Foal dragging in from the field

[Poppy2605]

Could you make a large electric fence coral around the inside of the gate so that you bring one in and the other remains in the field. I have one who is very aggressive towards my other horse and the safest way to bring him in is to always catch him first and then lead him into the coral part so I can negotiate the gate with just him and the remaining three are out of the way.

This isn’t something I’d previously thought of however this may work for our situation. We bring sheep through the gate daily also so that would be a help to keep them separate. Thank you

 

[honetpot]

Thank you, I would like to be able to do this but as she lives at home and we are a working farm it’s not safe for her to be loose on the yard and we are a cattle farm and I worry she wanders off or heads towards the cow sheds or near machinery etc… otherwise this would definitely be my go to option

I have cows, my most recent foal is turned out with them. As long as the yard gates are shut they can have a wander around the sheds, eventually the feed bucket calls, and they go in the stable or barn. I have to do everything most of the time on my own, so they have to get a routine pretty quickly. I do find it strange that it's stood at the gate. Mine are usually grazing until I get ready to bring them in, is it hungry? The IDx I had was like a bottomless pit, I just feed forage.

 

[Clodagh]

Could you buy a cheap foal to live with her? When i bred one I bought a little cheapy to be his playmate. If they don’t have anyone to play with that can translate to playing with you.
I actually feel sorry for her, no play, lots of stress in her life and constant battles.

 

[Poppy2605]

I have cows, my most recent foal is turned out with them. As long as the yard gates are shut they can have a wander around the sheds, eventually the feed bucket calls, and they go in the stable or barn. I have to do everything most of the time on my own, so they have to get a routine pretty quickly. I do find it strange that it's stood at the gate. Mine are usually grazing until I get ready to bring them in, is it hungry? The IDx I had was like a bottomless pit, I just feed forage.

At the moment our cows are calving so it’s not safe for her to be wandering round incase we need a cow out or there is someone with a tractor. She will graze for a while but comes to the gate when she’s had enough, there’s a hay feeder in the field also but she never bothered.

 

[Poppy2605]

Could you buy a cheap foal to live with her? When i bred one I bought a little cheapy to be his playmate. If they don’t have anyone to play with that can translate to playing with you.
I actually feel sorry for her, no play, lots of stress in her life and constant battles.

She doesn’t have a stressful life and lots of battles? The only time there’s a battle involved is bringing her in from the field. She has a horse next door to her in the stable when she’s in and she gets turned out with another horse and some of our sheep. She’s to be shown next year so she needs to be handled and be used to everyday routines. Not everybody has the option to turn them out with other youngsters or just buy another horse to please her

 

[View]

Not everybody has the option to turn them out with other youngsters or just buy another horse to please her

And not every horse will thrive in the routine you are describing. She does sound stressed to me, so if you are unable to change her management to match her needs, you may need to give serious consideration to selling her to someone that can meet her needs.

 

[Clodagh]

I also dislike the opinion that a show horse, or potential show horse, can’t exhibit natural behaviour. I thought that was viewed negatively nowadays.
Good luck with her. I would certainly wear full protective gear to handle her.

 

[paddy555]

What Paddy suggests can certainly work but it's not what you want to be teaching a nine month old IMHO.

why not? what I want to be teaching a 9 month old is co operation, to learn to take responsibility for getting itself in because that is what I am going to be needing from it in the future in many areas and it might as well start learning.
Each time it walks in unaided is one less trip to the field to lead it.
To start with it thinks it is just charging in but once it has learnt the routine that goes. It has stopped fighting being led, there is no one to fight coming in on it's own and I can set up lead training in situations where it is not going to try to fight so that will be successful


By the time that horse is say 10 just this one simple thing is going to have saved me a lot of time and walking.

 

[paddy555]

She doesn’t have a stressful life and lots of battles? The only time there’s a battle involved is bringing her in from the field. She has a horse next door to her in the stable when she’s in and she gets turned out with another horse and some of our sheep. She’s to be shown next year so she needs to be handled and be used to everyday routines. Not everybody has the option to turn them out with other youngsters or just buy another horse to please her

I'm not really sure why anyone would post on this forum if they wanted advice or ideas as to how to resolve a problem. The question asked was how to get youngster from field gate to stable. A simple enough question. Several possible solutions, run in, make a pen and no doubt some others. I cannot see Poppy asked for any other advice.

