Remember when you were a kid and you got a brand new pair of shoes?  The colors were vibrant, you almost didn’t want to get the soles dirty … you could run faster, jump higher!  There was just this irreplaceable, wonderful feeling you got from having a brand new pair of shoes laced snugly on your feet.

For some reason, horses don’t seem to share that zeal.Last week Cabo got his first pair of shiny new iron shoes … and he was neither amenable to the process nor appreciative of the end result!

Cabo is a three year old Paint horse that is owned by the ranch and I have been working on starting for the past few months.  Cabo’s training has been both challenging and rewarding.  Which is great because working with horses that have a variety of aptitudes and quirks will ultimately make me a better trainer … and, I mean every horse can’t be the cakewalk that my boy Teddy is.   (I haven’t introduced you to my perfect little dark chocolate hunk of horse who is by all accounts spectacular and probably an equine prodigy, but you’ll meet him later I’m sure!).

Cabo picks up concepts and cues quickly, however, there is a little something to be desired in the area of responsiveness and eagerness to please.  In fact, Cabo is in no danger of becoming a pleaser who has too many projects on his plate because he just can’t learn to say no … like some *people* I know.  Nope, Cabo makes you work for every success.

Getting his first pair of shoes was no different.

So, I thought today I would share with you my method for training a horse to stand for trimming and shoeing using my most recent activities with Cabo as a case study.  Of course there are a variety of training methods and opinions on this topic … so this is simply what has worked for me.  Or I think it’s working anyways

I personally learn best when I know the thought process behind the method and the end result so here’s the method behind my madness (mua ha ha ha … oh, sorry).

Premise and relevant assumptions behind training for trimming and shoeing:

• Horses’ favorite thing (after eating) is standing around doing nothing.
• Horses’ ultimate objective (aside from eating) is figuring out the quickest way to get back to standing around doing nothing.
• Horses’ prefer not be involved in activities which require them to do more than standing around doing nothing (unless it’s eating).

Now, before iron is ever introduced to hoof it is imperative that a great deal of time is spent picking up and holding each foot to get the horse accustomed to the process.  For the purpose of this discussion I am going to assume that the horse who is about to receive his or her very first set ^A of shiny new iron shoes has already gone through the lesson of having his or her feet messed with, held, tapped with hoof pick, etc.

I like to build lessons in layers when training horses.   I think each time you introduce a concept that is comprised of multiple parts, it is important to address one piece at a time repeating the activity until each part has been learned and the full concept is understood and accepted.  In this case the concept is to stand quietly while the foot is picked up, examined, trimmed, rasped and the shoe is fitted, nailed, and set … a total four times.  Honestly, there’s a lot going on there!

Here’s what you want the horse to know: this whole process is easy, painless and of no concern – your (the horse’s) job is to stand quietly and enjoy doing nothing.

So, I recommend setting aside a week where you will work with someone on one foot a day.  I prefer to do four feet over four consecutive days, however when schedules get wonky I think it is plenty fine to skip a day in between … but probably not more than that or you’ll lose some ground.

Here’s how it went down with Cabo:

Using a safe, strong, clean halter and lead in good condition, Cabo was tied securely with a quick release knot and enough lead to be comfortable but safe (about two feet) to a sturdy tie post in area free from obstacles where he could hurt himself or anyone involved in the shoeing process.

First off, Cabo did not care to stand around and have his foot messed with – it was boring.  So, in his mind the best idea was to not stand still while his foot was being worked with and hopefully the people would just give up and leave him alone.  He deduced that the best way to achieve this was by hopping away from the person holding his foot.  This little game of chase resulted in the farrier (my very patient and persistent cowboy ^B) being rendered useless and just a bit frustrated.

It’s important to note here that Cabo was not resisting the trimming and shoeing process because he was scared of hurt but because he was simply bored and not at all interested in being a participant in this whole silly charade (his words not mine)!

