How to train your horse to pick up hind feet calmly. (It’s all about balance!)

This is for horses who kick, stamp, or resist picking up the hind feet. It’s also the best way to teach new, green (and usually unbalanced) horses how to pick up their hind feet easily and happily.

The biggest cause of problems with hind feet lifting is that the horse isn’t in the right balance. Try standing with your hip cocked and the weight down one leg… and then pick up that foot. It’s hard, right?

By teaching our horses HOW to shift their weight OFF the leg we’re asking them to pick up and how to distribute it onto the other 3 feet makes hind leg litting easy and calm for you and your horse.

This video shows some equines with a history of kicking with their hind feet – as you can see, there’s no kicking when we train it this way. (make sure you’ve checked out the video on touching your horse’s legs first, though, especially if you have an anxious horse or one who kicks).

I hope this is helpful! Thank you for watching 🙂

➣ If you’d like to find out more about my positive reinforcement horse training approach and learn how to clicker train your horse this way, please check out the Connection Training Club. The CT Club is an online membership site where you can get access to hundreds of step-by-step training videos on training your horse using positive reinforcement. You can learn and see exactly how I train my horses and how to train yours using rewards, from starting off with a fantastic foundation to effective and practical techniques for despooking, loading, riding and more. You can find out more and sign up here. We look forward to seeing you there 🙂

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