[rusty123rus]

wow. I need some serious help. So as you all know we just had a foal.(Dazer) She is a wild thing. I was wondering when we should teach her to lead. And I put the halter on her today... she is kinda weirded out by it... but she doesn't mind it to bad. She also loves to rear... anybody got some suggestions? Oh and about her she is only 11 days old, a Tennessee walking horse and Qh mix.

[Heavenly Jumper]

I had a halter on mine by the second week. On and off on and off on and off...as many times a day as I could stand. Get used to the feel of it around the ears and wear it around while I was present.

If you want to turn out in one, use a breakaway with grab strap

Here is my little one with her wee little halter on -




After the halter is no big deal, (only when you are present!) for about 15 minutes a day, attach a crappy lead rope and just let her drag it. She will learn a lot from getting 'stuck' and giving to pressure on her own.



You can also start teaching her to give to pressure while holding her halter. Hold the halter and poke her in the hip...when she moves that foot even an inch, praise!!

That's the beginning of learning to give to pressure. When she is bigger you can start teaching her to lead.

[StarfireArizona]

I had the halter on my little one when he was only a couple hours old....and put it on several times a day for weeks after. I put a lead on him when he was about 3-4 days old, and after a wild, very brief struggle of him pulling back, he learned very quickly that I wasn't about to let go. He learned right then to give in to pressure. Use a cotton lead for your hand's sake, or even better wear gloves. If you need to hold on, you won't get rope burn

It is never too early to try to get them to lead. Everything is sssooooooooo much easier when they are small. I am so very thankful I did all that when Desi was 80 pounds as opposed to the 680 pounds he is now at almost a year.

While your baby is still young, be sure to be able to touch everywhere on her...ears, eyes, mouth, feet, tail, private areas, belly, legs, etc. Pick up her feet & clean them a little bit....but watch out for those unexpected kicks. Once I got my colt used to being on a lead, I pulled his head to the side so he could see what I was doing when I went to touch his feet. I never ran into any problems as long as he saw it coming & trusted me.

There is just so much to do with them while they are this small, and every minute is time well spent

[Heavenly Jumper]

Originally Posted by StarfireArizona

There is just so much to do with them while they are this small, and every minute is time well spent

I could not agree more!!

Every moment is spend on 'training' with them.

(even if it's cute, letting them get away with stuff is only going to snowball )

[rusty123rus]

ok! I'll try those... Im about to go back out but the last time I put the lead on her she reared... very high and fell backwards. No injuries she landed on a nice squishy bedding of mud... it scared the living daylights out of me.... any ideas?

[Heavenly Jumper]

Originally Posted by rusty123rus

ok! I'll try those... Im about to go back out but the last time I put the lead on her she reared... very high and fell backwards. No injuries she landed on a nice squishy bedding of mud... it scared the living daylights out of me.... any ideas?

Did you just let go?

I would start with dragging the lead that way she can feel it and get herself un-stuck without feeling trapped...

[StarfireArizona]

Originally Posted by rusty123rus

ok! I'll try those... Im about to go back out but the last time I put the lead on her she reared... very high and fell backwards. No injuries she landed on a nice squishy bedding of mud... it scared the living daylights out of me.... any ideas?

Don't be surprised by that.....she is trying to tell you she thinks SHE is boss...but we know she isn't

What I would do is before she even starts that rearing stuff, as soon as you see she is THINKING of it, start tugging hard on that lead attached to her halter. A couple quick jerks will distract her from her intended response & get her back focused on you. Even maybe get her to back up a couple steps. Anything to get her thinking instead of reacting.

While I had him on a line I would swing the end of the lead toward my colt's hiney and he would of course move away....but this put ME in control of his movements. If he started to get stubborn or balk at walking with me, that lead would lick his behind and his senses would come rushing back

[StarfireArizona]

The thing is to let her feel the pressure on her head. If she takes even the tiniest step forward, the release immediately & praise praise praise. She will learn the pressure goes away if she moves forward & she gets lotsa loving.

[rusty123rus]

lol. It worked. I already found my first mistake... I am so s.tupid. I started her out to fast. I went slower. I started it all over. I held her halter in one spot and let her put her nose in it and get comfortable with it then after a couple of minutes of that I just put the top of the halter on her poll and let her feel it. then I took it off. She was much better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ill do it again tomorrow and maybe if she does better then I will just snap the lead on... I am so used to moving fast that I forgot she isen't used to leads and halters... gah, its terrible! lol

[Heavenly Jumper]

Honestly, if you put the halter on and off 5 times a day it won't hurt.