There are two main reasons that horses do not like their legs being handled, not feeling safe and pain/anticipated pain.
Horses have evolved to rely heavily on their ability to flee from danger, so it makes sense that they will not want to get themselves into scenarios that hinder their ability to flee, especially when they don’t feel safe. A horse allowing you to pick up their leg and hold it, rendering them vulnerable in the moment, is a really big ask if you stop to think about it. So without considering any other factors, there is already a valid reason a horse may not want you to handle their legs.
Many horses suffer with all sorts of discomfort in their body that is exacerbated when they have to balance on 3 legs. Arthritis, kissing spine, hoof pain and even postural/muscular issues can make having a leg held up off the floor for any period of time a challenge. We must also consider if the act of trimming/shoeing itself is causing the horse pain for some reason.
So there are two very convincing reasons having your legs handled as a horse might not be great, and what normally happens? People hang on to the leg, lift it higher, growl/shout at the horse and worse. So now not only is the horse worried/in pain, we have added to their negative association with having their legs handled. Yes it is scary and yes it is painful and you were right to be worried and try to avoid this.
Another thing to consider is any painful experience that the horse associated with having their legs handled. One of my horses had a bad abscess years ago which was dug out too deeply by a vet and he was suspicious about having that leg handled for a while afterwards even though the pain had gone. He recently had another minor abscess in the same hoof and I knew he wasn’t right before he went properly lame because he started flinging the leg when I picked it up, I assume in anticipation of me digging and causing pain even after all these years. How many people would ignore that and call him naughty? If your horse is normally fine with something then suddenly isn’t, take it as information and communication.
It is not your farrier/trimmer’s job to train your horse, don’t put your horse into that situation unprepared. On the same token if your hoof care professional isn’t open to working in a way that suits your horse, advocate for your horse and use someone else. I have an older horse with hock arthritis amongst other things who is absolutely perfect to have his legs handled and hooves trimmed as long as you don’t try to pull his back legs high and you let him put them down for a moment when he asks. I experienced one trimmer who would not listen to what I was saying, kept trying to hold his legs high and argued with me saying “he’s not in pain he’s just being a dick” when I explained he was snatching his leg because he was uncomfortable and would be fine if she just let him hold his leg lower. Needless to say she never touched him again and nobody has had an issue with him before or since.
If you’re having issues handling your horse’s legs using positive reinforcement and training cooperative care is a really powerful way to improve their associations with the experience and also help you figure out how you can make the experience more comfortable for them if they are struggling physically with that balance. Hanging onto their leg and shouting at them until they give up is not going to instil confidence and is potentially going to make things much worse if there is a pain issue present.
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