Most of what she has got is a lot of venom.
That is a shame as no doubt some inexperienced people will read this and think they will never now dare to ask a question.

My youngsters have always been kept in a similar way, they have not been stressed by it. As for the comments on stabling what on earth are you going to do with a 9mo youngster that is not used to living in a stable overnight if it has to go to horse hospital and be stabled there? taking a 9mo or even 2 yo out of field where it's only life has been running around with similar and having it co operate for procedures that may be needed to save it's life is going to be very stressful for it and may well not even be possible.

Before anyone says that is not going to happen then it happened to my 9 month old. He had to spend 5 days in an isolation box in a horse hospital where he couldn't see any other equine. It saved his life. He was used to being stabled and well handled. He had learnt to cope with stress and being separated from others. His nurse told me how difficult it was sometimes dealing with less handled youngsters.

 

[TheMule]

I'm not really sure why anyone would post on this forum if they wanted advice or ideas as to how to resolve a problem. The question asked was how to get youngster from field gate to stable. A simple enough question. Several possible solutions, run in, make a pen and no doubt some others. I cannot see Poppy asked for any other advice.

Most of what she has got is a lot of venom.
That is a shame as no doubt some inexperienced people will read this and think they will never now dare to ask a question.

My youngsters have always been kept in a similar way, they have not been stressed by it. As for the comments on stabling what on earth are you going to do with a 9mo youngster that is not used to living in a stable overnight if it has to go to horse hospital and be stabled there? taking a 9mo or even 2 yo out of field where it's only life has been running around with similar and having it co operate for procedures that may be needed to save it's life is going to be very stressful for it and may well not even be possible.

Before anyone says that is not going to happen then it happened to my 9 month old. He had to spend 5 days in an isolation box in a horse hospital where he couldn't see any other equine. It saved his life. He was used to being stabled and well handled. He had learnt to cope with stress and being separated from others. His nurse told me how difficult it was sometimes dealing with less handled youngsters.

I think we have to accept that there are 'ideal' ways to keep young horses and practical ways where they have to fit into our facilities and systems.
We owe it to our horses to keep them as close to 'ideally' as we can and sometimes that means choosing not to keep a certain horse because we cannot provide what it needs, or changing something about how we keep it to optimize its life.

FWIW mine don’t get stabled, or led anywhere, but they are model citizens when it comes to going to shows or needing to be stabled in an emergency/ away at a show. Probably because they are well adjusted young horses who have lived a life that has not induced any stress.

 

[Goldenstar]

I would use a long lead line I don’t mean a lunge line .
Make sure you have a knot in the end of it .
You need a way to get the horse from the gate to the stable.
I would try to get a friend to help for a few days .
I think I would try in your situation ,which is not ideal, to use food to distract while leading in take a few steps give a treat and so on keep her interest on you .
What you use is up to you put it needs to be something she likes .

 

[Clodagh]

Tbh the OP launched into people after the first couple of replies. I said I would keep a young horse with a playmate, one old horse is not ideal.
Mine stabled fine for farrier and so on, and when he had to go in for an op followed by box test as a yearling he was easy as too.
If OP could bring in another horse at the same time that might help, so the filly isn’t feeling isolated and scared. I cannot imagine she is pulling away because she is just wanting to be naughty.

 

[paddy555]

I think we have to accept that there are 'ideal' ways to keep young horses and practical ways where they have to fit into our facilities and systems.
We owe it to our horses to keep them as close to 'ideally' as we can .

but what are ideal ways? The only ideal way to keep a horse is not to ride it, not even to handle it or have humans anywhere in it's life. It lives out on 2000 acres at least and takes it's chances if it breaks a leg, needs a vet or something eats it.
taking it to a show is nowhere in any ideal or natural way to keep a horse yet many people do that and most ride them which is certainly not natural.

 

[Xmasha]

She may be hungry and anticipating getting fed/hay when in the stable .
I would ensure she either has hay in the field or give her some balancer before bringing her in .

