[horsegirlygal]

I haven't got a horse of my own, but I take barrel racing and pole bending lessons, so that satifies me enough. Since my friend is only a couple houses down from me, and we've known each other since we were 6, we're pretty close.

She has taking care of her grandpa's horses lately (he's ill) and she isn't really the 'farm girl' type yet, but I'm helping her get there. Blah blah. So they had a new foal approximately oh, say six months ago and haven't weaned her. And all her family and her uncle's has done is halter it. And even I can tell that this far along, they haven't tried to imprint the foal at all. Which will make training her harder. I did manage to pet her shoulder and neck the other day when I went to help clean stalls, and I gently pulled on her halter to try to see if I could bring her forward, and she totally freaked out - tossed her head and ran to her mother. Any advice on how to help get the foal accustomed to people? Or to get her ready to be led? Mind you, I only go over there maybe two times a week (I would go over every day, but I personally think that would be rude).

Any help at all will be greatly appreciated. This foal needs MAJOR work.

[Lopinslow]

many people do not wean until later, so that isn't a big issue IMPO.

i halter break a lot of foals, and while it's much easier when they are younger, you can do it now. i usually capture the foal, by pinning them in a corner sort of ( one arm around their chest, one around their butt, and you may have to lean them into a wall to contain them. )
if the foal is really bad, i'll let them drag a lead rope for a little bit in the stall, so they get used to stepping on it, and feeling the pressure on their halter.
get yourself 2 leadropes, one very long one. make the long one into a butt rope, making a loop and snapping it to itself. put the loop around the butt, and run the end through the halter. you will put more pressure on the butt rope, with just a very light pressure on the halter rope. get a step, stop and pet. another step, stop and pet, etc.

don't expect much right away... and do it in the stall, so there is a smaller area for the foal to get away or fight the lead.

[SKB]

If it makes you feel any better, my yearling (well 15 month old) was never led until she came to us. I do have to say though that she really liked people and was okay with her feet being touched, but trying to get her to lead was tough (still is sometimes).

We got her at about 9 1/2 months old... then it snowed tons, so training her to lead then was impossible cause of the 3 feet of snow on the ground. I did teach her how to back up though in the snow. Anyways, she is not too bad anymore, but she does have her moments.

There is a book I just recently got Bringing Up Baby (John Lyons) and it has some ways to get a young horse to lead well. I haven't tried his methods yet for other things, but I hear he's great... his lessons do make sense also. I try to get my hands on any training DVD's or books as possible.

Did I just kinda get off the subject?? Anyways, the horse is still at a pretty young age. I would suggest that any human interaction would be good. Someone should try to get out even just for a few minutes a day and try to pet her or brush her or just hang out and talk to her... something to get her used to human contact. This will also help her trust people... possibly making her leading a little easier (not in my filly's case though)! Good luck!

[Bruce Wiley]

Babies should be allow enough time to adjust to their new world.
Many of folks try to get the young one train to early & us humans not considering that the baby horse isn't ready mentally at this time.
Those babies will always follow their mother.
Yes some of them will wander off, but the mother will call to her baby and most of them respond correctly, returning to her side. The baby's mother also needs to finish her training on her young one & part of it is respect for humans.
I do like to use the mother and allow the young one to watch our interactions togather... haltering, grooming, picking feet etc.
It comes across to the young one as monkey see & monkey do.
The baby learns in time, no harm with come to her/him by allowing me to do the same thing that was done to their mother.

When we think about it, most of us started pre school first & later we attended kindergarten etc. These levels, which were design for putting each of us in suitable & the most appropriate level of education for our age.
I believe in this same system for educating young horses.
When its the right time, the haltering & leading should be fairly simple & not alot of fuss when time has been allocated, allowing the young one to mature,then doing the proper pre education.
If you're uncertain about how to do this, then it would be best to consult with an experienced, competent trainer.
I hope this helps.

[Jenje!]

Originally Posted by Bruce Wiley

If you're uncertain about how to do this, then it would be best to consult with an experienced, competent trainer.

I agree.

No offense- and I really do mean this in the kindest way possible- but if you're asking these sort of questions, I don't think you're prepared to work with this foal. Asking questions here is a good start, but when it comes to working with babies, IMO the best experience is hands-on experience under the eye of someone who has been doing it for a while.

If you have not been asked specifically to work with this foal, I would back away with both hands up. You can get hurt, the foal can get hurt, the owners can cause problems for you- none of which you need.

As far as weaning... a lot of people don't wean until approximately six months of age, so I would not see it as negligent that this baby hasn't been weaned yet. Also, a lot of people don't believe in imprinting- cool, cool, their horse- their methods! I am all for imprinting, myself, but I am just as willing to work with an un-imprinted foal as one who has been imprinted. I know plenty of people who leave their babies to be babies, with very little handling at all, until they're older... and while that may not be your cup of tea (or mine), it doesn't make it wrong.

Just some thoughts for you. If you're not sure what you're doing, it is likely you'll wind up doing more harm than good with this baby.

[horsegirlygal]

Thanks for the help! I will probably be going over today and hopefully if their devil horse (omg, THE most irritating young pony ever) isn't near the mare and foal, I'll hopefully be able to work with the mom (if she cooperates) and hopefully ride her [bareback] again for the second time since they've had her. hooray. Thank you guys so much! =]

[Toutie]

Dont worry the foal's not that old..when I got Fancy she was 4 and NEVER haltered or handled in any way...and she's awesome...

First things first..the foal needs to learn that people are good things..the carriers of wonderful goodies (occassionally and done right) and awesome scratches in all those itchy spots. Just sitting quietly in with the mare and her baby as much as possible will help with starting that.

I agree about working with the mare in front of the foal, this would have been done if it were mine right from the beginning. I dissagree with waiting too long for a few reasons one being they need to have thier feet done long before 6 months! I am a stickler about feet and good care of them and starting that work fairly early leads toward a nice blanaced foot, without having to "fix" things and also helps keep the body more balanced.

Anyway she should have been watching mom get worked with and handled, and by around 2 or 3 weeks I would have had a halter and lead on her in the stall...leadline dragging just a foot or so on the ground..she'll teach herself the beginnings of giving to pressure this way. After that I'd have someone lead the mare while someone follows with the foal on the leadline. Butt lines are sometimes neccessary..you dont want to fight with the head or allow the foal to pull back to hard as you can cause some neck damage doing this....