picking up feet

Question
I can get my horse to shift her weight and let me pick up her feet, but after I get her back feet off the ground (the front ones are fine) she starts to step away from me and it's like she feels like she's losing her balance and jerks her foot out of my hand. I can't very well support her whole hindquarters, so I'm not sure how to keep her foot up. She's already put it down on top of mine with some force, which hurt very much. I'm not pulling her leg way out to the side or anything like that--I'm just picking it straight up and perhaps a little behind her. How can I keep her foot up so I can atleast clean it?

Answer
         Hi Hannah,
    I imagine it was very painful having her foot come down on top of yours, so you do need to cure this problem as quickly as possible. At the moment the snag is, that she has learned that she can snatch her foot away, and she can get away with it. I don't know how big or strong you are, but apparently you are no match for her. Is it possible for you to enlist the help of someone who would be strong enough to hold on when she "snatches". If she suddenly found that she was failing to break free, there is a very good chance that she would drop that behaviour quite quickly.
         If you cannot get suitable help, then you have two choices. The one I favour is the same method as above, but you are going to have to make her fail yourself. The other one would involve giving her a smack, as soon as she committed the offence. This is not a method I would favour, as it falls into the category of punishment, but if all else fails well..... If you do have to go down that route, remember that the punishment has to come within a second or two of the offence, otherwise it only does more harm than good.
         Anyway, back to a brighter note. You say that,when you lift a back foot "she steps away". Could you prevent that by lining her up alongside a wall or fence? The next step is to try to find someway to increase your "power". I get the impression that, as things stand, you lose your grip as soon as she pulls away, therefore she is instantly "free". Could you make a loop with a bit of rope (or maybe an even softer material), which could be slipped over her foot as soon as it comes up initially. The idea here is that when she "snatches", she doesn't break free, as you can keep some pressure on, even if she succeeds in getting her foot back on the ground. Many people think that horses naturally yield to pressure, but in fact they fight it, and it is up to humans to teach them to yield. This is done by first applying pressure (not too much or the animal may respond with too much in return). As long as the horse fights, try to keep the pressure on, but immediately the horse yields, you must yield too by removing the pressure. This could lead to a certain amount of see-sawing at first, but if you stick rigidly to the principle of resisting when she resists and yielding when she does, then you'd cure your problem in a couple of days.
         I'm not sure how well I managed to explain myself, but if you have any further questions, don't hesitate to ask.
         Meanwhile I wish you the best of luck,
         Slan,
         Brendan