Pawing.

[MidKnight~Moon]

Ok, so my mom's horse Spike has picked up the habit of pawing when he eats and occiasionlly when hes having to stand still while moms either tacking up or riding. Is this a good or bad thing? And how do I make him stop?

[oursarge]

Our mare does that and it drives me mad, she doesn't do it while eating or getting brushed but if she has to stand with no food or for any reason other than brushing she's pawing. If I tell her to stop she will but then will start up again in a few seconds. I haven't really found anything to make her stop totally, I'm open to ideas too!

[MidKnight~Moon]

Trust me oursarge, Im open to ideas too.

[FatSpottedAppy]

Prodigy does that and I'm 99% sure he picked it up from April. He is a BAD pawer.. He paws all the freakin' time. I heard there is something you can get that is basically a chain on strap that is around the leg. When they paw, the chain bumps them.. I have never seen one for sale, though? I'm open to ideas too..

[MidKnight~Moon]

FatAppy join the club if anyone has ideas youre more then welcome to take some ideas from this thread

[mare]

You can use a dog collar fixed above the horse's knee(s) and attach whatever weight chain you want to it, and it doesn't take a very large chain. The clerks at a hardware store will help you if you don't have the tools. It works well.

[MidKnight~Moon]

Mare- thanks for the idea

[alittleoffkey]

Legacy used to paw when he was tied. I tried yelling at him, smacking his shoulder, aack-ing him, but it never worked. So until he stopped, I would keep a crop in my back pocket and pop his leg the instant he brought it up. Once was all it ever took to get my point across, and eventually he stopped.

Mare's idea works well, it's the same idea as kicking chains. :) Also, if you can tie their head up high enough, then they can't pull their leg up to paw... I don't have a place to tie my horse's head up quite that high though.

[MidKnight~Moon]

Alittleofkey- Thanks Ill try that one out:)

[vicklynn]

I tie Citys head up shorter when he paws. Bad habit.
Myst paws at her grain bucket while eating, that dosnt bother me, she does not paw while tied.

[JennyandJosey]

Josey will paw when she's antsy or alone. It goes in stages. Sometimes she does it every day...other times she won't do it for weeks. It drives me nuts! She will stop if I correct her but will do it again once I am out of sight.

[sarhound]

Chico was really bad about it when I first got him--drove me out of my tree. When we started using him for trail rides, and he spent a lot of time tied to the hitching rail between rides, he finally cut down on it. He still gets a wild hair every so often, but not nearly as bad as he used to be.

[~*Domino*~]

Domino used to paw really bad to the point it was bruising his feet! Once I sent him to the trainers and he was being worked and not bored he stopped. She would work with him and then tie him to the post and he would be there for hrs. At first he would paw but then he figured it out that it didn't do him any good. He was at the trainers for 2 months, he started it up again about a week after he got back though because he was not being kept busy like he was. I ended up getting these http://www.myshoez.com/use.html and it helped but did not stop it like the constant work did! Sorry, I rambled, lol!

[HeartofSteel]

Niko would paw when I would start walking away when he was tied, he didn't like that I wasn't giving him attention. I tried telling him to stop and plenty of other things but it didn't work. I finally would just leave and stay out of sight until he stopped then I would come back and tell him he was a good boy. He is rarely does it now, he paws sometimes when he gets frustrated but he stops on his own.

[FoxFireEMT]

my arab use to paw/hold his foot up when eating. he never did it otherwise but only when he ate. i never saw it as a bad thing. maybe annoying but he never dug a hole or harmed his hoof.

My TB, if I take too long to get her out of the field she'll paw at ground but it's more of a "hurry up, mom" then an aggervated pawing.

[MidKnight~Moon]

Domino- thank you, ill have to look into that. maybe I can talk mom into getting some.

Thanks guys for the helpful tips.

[Annie&Dixie]

Dixie paws here and there in the wash rack. She hates being in there for any extended period of time and then if I'm doing something else, she's gets pissed and basically thinks that she shouldn't be in there longer than she has to. All I have to do is yell at her and if that doesn't work, I'll walk towards her with my foot out like I'm going to "kick" her leg. I've done it before so she knows I will.

