Equine Body Language Study, Training Horse to Pick Up Feet

[flightdoc89]

Thanks a good vid. Thank you!

[lizzieodonnell]

Wow very good video and very effective training... I got my first horse so I am still learning the correct procedures and methods for caring for him... I'll check out your other videos I hope you have more like this :-)

[ShirouYuukiz]

thank you for this it was very helpful.

[yasmeenia]

WOW this is brilliant

[welcometopemberley]

@yasmeenia Thanks!

[pummy369]

Really inspirational. This girl should do more videos and some especially for real beginners, like me, so that we start out right - like leading and grooming a horse for beginners. Please!

[welcometopemberley]

Ok, I will do that. Thanks for your comment! You might also check out my other channels, CIEStudies, ThePonyPros, and PlayWithPurpose. I used to have everything on this account but am spreading it out because I have too many vids :)

[breyerhorsegirl37]

@pummy369 i agree im novice one but im still beginner too im in the middle.

[sailawayyacht]

What kind of treats do you give to your horses when doing clicker training or any behavioral training? Thanks!

[welcometopemberley]

I use a quarter sized amount of SafeChoice grain. It is low in sugar. A pony gets about 2 cups in a 1hr session and a horse gets 3-4 cups. Some horses also like Alfalfa pellets, and those are good for lining the stomach against acid.

[sailawayyacht]

Thank you for the info!

[welcometopemberley]

You bet :)

[sailawayyacht]

Beautiful job! So easy to understand, and I loved your no-nonsense layman's explanation of why Patrick was doing was he was doing each time he did ANY time of movement. You are an amazing and very patient instructor. BRAVO!!!!

[welcometopemberley]

Thank you :)

[Princeaboo]

Enjoyed your video! Super work!

[welcometopemberley]

Thank you!

[myprophet1]

I'm 55 yrs yng, been working equines all my life and have known of this process of "extinction burst" but never the name for it, THANK-YOU!! I love your narration, as u show the horses' perspective. They definately are thinking beings and the process of learning is what I find most fun when "teaching" a horse. thanks again for the great vid.

[welcometopemberley]

Thank you, so nice of you to say. I got the phrase from Karen Pryor's book. She has a new one called Reaching the Animal Mind, which is great.

[horsnhound1]

That was one of the best "extinction burst" explanations I've ever seen! To watch PATRICK try all of those other options while you patiently reinforced the only acceptable one was incredibly helpful. We've all been through the frustration of extinction bursts -- you've encouraged us to keep on with "passive persistance in the proper position" until success is achieved. Bravo!

[welcometopemberley]

Hey, thanks! It's nice to hear someone got that out of it :)

[reiningdiva]

Great job! The industry needs more insightful and thoughtful horsemanship training. You set a beautiful example.

[welcometopemberley]

Thank you... that is a huge compliment!

[wiederSommer]

Thank you for the really good videos - especially your describing words are very useful to understand what the horse may be thinking... I made similar expiriences when I was training my rabbits :-)

[welcometopemberley]

Very cool! I would love to see a video of you training your rabbits. Have you made one yet?

[wiederSommer]

I've just made a video of some training results - maybe I should really make one of the training... good idea :-)

[marieclairedawson]

That's really useful. My boy was lef t for a year without having his feet touched and he's very wary. Gonna try this tomorrow!

[welcometopemberley]

Awesome, I hope it works for you! Thanks for your comment!

[SuperClaudeGoshen]

So how did you work with his back feet? I find the back ones to be more of a challenge with my baby (9 months old) because of balance issues (the baby is not the RIght-Brain Introvert, he is a Left-Brain Extrovert....). In the back, I am also "further away from him", so it's easier to engage him while I work on the front feet, in the back is more likely to want to walk forward. I do my own trimming, so I find it quite a challenge. I need to have someone to play with his mouthy mouth....

[welcometopemberley]

With back feet I teach them to let me rub a stick further and further down the leg. When they can hold still without kicking with a stick touching the leg, then I use a lead rope below the fetlock to pick the hoof up. I then practice holding it from 1-7 seconds, building 1 second at a time. Using a lead rope pulls the leg forward, though, so when you go to pick it up and pull it backward they can be confused and try to pull it forward. So, then practice moving the leg with the rope.

[welcometopemberley]

Next I will alternate between cuing them to pick the hoof up and cuing them to let me rub it while they keep it on the ground. To ask them to pick it up, I either squeeze the hock or squeeze the pastern. When I want them to keep it still, I rub my hand down keeping enough contact so as not to tickle them. Then when I get a hold of the foot and lift it up, I actually click and deliver the treat while I'm still holding the foot up.

[welcometopemberley]

It is hugely enlightening for them to realize they can balance with a hind leg up. Just hold the hoof in one hand and hold your treat out way behind you and they'll turn their head to grab it. It is so good for them - that part is where I tend to see the biggest breakthroughs in their attitude towards foot handling. Sometimes I'll hold a hind foot up for 2 minutes and feed them 5 treats, spacing them out while I've got the foot up. I try to hold it up as long as a farrier would.

[SuperClaudeGoshen]

Wonderful work. I especially like the way you don't consider his trial/error "errors" as "bad behavior", but as ruling out other options.....

Great also how you explain how is Right-Brain Introvert horsenality affects his relationship with you, with the reward etc. (having a RBI myself, I can really appreciate this)

[welcometopemberley]

Thanks for your nice words! Patrick is now starting to carry a saddle for the first time, so I'll have to make another video of him!

[lucindaknowlton]

Very interesting. I learned alot about horse body language. Thanks and keep up the great work!

[welcometopemberley]

I'm so glad to hear that :) Thanks for commenting and feel free to write with any q's!

[evanswelsh]

Love the detail. You can tell how much he is having to think about all this. Big thoughts for a baby.

[lesfreeman3]

I'm super excited to see someone showing a way of working with feet that doesn't rely on wresting with the horse!

[welcometopemberley]

Yes, we worked with Patrick this time and 3 other times for 10 minutes before his first trim and he was great for the trimmer! Clicker training is really the best way to go with foot work. We also work two or three horses together at a time and have them take turns getting to pick up their feet. We use one horse as a demo horse for two babies. When you do that, the babies can't wait to lift their feet up. You can do all four feet in 10 minutes. It's amazing.