I have a 4yo that just recently came to my barn and his previous owner taught him to bow. So whenever you pick up a front foot, he’s trying to go to the ground and “bow”, looking for a treat. I just want to pick his durn feet lol
Obviously I’m not going to punish him for this behavior he was taught, but I also don’t want him to continue this. This is new territory for me. Ideas welcome!
Maybe try having somebody else feed him a treat with his head up a bit while you pick up his foot to break the habit?
Can you ask his previous person what cue she used for “I need your foot” and how it’s different than his cue for bow?
Or, if he’s been trick trained, teaching him to touch a target with his nose while you pick his feet would probably be super easy and keep his head up.
The verbal “foot” command is a good idea.
However you do it, I think that once the bow commences, you have to immediately put everything down, turn your back and walk away for a couple of minutes.
He has to perceive a non-reward, even a negative such as losing all attention, in response to the bow.
IMO this has to be kept up absolutely consistently for a couple of years to really see the ‘bow’ behavior go away!
Warning that if you fudge this in any way, such as not following through on turning away, not only will he not unlearn the bow, he’ll keep it up forever thinking that at least some of the time he will get attention for it. But only if he keeps trying.
That also goes for occasionally breaking routine and having him do his bow on purpose, to show someone else. It just reverts the animal back to the behavior, thinking a reward is coming so long as they don’t quit trying.
Behavioral science has shown that inconsistent, even infrequent, reward cements a behavior into an animal’s brain longer than any training method. If the reward is intermittent, the animal keeps up the behavior, because sooner or later the reward will come. But only if they keep doing it.
To end the behavior, any form of reward has to 100% go away, forever.
Probably just trying to get a click/treat.
Just say nope or don’t react and use a word for picking up the foot.
Is he a snorty type? If not, I’d say “ah ah” and gently poke him in the sternum with the hoof pick or your thumb. Lots of good boys for not going to the ground/bowing, but no treats lest the behavior revert.
Your farrier is going to love you. 
Yeah, he’s coming tomorrow 
Extra big tip.
The best way I know to extinguish a behavior like this is to train the trick to a new cue, and simply never give the cue.
It’s possible you’re inadvertently cueing him with something you’re doing that’s easy to change - so checking in with the previous owner may help. On the other hand, perhaps they were foolish and did not make these actions distinct.
You can train the new ‘trick’ of standing tall with the foot up, that you can then hold, and shape that. It may help to give a very verbal cue for that so it is distinct for him.
I’d love to be a fly on the wall during that trim
If he tries to bow maybe say no and step him forward?
My mare was started by a person who teaches tricks. Gives clinics. Has written books. Sigh.
My mare would half pass over the mounting block. Took quite a long time to stop that habit. She is also very, very mouthy due to being constantly fed a treat every single time she did anything ‘positive’. Thankfully they only worked with her for a few months before I got her.
Hope the bowing doesn’t take too long to correct!
Regrettably, I did this, too. Always meant to teach a different cue after installing the trick but it never stuck. My workaround was that I picked hooves starting with the back feet. Then by the time I got to the front left (the “cue” foot), the horse already had the idea that this was hoof picking time, not bowing time, and there was no confusion.
Another thought - put a western saddle on him, put a foot rope on and just loop it over the horn so you can release if things get mega hairy. When he goes to bow just hold the rope and get out of the way while giving the ‘ah ah’. Don’t give him his foot back until you’re done (unless things get mega nasty of course, but let him hop a little if he needs to). You could also get out from there and manually pick his head up without him getting his foot back.
Keeps you safe and out of the way, no release for him.
First time I read it I wondered why you were upset, anything I ride gets to half pass TO the mounting block, that’s handy. OVER, not so much!
Surely he has seen the farrier and not done his “trick”. He is four.
I am looking forward to hearing how it goes tomorrow.
He was very good for the farrier, although he did try to show him his trick once or twice. I just kept his head up and distracted him with scritches, and no farriers were harmed in the process. 
Despite being a just turned 4 yo and going under saddle, he doesn’t have a whole lot of life experience.
I would suggest teaching him the trick of “foot up” - it is generally easier to train a behavior out of an animal by replacing it with another.
For instance - dog always barks at the mailman? Teach him to retrieve something instead. I worked with a dog that would lunge and bark at passing cars or people when I walked him (he had a LOT of aggression issues). I started asking him to sit when I saw a car or person coming. He learned to sit and look at me when a car or person was coming.
Note before anyone gets crazy - he lived on a farm I used to work at and was never walked off the farm or taken out when visitors were there so the only people coming by were the barn workers who well knew to stay away from him, they would just pass by doing their daily work but always remain 10ft or more away
With the bowing issue - if you can, ask the owner what the command was and then alter your behavior as you see fit accordingly. I have had people have trouble picking up my horses’ feet because I taught my horses that a tickly behind the knee or inside the hock was the cue to pick the foot up and they were used to squeeze the tendon just above the ankle - my horses wouldn’t do anything, they were waiting for the “proper” cue…meanwhile farrier or whoever getting annoyed.
So if you can figure out the cue for bow, just teach a different one for foot up and if you cannot figure out the cue for bow just pick a cue for foot up and train the horse that way - if the horse keeps bowing at first, correct then reward for foot up.
That makes a lot of sense, thank you!
Funny side story about trick training horses…my friend trained her older horse to stand on a tire - it’s a huge truck tire filled with sand. Well, the problem now is she will put her jacket on the tire before she gets on if she’s feeling a bit warm and I always hear in the distance, “no, not now, I’m just putting my jacket down!”
Yeah, “bow” can backfire on you. I often wonder if people really consider the future effects of training a horse for a certain trick like that.
No farriers harmed, indeed.
A woman at a barn I boarded at had a horse that had been charro trained. The horse would rear and “walk” a couple steps in response to a cue she could never figure out and also would leap into the air and kick out with her hind legs. Scared the crap out of all of us. Owner could never figure out how to rid her of these tricks and eventually sold her to someone that thought those behaviors were cute. Another woman decided to train her very smart Arabian gelding to rear because she thought it was beautiful when horses did that. After we all shrieked at her for the sheer stupid of that idea, she desisted. People. argh
I did this successfully with my Aussie mix, Scout. He always wanted to paw at me, so I taught him to shale hands upon request. No more pawing!
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
