[Shotgun93]

There is nothing wrong with teaching your baby things - halter broke, leading, standing, grooming, desentizing type things. I have trained enough of the let-them-be-babies-until-they-two horses to know that you absolutely want to work them when they are young.
Yes, let them be horses, but also teach them to be nice, polite and respectful horses.

[wyldterv]

Originally Posted by ryu2832

I wasn't going to 'round pen' her, just start working with her 'in a round pen' to separate her from mom, like some of the exercises in Lyon's Bringing up Baby. Ruby is still very protective, and it is hard to get one on one time with Berry..

From Day one, I would tie Dancer up to the wall in the stall while I was handling her foal (Elle') this kept her from being RIGHT in my face pushing baby out of my reach, but also kept her right where she could see everything and baby was right there with her. This is what I've always done with my mares when I want to work with the foals and it's worked out really well. Mom's DO need to be used to spending time tied up quietly prior to trying this, but if they are, it really makes working baby easier!

Originally Posted by ryu2832

I thought that you were supposed to wait until they were a little older to work on the standing tied, like after they are weaned? I was told if they pulled back at this age it could do nerve damage to their developing neck. I have been doing all the work on her with the 'cradle' hold, or leading with a figure 8 in addition to the lead rope.

If I can tie her, or let her pull back on the halter, it makes all of this a lot easier. I have a huge Hedge post I put in last year and an inner tube just waiting to be used...

There are as many ideas on this as anything else to do with horses and training... this is MY opinion only... it is FAR FAR easier to teach at a month how to stand quietly tied up. BUT you really do need to be extremly careful how you go about things (just as you do when teaching a horse of any age how to be tied)... My personal preference for teaching a foal how to lead is to use a rope halter... I buy the size made for xtra small mini's... it fit my Arab baby's TINY head really nicely and in another month, I'll need to move of to the SMALL Mini sized rope halter. I put the rope halter on with a soft cotton lead rope, with mom tied to the wall so she can't get caught up in everything, and just let baby drag the rope in the stall (with my supervision) for a bit... as she steps on the lead it puts pressure on the halter (and this is why I like the rope halter, it bites into sensitive areas more , with out being cruel about it and applies pressure that a horse WANTS to be released from so they seek release instantly, even at foal age) then after a few times of this, I start asking baby to walk out with Moma on a halter and lead, getting baby used to the 'feel' of the halter ... they will rear, pull back, etc usually, but if you just stand quietly and let THEM figure out it's getting them no where, and keep Mom right next to them, things progress quickly and fairly stress free... pretty soon baby is able to walk on lead in paddock with mom tied up where everyone can see everyone.

The next step once baby is leading well and understands that pulling back will NOT give you release, is to start 'tying up' baby... I do this first by tying mom to wall in stall and then I drape baby's lead rope through a second tie ring ... I loop the lead rope thorugh, like I'm going to tie, but then I loop it through a second time and DO NOT Tie off any knots... it provides a bit of 'stay' but will also move if the foal starts to pull... I want them to not feel traped so they don't go into panic mode... When they are fairly calm doing this (usually with in one day) I then like to use a "TIE BLOCKER RING" which will allow me to 'tie them' but still let them pull out if they go into panic mode... I do all of this in the rope halter btw, so that if the DO start to pull back, there is pressure applied to all the right places that encourages them to move FORWARD off of the pressure for relase (reward). After they can stand for quietly next too mom on the tie blocker ring, I tie OFF to the ring.. then I release mom from her tie spot and move her a few feet away from baby, if baby begins to really fight the tie, I pop my emergency release and let baby calm down, then start over again... if baby merely pulls back some, I let them figure things out for themselves.

This whole process takes me about a month... Now that Elle' is two months old, I'm just starting to tie her with Mom out in the paddock (right outside the stall door) for literally just a few mins at a time. If you progress with tying training in increments like this, I personally believe you will end up with a horse that learns to relax while tied and go to sleep. If my 2 month old filly can fall asleep while tied up near mom while I'm trimming mom up, then I know I'm doing my job right

DO make sure that you have a safe area to tie baby up to ... one that baby can't get their legs caught up in if they rear up, or kick out and that they can't flip up and over if it's a wall. Also make sure that in the begining baby could find an instant release from any pressure. I really like the tie blocker ring method myself, but there are a zillion tried and true ways to do it out there... just be certain to know WHEN baby is too stressed to be thinking and WHEN it's OK to let baby figure things out for themselves.