She will also do if she's learning something new under saddle and she gets pissed but that barely lasts.

I hope you can get it cured! The above way has always worked well for me with Dix but then again, she's not that bad. :)

[Vibe]

Dolly use to be really BAD about that. I would just let her do it. When she stopped for a good five minutes I let her go be with her buddies. It took ALOT of patience on my part. But they will learn if they don't paw they can go play. If they paw, they'll remain tied up until they stop.

[OwnedByOurHorses]

All I have to do is yell at her and if that doesn't work, I'll walk towards her with my foot out like I'm going to "kick" her leg. I've done it before so she knows I will.
They may not paw when you are around after a few good pops are placed on them. But that doesn't mean it won't stop the pawing from happening when you're not around.
My mare Heaven is a pawer.. She has pawed fences and rip off shoes, and has pawed a stall wall until she has pawed a hole in the wood. She learned after many pops to not paw when we were around. But after getting phone calls from neighbors saying Heaven was caught on the fence or seeing where she had new paw marks on the stall wall that I took the advise of my farrier to get a pawing device . Well after looking at a few I figured I could just as well make one at a cost of $4.00. using 2 dog collars and 2 choker chains that I purchased at dollar tree. all I did was stitch the choker chain to the collar using tread I had on hand . After getting whacked a few times doing it to herself she very soon learned that pawing only created more problems for herself ....Now every once in awhile after a stressful day for her or when she has had to be stalled longer than usual because of foul weather I have to put them back on as a reminder . But it helped in curing the problem of her pawing when I wasn't able to be there to correct her.


http://forum.horse.com/upfiles/5481/D15B76D21A624398B13443DCD30D5D7C.jpg

[Dixie]

I've got one that paws the air when eating and he also will paw when tied. He gets impatient so he paws. Another will paw the air when eating too but only when she first gets to her feed bucket, then she stops and doesn't do it when tied.

Storm only paws at the gate when he thinks he should be let out or let in. He doesn't do it any other time. One time he actually stood up on the gate, liked to have gave me a heart attack as all I could see was his feet slipping through and him killing himself trying to get free. When I catch him doing it, telling him to back off or stop it works, he'll look at me like he's innocent.

Dixie doesn't paw at all.

[YAorNEIGH]

Ownedby, those are ingenious! Very creative.

I feel that pawing is a very bad habit. Not only is it irritating, but it is potentially harmful! As people have mentioned, it can result in bruising of the hooves, injury to the forelegs, knees, and damage to property. I think it's best to stop the behavior asap. Lots of good suggestions here! :)

[Turn and Burn]

I have a mare the digs holes to China. What I did to fix it was tie her up. I tied her up for as many hours as I could as often as I could. And eventually she quit, now she can be tied up for hours and won't paw. She figured out it's a wast of energy. Also if you have a place to tie were the ground is really hard that helps. After a while of pawing and not getting anywere, they usually quit. I've heard hobbling works too.

[OwnedByOurHorses]

I have a mare the digs holes to China. What I did to fix it was tie her up. I tied her up for as many hours as I could as often as I could. And eventually she quit, now she can be tied up for hours and won't paw. She figured out it's a wast of energy. Also if you have a place to tie were the ground is really hard that helps. After a while of pawing and not getting anywere, they usually quit. I've heard hobbling works too.

My property is nick named concrete hill by the local cotton farms. and Heaven could still dig to China. She didn't need to be tied..She would paw any where she just damn well felt like it.
The collar and chains put a stop to it..I would leave them on her. keeping an eye on her from afar just incase and after alittle while she figured out that it sucked hitting herself.

[Joey A]

Deleterious effects of pawing.... http://www.baywindfarm.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5281

I have a client that I made some of those kicking rings for. (Like what Domino posted) But... Regular shoes are a) too light, and b) have too sharp on an edge and tend to take hair off. (that's what was on the horse I made them for) I make them out of 5/8" round barstock. I have several hundred feet around if anybody wants a pair. I got the idea out of Monty Roberts book, they seem to work.

