I have a horse that was like that.
My advice is get the horse to beleive in you and for you to beleive in the horse all that you can and run your hands down the horses legs every time you take it out.
Kristen

i've tried that, it doesn't work very well, she absolutely hates it. is it possible that something happened in colorado? this guy wasn't that bright, and they didn't get along well. Any other ideas? will i have to sedate her every time the farrier comes or is there a natural herb that does it or what

If you have any other horses, I would try tying them up together and you pick up the other horses feet with her near and watching. Horses can learn alot by veiwing.
I don't think sedating her would teach her anything. she would just stand there and not learn that there's nothing to be afraid of. If she needs a farrier though I would use that as a last resource.
If none of this works then she probably had a bad expiriance with somebody hurting it on the legs. abuse is one of the most common things with a horse that is refusing.

My horse Mecca is soooo horrible when i pick her hooves! She yanks back so hard I have to let go!!! The poor farrier!!!! But I learned to pull back and say that im the boss!!! And teach her not to do that!!!! And im only ten so its hard for me to pull back on a 1200 lb horse!!!! And now she is much better at it!!!

Now If your horse wont lift its foot then push your elbow in to the back of there leg and force them to lift it up!! If that doesnt work get your hoof pick and tap the back of the hoof till they pick it up!!! But be ready to grab it!!!! And if that doesnt work have a friend make your horse move up and when it lifts its leg to move grab it!!!!! And if that doesnt work then I dont know!!!!

One suggestion is to use a lead rope to get her used to things touching her feet. Make sure that she is not tied and is in a wide open space when you do this, so if she does panic, she won't get hurt.

Start by throwing the rope over her back and pulling it off, clinton anderson style. If she is not ok with this, keep doing it until she relaxes. You might want an experienced horseperson there with you the first few times, or have them do this first. Once she is completely calm with it over her back, start it towards her rump. Or have it coil around her forelegs. When you get to her hindlegs, she might start kicking or moving a lot. Keep with her! If she's scared, this will let her know that there is nothing to be afraid of, if she just doesn't like it, she'll learn that what she's doing isn't working.

Once she is completely calm and perfect with that, put the lead rope around her foreleg. Rub it up and down, holding it four or five feet away (this is practice for getting to her hindlegs) Once she's good with that, let it drop to her ankle and, being in front but slightly to the side, lift that leg up. Repeat to her other side, then try her hind legs. If you have done the prep work right, she should be ok with this, maybe slightly nervous, but ok. Repeat what you did with her front legs with her hind, and be prepared for her to kick a little when you try to lift her hind leg. That's ok, it's part of the learning process. Once she lets you pick any of her 4 legs up with the leadrope, or even lets you lead her forward by placing one foot forward at a time, she is ready for you to touch her hind legs. then you can try picking her hind leg up. If you've done everything right, there ought to be no more problems!

I really hope that this helps!

Hi Jenna, well you do not fix a problem by going directly at the problem. If a round pen is available, lounge her until she is giving you (2) eyes when you move the hid quarters. Not 1 eye, not partially 2 eyes, directly and consistently 2 eyes. Without both eyes you do not have her respect or her complete attention. Once she consistently eyes you, walk to her head and neck and rub her, turn your back and step off a few steps. Do this until she stands completely still when you approach and retreat. If she attempts to walk any where but straight at you to join you, start lounging again immediately, do this until she decides it is easier to stand where you placed her than it is to lounge around the rd pen. Now, once she stands still as you approach and touch her, start to run your hands down her front legs, across her back, under her belly, and attempt to rub the hind legs if it feels safe to do so. You have to do this rubbing on both the left and the right sides, very important. During this if she moves or kicks or even starts to move, send her around the pen at least 5 times and then get her facing up correctly again, continue this until you can rub all the legs with her standing still. (Don't lift her legs during this, just rub your hands all over her until she stands still). Once this happens go to the lead rope exercise described by Katie Helfrich. Again, anytime she moves at all from picking up her feet with the rope, lounge her at least 5 rounds, more if she does not act calm and consistent in her lounging. Do this everyday until she understands that it is much easier to stand and give those hoofs than it is to run around the round pen. During all of this training do not hit her with your hands, a rope, a whip, or any other object. Fear is not the answer, the answer will come to her from the lounging or extra work she has to do to get to rest peacefully. This is going to take some work, many days, you will learn as much as she will, and she will be safe for you and others. Good luck and God Bless

Caitlin I think that is a wonderful idea. I am the owner of a farm and I am always on the look out for sites to help in finding applicants jobs as well as employers looking for applicants. I will visit there. Good for you!

Next time your farrier comes out, have him show you the proper way to pick up your horses feet. There are several safe ways to go about it and there are lots of ways to get hurt. If you do it correctly, it also is a more supportive and comfortable way for your horse as well. If you are not picking up your horses leg firmly and with confidence and in the safest way possible your situation will just continue. Also there is no magic pill! As with everything with horses you need to be consistent and constant repetition is the only way. We pick our horses feet everyday before we ride and when we are done both. Our horses will pick up there feet for us, because they know the routine. If you are not out handling your horse at least 4-5 times a week it is going to take a very long time to get your horse to be good about picking up his back feet. You also may want to check with your vet and make sure your horse does not have a reason for not wanting to pick up his feet. Good luck! And I am glad you have concern for your farrier. Being married to a farrier I appreciate people wanting to have a safe horse!

This will take some time. Be patient! Work on control - move her front legs, move her hind legs, get her backing well! Get her responsive to your cues!

Then, make sure she knows the pattern by walking through it around one hundred times (you don't really have to, but she should know the pattern well enough that she could do it on her own - you should just be there for backup. :) Start trotting it. Make sure she's making the turns nice and tight, but use pockets! Go four or five feet out as you guide her around.

You should also be able to move her closer to or farther away from the barrel without a fight. However, if you just sit there after you start her, she should have done it enough that she knows to turn the barrel. the ideal is that she does a perfect turn on her own.

In order to gain control at faster speed, lope. Get her more responsive, especially to the stop! Start at a walk, and use your body to cue her, then say whoa, then pick up the reins. If she even hesitates before the reins are picked up, this is good! It means someone (you or a previous owner) has at least started to teach her to pay attention to the body, not just the reins. If she doesn't respond at all and you have to haul on the reins, you have a lot of work to do. Every time you stop her, I don't care what you're doing or practicing, get her to back 2 steps. If you do that every time, she will come to associate stopping with rocking back for those 2 steps. Practice all of this at the walk and trot until you either don't have to touch her reins, or just have to touch them very lightly. Then, when you lope or run and she gets excited, you'll have that much more pressure in reserve to remind her to pay attention!

Another excellent exercise for barrel horses is circling, at all speeds, and with all sorts of circles. If she bulges a shoulder out (doesn't follow her nose) use the corresponding leg to get it back into place (that is what moving the shoulders and hips will help with). If you can get her to do all of this, you two will be well on your way to blazing around those barrels.

I hope that this helps!

O my Gosh!!! Your daughter sounds like me!!! I am 10, have 5 horses, one quarter horse, I want to barrel race, my horse is seven, and I ride western and english!!!

you must have an amzing horse to be able to do western pleasure and barrel racing. they are completely different. last year my trainer made me pick pleasure or barrels. but i also had to train him to do them.

If you start slow, it's not that hard to do both. Especially since pleasure has a lot of horses in the arena, and with barrels, you're the only one. The hard part is keeping the horse calm for events like equitation, and not taking out the cones! :)