Originally Posted by ryu2832

I appreciate the comments, and I know I'm not doing a perfect job, but I think most have missed the point of the post. I am working with her and am making progress, it's all my neighbors that don't see the point in working with a foal before it's a year old.

I guess I was just hoping for a yes Sharon, keep working with your foal, keep trying--I gets pretty dicouraging trying to do something different with all of the old crusty farmers around giving their two cents. I suppose I got my answer though. Thanks.

Not trying to pick on you at all.. I think everyone was agreeing with you, YES we, here who are posting ,all agree, do some early training with baby!

[BestofPrincess]

JBandRio---AWSOME POST!
with my colt last year we could lead, tie, bath, clip, ect at a month old. not perfect but we could. I teach foals to lead the same way I teach them to tie I teach them to give to poll presure. letting them wounder around the stall with a lead rope attached to the halter to teach them not to freak when they step on the lead. ect I can add more when more awake
I did imprint my colt, but that doesn't mean I couldnt do all of that other wise.
Now at over a year old, my colt's manors are very impressive for his age. I can load him in a trailer when ever and take him some where, no worries. You need that if an emergancy should arise.
Same with being able to touch them all over, ect. If some thing god awful where to go wrong you need to do some thing about it, by leting the foal be a horse with no handeling. What happens when they get a very serious injury that needs major medical treatment and the foal is scared sh*tless of every thing. You end up in a very bad situation where either the foal gets no treatment and risks death, or foal does get treatment but is sooo stressed it has a harder time healing

[PaulaQHMax]

My most improtant thing I do with any foal is enjoy the time they are small....... it doesn't last long.

All that you are doing is great. Be safe and have fun.

[StarfireArizona]

Please don't think I am repeating myself, for I said all this in another post, but it applies to your question...

IMHO, waiting until a baby is a year old to handle would be increasing the amount of work ten fold. They are bigger, have their own mind & could have learned some bad habits from the others. Getting them used to being touched & handled young just makes life so much simpler

I did the imprinting at birth with my colt which from what I see makes a tremendous differnce in being able to handle them afteward. But I also do work with him every day for 10-20 minutes. He is only 2 weeks old today and I can:

halter him anytime
touch him everywhere
brush all over including tail
back him up a couple steps
yielding hindquarters & forequarters
put my finger in his mouth like a bit
breaking at the poll & dropping his head
lead him reasonably well with mama
lift all 4 feet but add "foot up" voice command for later on
give him hose baths with water concentrating in his face
give mouth syringe (gave Probios to help alleviate issues due to mama's foal heat)

I have also started desensitizing him to saddle pads, plastic bags & tarps. The tarp took about 20 minutes to get him near, but once he stepped on all he wanted to do was play.

He wants to be touched....in fact if he sees us coming, often he will leave mama's side to come over to us. He is bold & enjoys the company of humans.

Honestly Sharon......try to learn to ignore the "old timers" way of doing things. I had many telling me that imprinting was not necessary, but I am ssssssssssoooooooooooooo glad I didn't listen & did it anyway.

This is a new century with not so new ideas on horse training, and if you envision a horse with good manners that is a pleasure to work with, invest the time now. Sounds like you are doing everything right, but just do it every day if you can

[tightpaycheck]

There is something to be said for just letting them be a foal, but I want them to be a safe foal to handle. I don't try to seperate them from mom until after they are weaned. But I want them to lead, stand at least a little quietly, be able to have their feet picked up, and tie by the time they are 2 months. I get them used to being handled all over, leading well, and standing for the farrier, then don't ask much more from them for a while.

Then I go by the foal. If it is enjoying working with me, and eager to learn, I will spend a couple minutes every few days teaching them something new. I have had yearlings that ground-drove, could be saddled and bridled, ponied, crossed water, tarps, and bridges, everything I could think of.
I have also had babies that got frustrated and didn't seem to be ready, and as 2yo's didn't know much more than to stand tied while being touched all over, and lead. I don't push them if they aren't ready, and I don't spend more than a few minutes a day with them while they are little.

[ryu2832]

Old thread...Berry is now a yearling.