 

[TheMule]

but what are ideal ways? The only ideal way to keep a horse is not to ride it, not even to handle it or have humans anywhere in it's life. It lives out on 2000 acres at least and takes it's chances if it breaks a leg, needs a vet or something eats it.
taking it to a show is nowhere in any ideal or natural way to keep a horse yet many people do that and most ride them which is certainly not natural.

Well, I think it's pretty well accepted that young horses should be kept out in a mixed herd with others the same age and some older ones too. There are plenty of studies on bone density, soft tissue strength, prevalence of stomach ulcers etc which clearly support this.

 

[paddy555]

If OP could bring in another horse at the same time that might help, so the filly isn’t feeling isolated and scared. I cannot imagine she is pulling away because she is just wanting to be naughty.

I have found OP's description a bit confusing but from what I understand the filly and another horse both come in at night and are stabled next to each other. If the filly doesn't run in then one horse has to be led in before the other. I really cannot see that if the filly is led in and left in a stable for a few minutes with some hay whilst the other one is brought in that is too much to expect or that she should feel isolated and scared with that routine.

 

[Clodagh]

I have found OP's description a bit confusing but from what I understand the filly and another horse both come in at night and are stabled next to each other. If the filly doesn't run in then one horse has to be led in before the other. I really cannot see that if the filly is led in and left in a stable for a few minutes with some hay whilst the other one is brought in that is too much to expect or that she should feel isolated and scared with that routine.

But she obviously does, so you need to set her up to succeed rather than having a daily battle which occasionally you lose.

 

[AmyMay]

I'm not really sure why anyone would post on this forum if they wanted advice or ideas as to how to resolve a problem.

You are of course, absolutely right. But doesn’t it strike you as odd that this young horse spends most of its time at the gate wanting to come in? Doesn’t that indicate a management issue larger than it being a pig to lead?

 

[Xmasha]

With the weather as it is I don’t blame OP for wanting to bring foal in for a bit . The worst weather for any youngster is constant wet and wind .
my two filly foals are out with all my others now . Which includes old broodmare , a couple of other mares and the boss gelding , as I’ve done for years . But .. since the grass has lost any goodness my two foals are the first at the gate . They just don’t enjoy being damp and cold. So they come in have some Haylage and balancer , have a sleep dry off and then go back out .
so OP , as I mentioned above . Make sure foal isn’t too hungry before you attempt to bring in . Failing that you are just going to have to be firm with her . Our IDxconnie foal has soon learnt that a good growl from me means she behaves .

 

[paddy555]

But she obviously does, so you need to set her up to succeed rather than having a daily battle which occasionally you lose.

OP describes this filly as being good for most of the time, she doesn't describe other problems. If she did it would be different. You feel the filly is isolated and scared. I would read that behaviour as possibly being for a different reason.
(based on the fact this is simply something described online and no one has seen the filly)

From what OP describes I can't see this is a daily battle you would occasionally lose, I would see it as a daily battle you would always lose simply because a 9 mo is stronger than a person. To win this battle ie lead in successfully is going to take time and practise. Practising to start with from field to stable (where I suspect the horse wants to be) when you just need to get them is not going to set her up to succeed and is very quickly going to set the filly up to realise how easy it is to get away from a handler. .

 

[paddy555]

You are of course, absolutely right. But doesn’t it strike you as odd that this young horse spends most of its time at the gate wanting to come in? Doesn’t that indicate a management issue larger than it being a pig to lead?

no, it just suggests a horse that realises there is going to be food in it's stable, not so good grass at this time of the year, the hay bale in the field is not so nice and it is going to be brought into the stable with food/hay and has now become a little brat to lead in having just realised she is strong, humans are weak and she is going to flex her muscles.

I would see this as entirely predictable. At some stage the filly was going to challenge and she is spurred on to chose this time as there is feed/hay at the end of it. What I think should have happened is the first time she even so much as thought of it it should have been stopped instantly and leading in become a training session no matter how long it took until the message got through. I can see however that is not always possible and it is also very easy to miss the first signs and then of course she only has to pull the rope away and things escalate.