I've never had the chains work on my horses, they figure out how to paw so that the chain dosen't hit them. As far as kicking, they've never even phased the only horse I ever tried them on.

Mine are all turned out on pasture and don't paw out there. I have 20 gallon Fortiflex tubs that I feed them in so that they don't get hurt pawing the feeder, (which they still do) and they rarely turn them over.

[Joey A]

These are intended as action devices on walking horses, but I have several clients that use them on pawing horses.

http://wcircle.com/inc/sdetail/3888

http://k.b5z.net/i/u/2187104/i/Picture_147_ezr2.jpg
FYI, don't turn out any horses with rings, rollers etc on. They get to running and they can fracture the extensor process of the coffin bone. Kicking chains won't cause as traumatic of an issue, but they can hurt them if they run around.

[All4Grace]

My sister will atest...every morning there are threats made that Gracie's legs are going o be cut off!!
She paws for food, attention, anything...she stands close the the stall wall and just nails it over and over again. It starts at 5-6am EVERY morning.
When she was on stall rest for her fracture years back I had kick chains on her but she just ripped the chains right off!!!.

I think I might try ownedbys trick... He pawing is EXTREMELY annoying and loud. She paws while tied, crosstied, being bathed... something she learned from her track days as they stand on the ties for hours waiting for their race, they need to do something.
Even when she is worked hard she'll still paw....

In fact, as I type this I hear bang bang bang coming from the back yard. :mad:

[Joey A]

I've got a couple requests on rings, so... If you want a pair I need measurements on the length and width pastern. Take exact measurements, I'll adjust from there.

[MidKnight~Moon]

Thank you guys for all your advice and help.

[SuperSTB]

I think Gracie would get along just fine rolling around the paddock sans legs :P

It really doesn't bother me persay but I know it irritates hubby and more than likely the neighbors. It's louder than someone hammering- and who wants to hear that at 6am every morning.

I thought about doing a chain curtain... like the 70's doorway beads along the 2 walls she kicks. I know if I just pad it- she'll still kick. Maybe it'd freak her out just enough...

[Joey A]

Here's a pair of rings I made today. The man pony (Admiral) got to model for them. I put them on, and he took two steps, realized they were on him, then just stood still looking at me as if to say "Why you do this to me!?" I was laughing, LOL.:innocent:

[YAorNEIGH]

WF, How do the ankle roller things deter the horse from pawing? Do they make a noise? :D I don't know anything about walkers...

[Joey A]

I'm not a fan of using them for their intended purpose. It actually raps on the coronet band and causes a sort of "knee jerk" reaction and gets them to lift their legs higher. The rubber or wood ones like the ones I posted are less likely to cause damage. But I've seen horses worked in the aluminum or copper ones that have fractured the coffin bone. Again, these are not for use on horses being turned out.

[YAorNEIGH]

Huh. Wouldn't that be counterproductive for a horse that paws then, WF? If it causes more lift? (Sorry, I probably sound totally clueless...Because I am, lol.)

Thanks very much for the explanation :)

[Joey A]

Well it depends...

When they paw, are you riding them? More importantly are you hitting them with a crop and spurring them to keep them moving so that it hurts more and more as you force them to continue working even though they are in pain?

Or are you letting them figure out that pawing with the ring on causes them pain, and that it's best to not paw?

I'm pretty sure that either way if left to their own devices, they'll stop pawing with the ring on.

[Joey A]

bump...

[Annie&Dixie]

Legacy used to paw when he was tied. I tried yelling at him, smacking his shoulder, aack-ing him, but it never worked. So until he stopped, I would keep a crop in my back pocket and pop his leg the instant he brought it up. Once was all it ever took to get my point across, and eventually he stopped.

I haven't read all of the replies but this is what worked with my friend's horse who was a bad pawer. He was bad in the way that he did a striking motion as he pawed, he could easily nick somebody's knee. The crop worked wonders. Yelling just gives them more attention - although depending on horse, yelling works just fine. Dixie has pawed occasionally and I've yelled at her from both in front of her or around a corner and now all I have to do is give her "the look".