead to future bad behavior.
Every time you use a lead rope, halter or bit and bridle, there needs to be an instant connection to the feet, and this connection can only happen if the mind is willing to respond, and this can only happen with proper groundwork. If your horse is stubborn with giving its feet, balky, pulls, or is slow to respond to cues, you will be amazed at how freeing up its mind and its feet make it a better horse.
Because the horse’s feet are its means of protection and survival it is not surprising that they are often reluctant to allow us to handle them. I have heard stories about Arabs, the Sheiks of the desert, ‘breaking’ horses by laying them down on their sides with trussed legs and walking on them with bare feet until they accept the presence and will of their owners. Once these horses are up and standing, their demeanor, apparently, is instantly transformed from wild desert ponies to submissive students. Similarly, if you have watched ranchers geld horses, they tie up their legs, lay them down, and proceed with the operation. By the time the procedure is complete the horse has quit struggling, seemingly accepting their fate. Once these horses are released and standing, they also seem to have had an ‘instant’ transformation and are more respectful and softer to move about. Hobble breaking has a similar effect on a horse. Whether a horse is well trained or not, once it is hobble broke it is more willing to accept handling of its feet and generally shows better behavior. The point here is that if you own the feet, through favorable methods or not, to some extent, you own the horse: own the feet, own the mind, own the horse.
Have you ever wondered why a farrier walks or trots a horse in small circles, usually in both directions, prior to dropping the lead rope and proceeding to trim their feet?
The farrier wants a sense of the horse’s movement to detect any foot or leg issues, but they are also saying to the horse, “I am dominant, and I can move you on command and since your mind has accepted my ability to move your feet freely, I can pick them up and do as I wish.” Many trail riders have learned that a horse that balks when being trailer loaded often walks in freely after lunging it in circle for a few minutes. Again, the owner has reinforced themselves as the alpha being, the horse’s mind submits, frees up the movement of its feet, and it walks into the trailer willingly, almost magically.
In my early years of owning, training, and riding trail horses, say from about 1970 until the mid-eighties. My training methods were pretty much the norm for back country riders in those times. A horse was sacked out (desensitized with a cloth, coat, rope or sacking) and a rope was run through and around its back legs, usually in the manner of a scotch hobble. The back feet were toyed with then lifted with the rope, willingly or not. A struggle often resulted with the rope ultimately winning. The horse was then rubbed down, a saddle pad and saddle placed on it, and ridden, maybe being led on the ground for the first while. If the horse behaved well, it was a ‘good’ horse, if not it was ‘stubborn’, a ‘knot head’, or worse, a ‘bucker’.
The problem with this type of coarse training is that the horse has not given its mind and its feet willingly to the rider. For years my horses were not as willing to move out on command, move over or back softly, and while being led did not instantly walk or trot out with the first cue, a very important feature on any good trail horse. The sad part is that it probably takes less time to have the horse join up and respond to cues willingly with round pen and lunge line work then it did with other methods, and, it is unlikely I will be taking my shoes and socks off to walk barefoot upon a trussed up horse any time soon, although the smell of my feet alone might make the horse submit.(is this what they call the barefoot horse?).
So, let’s lift the feet of a horse that has been halter broke, desensitized, and has had some round pen or lunge line work. When I approach a strange horse, I always do so cautiously but with confidence. Watch the horse’s demeanor for signs of fear or aggression. If the horse is calm enough then approach the shoulder first and calm the horse down with voice and gentle touch, which will also serve to desensitize the horse in preparation for handling the feet (voice always comes before the touch). I generally rub the horse in the shoulder area, then back, base of the neck, girth area, then work my way along the neck to the ears and along the belly to the groin area. Through touching the body, I get a sense of how calm and forgiving the horse is before attempting to lift its feet. If the horse shows fear, aggression, or is generally uptight I will often keep a safer distance by taking the blunt end of a whip and gently rubbing it over the back in the shoulder area first. This also helps remove the whip as an object to be feared.
Once the horse accepts your rubbing and attention it is time to rub the horse’s leg down from the shoulder towards the hock. On an unpredictable horse do this with the fine end of a whip, just tickle him as you go down the leg. If this is the first time the horse is having its feet worked with, it will often aggressively lift its foot, in essence pulling it away from you. Keep rubbing or tickling it. Eventually it will drop it back down, and when it does, instantly stop the rubbing as a reward for accepting your handling. Pause for a moment then repeat. Soon you can rub the horse’s leg and foot, and it will keep it on the ground. When you reach this point continue on another foot.
After the horse stands calmly with its feet being touched it is time to ‘ask’ the horse to lift its foot. Rub down the leg then squeeze the backside of the leg bone just above the fetlock. The horse should lift its foot. If not, try squeezing the chestnut. At the same time, you can lift the foot by grasping the long hair at the backside of the pastern. If I am not expecting any trouble, I will often first simply lift the foot up by the pastern or lift the pastern hair and tap the front hoof to cue the horse to lift the foot. Because your horse has had voice commands for walking, stopping, etc. add a voice command like ‘give’ or ‘up’ to reinforce that you are expecting a response from the horse.
If the horse pulls away its foot and puts it down, you need to immediately pick it up again. Once you have the foot lifted try gently bobbing it rather than just holding it steady. This action often encourages the horse to relax and ‘give’ you the foot. A moment after the horse relaxes and gives you the foot (it feels soft, no resistance), reward the horse by placing the foot down. It is extremely important that you are in complete control. You decide when to pick up the foot and when to put it down. Absolutely do not take the foot if he lifts it for you before you ask for it. You may think he is being cooperative but then he decided when to it, so the horse maintains control in its own mind, is dominant, therefore, he may also choose to take it back when he wants. With the first few efforts put it down after it is relaxed even for a moment. Once the horse understands that he is going to get his foot back he is more willing to give it to you for longer periods. Rather than expecting long holding periods from one foot, move on to another foot after small successes and your progress will leap ahead.
If the horse leans on you do not attempt to lift or hold against the horse’s weight. Simply hold the foot up and lower it with the horse as the horse’s body leans over. As the horse becomes unbalanced, he will lift it back to the normal position or he will continue to lay down on the leg until the horse literally lies down, in which case just let it. Let the pastern go just before your hand touches the ground then encourage the horse to stand up again, and repeat. Few horses will lay down more than once or twice before they understand it is simply easier to hold up their foot, providing they know that they get their foot back after they relax and give it to you! If your horse is in these learning stages and you are comfortable that he is completely post broke (will not pull back when tied), then if it is tied to a post be sure that the lead rope is long enough so that the horse can comfortably lay down.
Work with the front feet first. When working with the back feet of an inexperienced horse there is a greater danger of being kicked so be sure to desensitize the back end well using the whip, as described for the front legs. If I am not confident about the safety of the back feet, I will use a cotton rope as described in the photo, in essence a scotch hobble set up, but rather than force up a hind leg I will play a game of give and take. I apply small amounts of pressure, take up the slack, and when the horse gives me his foot for a moment, I give it back. Soon you should be able to hold up the leg for a four or five count. Desensitizing the inside of the back legs by lifting the rope up and down inside the groin area makes handling the back feet safer and removes fear, which may be the main reason a horse refuses to give its back feet. Again, reward the horse by dropping the rope when it stops moving about and showing discomfort. Desensitizing the groin area and under the tail by gently lifting a rope up into it is crucial for trail horses as they will eventually get ropes jammed up in these areas and you are likely to go for a big buck. Be sure your rope is long enough that you cannot be kicked.
When you attempt to lift the horses back pastern by hand be sure that you are far enough forward so that the foot cannot come forward and kick you. With the back foot you bring it forward before taking it back to the position shown in the photo. When you bring it back the leg should travel straight back, not pulled out to the sided of the body and back. Hold the back foot cupped in your legs as shown. How high you hold the leg depends on how tall the horse is, the comfort zone is higher on a tall horse. If you lower it too much the horse may be inclined to take it back. If the horse does attempt to pull it back you can reciprocate by lifting it high and pointing the toe up, then lower the leg back down to the comfort zone once it stops pulling. Like the front foot, if it pulls the foot out of your hand you need to immediately pick it up again.
You may have noticed that lifting feet is really a game of mind control. You need to always be the one making the decisions, being in control of the horse’s mind and its feet. Spend time playing with and lifting feet at the same time as applying various cues, i.e. over, back, lowering the head, face left and right. Keeping the horse guessing about your next request means keeping control of its mind. Once the horse is giving its foot freely, clean and tap it to mimic future trimming and shoeing.
In the past I have talked about the importance of never letting the horse into your space uninvited. This is important for foot control as well. When the horse knows that you are dominant and that you have your own space it will not push its body or its feet on to you, meaning less chance of being stepped on. And because it recognizes your control over space it is more likely to give to your commands when you enter into its space and ask for movement of the body, ask to lift the foot, or walk a horse into a trailer. A rude, pushy horse is less likely to give up its feet.
A lifetime with a horse can be a long time, and you will thank yourself over and over if you take the time to train a horse properly to give and lift its feet. There are at least two moments of training when you need to be very patient and do not want to physically force a horse to comply with your wishes, for fear of instilling a lifelong habit of refusal and fighting, and that is placing the bit in the mouth and lifting the feet. Persistence and Patience! It’s more than a virtue! Note: If using any of the above methods with mules be very careful as they can kick out to the side as well as forward and back.