I am honestly struggling to see this as any more than a youngster taking the piss and a method is now needed.
Another way around the problem would be to devote a day to it. Put her out and an hour later bring her in insisting on totally perfect behaviour, lead around the yard, no food and put out again. Repeat every hour. Then make sure when you go back to doing it for real each day you have the time to correct even the slightest misdemeanour.

 

[honetpot]

I missed that it was a filly. It might need a more dominant role model, to give it security. I had a few mares and they are definitely more sensitive in the sense of hierarchy, an anxious mare may not to settle with geldings and will walk the legs off them, or the geldings ignore them and leave them to have a tantrum on their own. I think you need an old pony mare to square it up and settle it.

 

[Poppy2605]

I'm not really sure why anyone would post on this forum if they wanted advice or ideas as to how to resolve a problem. The question asked was how to get youngster from field gate to stable. A simple enough question. Several possible solutions, run in, make a pen and no doubt some others. I cannot see Poppy asked for any other advice.

Most of what she has got is a lot of venom.
That is a shame as no doubt some inexperienced people will read this and think they will never now dare to ask a question.

My youngsters have always been kept in a similar way, they have not been stressed by it. As for the comments on stabling what on earth are you going to do with a 9mo youngster that is not used to living in a stable overnight if it has to go to horse hospital and be stabled there? taking a 9mo or even 2 yo out of field where it's only life has been running around with similar and having it co operate for procedures that may be needed to save it's life is going to be very stressful for it and may well not even be possible.

Before anyone says that is not going to happen then it happened to my 9 month old. He had to spend 5 days in an isolation box in a horse hospital where he couldn't see any other equine. It saved his life. He was used to being stabled and well handled. He had learnt to cope with stress and being separated from others. His nurse told me how difficult it was sometimes dealing with less handled youngsters.

Thank you very much for this, I follow this forum a lot and this was the first time having posted a thread of my own and I can say I won’t be in a rush to do it again. I’ve worked on the same stud where I bought her from for years but this just isn’t a problem I’ve experienced. But to the few that gave some advice I’m glad . Thank you

 

[Poppy2605]

no, it just suggests a horse that realises there is going to be food in it's stable, not so good grass at this time of the year, the hay bale in the field is not so nice and it is going to be brought into the stable with food/hay and has now become a little brat to lead in having just realised she is strong, humans are weak and she is going to flex her muscles.

I would see this as entirely predictable. At some stage the filly was going to challenge and she is spurred on to chose this time as there is feed/hay at the end of it. What I think should have happened is the first time she even so much as thought of it it should have been stopped instantly and leading in become a training session no matter how long it took until the message got through. I can see however that is not always possible and it is also very easy to miss the first signs and then of course she only has to pull the rope away and things escalate.

I am honestly struggling to see this as any more than a youngster taking the piss and a method is now needed.
Another way around the problem would be to devote a day to it. Put her out and an hour later bring her in insisting on totally perfect behaviour, lead around the yard, no food and put out again. Repeat every hour. Then make sure when you go back to doing it for real each day you have the time to correct even the slightest misdemeanour.

Tha k you again, this is what we have done a few times today, by this afternoon she was doing a bit better but once it was dark and she realised she’d be staying in she tried it again. We went back and forth to the field a few times until she gave in and she eventually walked in without being a brat. It’s looking like she’s just testing her boundaries for her tea. Thank you again

 

[Laddy]

Bit disappointing to read some of these earlier replies. A not ridiculous question imo. Obviously the setup is slightly unsuitable and maybe Filly is in danger of being spoilt. But some kind constructive advice would’ve been sufficient.

 

[Arzada]

Bit disappointing to read some of these earlier replies. A not ridiculous question imo. Obviously the setup is slightly unsuitable and maybe Filly is in danger of being spoilt. But some kind constructive advice would’ve been sufficient.

My first reply was to the OP's first post where she said

her and my other horse became attached and they now have to go out separately

I thought this meant that the OP had 2 horses as in "her and my other horse ..." and that she had separated them. Later posts from the OP, after someone had asked if the filly has company, confirmed that the filly has company with the OP's third horse who wasn't mentioned in the OP's first post. My response would have been different or non-existent if the OP had given the fuller picture in the OP ie that the filly is in fact turned out with the OP's third horse and is therefore not alone