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Re: [RC] easyboot experts - please help! - Ed & Wendy Hauser"...I've tried everything (training wise) and nothing changes her resistance as soon as nailing starts. Anything else you do is fine, just no nails..." Sounds like a prime candidate for the old war bridle training method. You put the war bridle on the horse. There are various types, lots of pre-natural horsemanship books have illustrations. Put her in a round pen, or relatively small area. Do not tie her, or have anyone hold her. Pick up the foot, and tap with hammer. When misbehavior happens, immediately jerk on the war bridle. She will jump, snort and other wise resist. Keep jerking until she stops backing. Then praise her and stroke her. Repeat. After a few repeats make her move towards you before stopping the jerks. Note: these are jerks, not steady pulls. Note also they are uncomfortable, but not really painful, though she may try to convince you they are. Eventually, you will be able to pound on a horseshoe with no reaction. Then it is time to call in a farrier. Hopefully, you can find one that knows the technique. Pay him extra for training. She will act up for the farrier the first shoeing or two, but since by now she knows that acting up results in instant correction, it won't take many lessons before she stands quietly. As in all horse training, timing is very important. After you have done it a number of times, it gets easier. The pure natural horsemanship lift up the foot etc until fear goes away is fine and works, but when a habit is somewhat ingrained, both reward and punishment is needed. We (me and my farrier) have used this method on two of Wendy's mares. The first gave fits with only one rear foot. The reason was that foot had a severe case of scratches when she was young. She was sure that pain was going to be the result of farrier work. The other broke a front coffin bone. She had to be correctively shod until it healed. Even tranked, it must have been painful so she didn't want shoes nailed to that foot. Ed Ed & Wendy Hauser 2994 Mittower Road Victor, MT 59875 ranch@xxxxxxxxxxx 406.642.6490 ============================================================ Why should I look good if I don`t smell good? ~ author unknown ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================
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