Trainers often say that when you own the horses’ mind you own their feet, which is very true. But to a good extent, the opposite is also true – when you train the horse to accept hobbles, control their feet, they give you their mind - they become a more agreeable horse, more willing to respond to what you ask. Makes perfect sense that a prey animal would respond this way since they have given you control over their flight and fight response.

Train a horse to give their feet by getting them desensitized with ropes around their legs and pastern, but, using a soft ¾ to 1 inch rope tied with a bowline around each leg, above or below the ankle, with about 14 to 16 inches of slack, gets them used to the idea of hobbles quickly. Do this in a pen with soft ground if possible. A horse led by bumping one foot is an accomplishment.

Train a horse to give and lift feet properly and you have a lifetime of easy labor each time you need to lift feet, which is often. Having a battle with a horse learning to give its feet properly means continuous battles. There are many horses out there that farriers choose to avoid, and outfitters who have to literally lay down to put on shoes.

We ride our horses barefoot regularly up mountains, but I have a short attention span when people say white feet are generally just as durable or tough as black feet, or that barefoot horses can work under loads in any condition with proper conditioning. I have seen horses with white feet so soft it was like paring frozen butter, and very often black feet like iron, including Speck, on the Cordillera Journey, who travelled about 1000 miles over mountains – barefoot. Generally, if you are looking for thick and tough hoof walls, you will end up black.