[phoenixfyre71]

I am currently fixing to start helping with a yearling at our farm due to a change in stable help.
This yearling will let me touch him but is very jumpy and skittish. I want to teach him to be groomed and stand still. I guess standing still is the first thing he needs to learn. (not sure) He does know how to walk on a lead line in a halter and I have seen him worked in the round pen once.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated on how to approach this.

[CitrusMelody]

My filly was the exact same way. She was broke to lead...nothing else.
Honestly, the best thing to get exposure. Spend lots of time with him, showing him new things. Eventually he'll associate you with safety and wont' hesitate to go out of his way to "freak out."
I do recommend making sure you have a strong halter and a lead rope, as babies can be really feisty and unpredictable. They don't think about consequences as much as a "seasoned" horse would.
Good luck with him!

[phoenixfyre71]

thank you. I spent time in the pasture today just rubbing his neck, face and ears. I wanted to pull him out but the other two colts would not leave me alone enough, so I opted not to be in the middle of a three colt battle.

Would his nylon halter be fine or should I get a rope halter? I have been already getting him to drop his head from slight poll pressure, then releasing with the slightest drop.

[CitrusMelody]

^Dropping his head in response to pressure is a wonderful thing to teach him. Is he a quick learner? Those are the ones that you can progress with the fastest.
I wouldn't use a rope halter, as they can come untied or they can just as easily tighten back up if the horse gets pulled. Nylon has always worked the best for me.

[phoenixfyre71]

Im guessing he will be a quick learner. I have only handled him twice and for only about 10 min at a time and he is realizing to drop his head. I talk in low tones to try to make him at ease with me and I am using long, slow strokes when I "pet" him to let him know it is a pleasurable thing. I dont "pat" on him at all because I patted a horse by him and he jumped. I dont want him to think he is being punished. I know nothing about this so Im trying best I can. I really appreciate the insight Thanks again and I will stick with the nylon.

[BriLeigh]

Don't "tip toe" around him because he might be skittish right now. He needs exposure to everything, all loud noises and scary objects. Now, I'm not saying this has to be done all at once, but eventually. Make sure you are being loud in your body language at times and when he doesn't respond then be nice and tell him he is a good boy.

Rub/pat everywhere on him. Not quietly. Don't be afraid of him being scared for a few minutes, just get him through it. Rub things on him, and toss things over his back, on his neck, etc.

You can't baby him and think he will get better. Just be consistent and I'm sure he will get better even with just consistent handling.

[CitrusMelody]

I agree not to tiptoe around him, but I don't think you need to go buckwild that quickly - especially since he's lived sheltered for this long.
Rub him, don't "smack," for a while, and gently, slowly, get him used to anything and everything scary. Just make sure you end every lesson on a good note.

[phoenixfyre71]

yeah I didnt think about that. Thanks for the help yall I will let you know how things are going

[ReinerByHeart]

Definitely USE a rope halter. I have never heard of one coming untied or coming off of their head if they are tied and adjusted properly. It should fit snug around the nose, poll, and throatlatch (in otherwords, everywhere). A rope halter will give a better pressure and release and will accelerate his training if used properly.

Personally, I use a rope halter with a tied on lead (nothing there to break) and I keep a knife in my pocket (something all horse people should do, regardless). When my yearling entered tie training she tried pulling back, the rope halter did not break and she learned it didn't work.

A warning on nylon halters - some people use them because they break... I had a horse almost die (literally) from this. She was tied, stung by a bee, pulled back, the halter broke, she flipped over backwards, fractured her skull, went into seizures... we nearly lost her to brain swelling. If she would have had a rope halter, that would not have happened. Plus, I have had horses in the past that had learned how to break nylon halters, and rope halters put a stop on that. I'd rather stop it before it starts, personally.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Otherwise, I'd start by lunging him for a few minutes to get the edge out of his system so that he has better concentration, then move on to grooming and sacking out. I wouldn't worry about getting him to stand still yet... just work around it. When he does stand still, stop whatever you were doing that was making him nervous and back off for a reward. He will learn that standing still gets a release when he is scared of something.

My yearling came to me unhandled and unhalter broke, you couldn't even catch her in a stall.. she was terrified. Right away I started just overwhelming her with things - fly spray, tarps, tossing the rope over her... she was pretty nervous and uptight about everything, but by overwhelming her she just learned to accept everything that came her way, and now she is a champ and stands tied while bathing, fly spraying, picking her feet, ropes chucked all around her, she crosses water, tarps, plastic bags... this all happened in a matter of weeks.

Some people have different opinions and only believe in doing baby steps every day, but personally I have had much greater success with overwhelming them all at once with a bunch of different things, and then stopping on a good point. The day of the fly spray (water in a squirt bottle), I just followed her around for a good 30+ minutes squirting her, then backing off when she'd stand still. By the fourth session, she could stand tied, relaxed, with me fly spraying her... The same story with bathing, except she was standing tied quietly by the third bath. I push harder and expect more than the average person, but my horses show great improvement from it. She's a nice little manageable filly now, and looks forward to being worked with.. she always nickers a greeting and actually comes to the front of the stall to be caught. A huge turnaround from when I got her and it took multiple people to catch her with a drag rope on...I've had her a month and a half now.


Good luck with the colt! Keep us updated.

[CitrusMelody]

Still say nylon.
I'm sure that example was a freak accident, and don't see how a rope halter could have prevented this.
IMO, nylon is the best.