Lesson 1:  the horse may not move away from the person holding the foot.  This was achieved by my standing on the opposite side of the horse from the person holding his foot and when the horse went to hop my direction I applied pressure to the hip.  I started with a tap and gradually increased to a full on jab with my elbow.  It took about an hour of this little game, but ultimately Cabo discovered that heading my way was not a venue for escape and gave it up.

Remember – don’t get into a pushing match because (guess what!?) you’re not going to win.  Press and release, starting with the smallest possible cue and work up the intensity if it’s warranted.

Lesson 2:  standing quietly for trimming and shoeing takes considerably less effort than not standing quietly.  Of course the realization that hopping away wasn’t an option to get out of the inconvenience of having his feet messed with did not stop Cabo from devising another plan!  His next strategy was to pull his foot away from the person holding it.  As I’m sure you know, if a horse really doesn’t want you holding his foot you’re not going to because quite frankly he outweighs you by several hundred pounds.  There are a couple of things here: (1) don’t ever let the horse put his foot down unless it’s on your terms and (2) pulling a foot away indicates that the horse is obviously not interested in standing around doing nothing and must want to work (Cabo would like me to note that he strongly disagrees with the second statement).

Make sure that the foot always goes down on your terms and not the horses’ (or at least the horse thinks it’s always on your terms).  I recommended in these early stages giving the horse lots of breaks from holding his foot up, then gradually reducing the frequency and duration of these breaks until you can hold the foot as long as is needed.  This teaches the horse in the beginning that he does not need to pull his foot away from you in order to get a break. 

I like to always give the horse the chance to correct his behavior.  If he pulls away, pick the foot back up immediately and hold it for a bit before giving him a little break.  Then pick it up again (remember this is on your terms!) and get back to the business of trimming and/or shoeing.  However, in the event that horse persists in pulling his foot away I naturally assume he must want to go to work – so we lunge (or longe).

I recommend lunging at a good paced trot (Please note … obviously don’t start lunging your horse around if he or she is sporting a half-secured shoe and/or sharp nails are sticking out in all directions! Common sense, here please!) for five minutes or so, more or less depending on the horse.  Then head right back to the tie area and pick the foot back up and try again.  Pulling the foot away results in work and it is far more comfortable to stand and do nothing while someone is messing with your foot than breaking a sweat on the longe line.

With Cabo this took a number of lunging sessions with the third foot but only once on the fourth day with the fourth foot!  So, he learned something.  While the fourth and final foot was by no mean a breeze there was considerably less resistance and the entire session took about 20 or 30 minutes – great improvement!

Patience and persistence are key here!  Don’t pass up the opportunity for training in the interest of “getting the job done.”  Shortcuts are never time savers when it comes to training horses – you’ll just end up with a bigger problem somewhere down the line.

In four weeks we will be conducting this process all over again and I have no doubt that we will need to revisit these first two lessons and probably discover the need for a couple new ones.  Ideally I would like to be able to accomplish having all four feet done in three sessions (one foot, one foot, two feet), but it could very well take four again.  However, after three to four sessions I fully expect that Cabo will be standing quietly as all four shoes are put on during a single session – perhaps he won’t stand there quietly the *entire* time but he has a lifetime to work up to perfection!

Finally, this is of course just one example of one horse of one instance and by no means is the be-all-end-all to getting a horse trained to stand quietly for the farrier.  However, I think we all learn from each and every experience which is why I wanted to share this one with you! 

On that same note, I’d love to hear about experiences you’ve had, challenges? successes?  What have you discovered works and what have you discovered doesn’t work?  Please leave a comment!

Foot Notes
A: If people have a “pair” of shoes because we have a pair (as in two) feet, do horses have a “quad” of shoes … I think that sounds more accurate than a “set” of shoes.  I mean, a “set” sounds like something you would put together after a long term commitment of collecting … like a Time Life series.  Hmmm. 

B:  In the interest of full disclosure there is not a patient bone in my cowboy’s body … but he tries, *#$&%@ he tries!!