Mind matters
Our experts
Ben Hart is a horse behaviour consultant. He has written several books and online courses.
Photos: Bob Atkins, Jon Stroud
Catherine Bell is an equine behaviourist and helps to co-ordinate the Equine Behaviour and Training Association.
Angie Jones-Moore SNHS Dip is a certified Life Coach with a particular interest in equestrianism.
Pick it up
My horse is really well-behaved about picking his feet up for me, but he’s difficult for my farrier. Why might this be?
Georgie Coombes
A Ben Hart answers: Once you’ve excluded pain or discomfort, the most common reason that this might be happening is a lack of generalisation. When a horse learns to do something one way, with one person and in one location, he can find it difficult to do it in a different way with someone else. It’s likely you have a certain way you pick up his feet, how long you hold them up for, how high you lift them and where and when you usually do it.