Foal Leading Advice Please

ponieslovered

ponieslovered

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Hi
I have recently moved to a new yard (3 1/2 weeks ago) At our old yard, my 9 month old foal had no turnout at all. She was stabled and I was leading her out a couple of times per week using a CONTROL HEADCOLLAR which was what i was told to use. During the snow, it was impossible to get her out of the stable at all, and it was at this point that i started looking for a new yard for her.
So we found a new yard and i had nightmares for days about how we would load her into the Box.
But she was an angel and loaded brilliantly, and when we arrived at the other end, she walked beautifully to her stable in her headcollar - NO CONTROL HALTER.

So for the lst 3 1/2 weeks, she has been going out every morning and coming in at around 3pm, and stabled overnight.

Again she has been brilliant, leading in her headcollar really well, and walking very nicely. I am over the moon with our new yard and she is so happy, she can see everything that goes on which is brilliant for early learning.

Well today, I went to bring her out of the field and she was very reluctant to come out, and then half way to her stable she sort of started to canter on the spot, and then bbooffff gone....... I use a very long lead rope, my right hand was torn away from the rope which left me holding with just my left hand, which was slipping and slipping and eventually I had no rope in my hand, she did stop a few strides in front of me and she did let me catch her. It then took 25 mins to get her in the stable, she was adament she didnt want to go in there.

So my concerns are, now she has done this once, she will remember that she can slip the rope, and i am concerned she will do it again and maybe just keep running.

she dosnt like the control halter, so i dont want to use that again, but I need to keep her and me and others safe, in your opinions do you think a ROPE HALTER might be better for her. she 9 months old and about 13 hands at the moment.

I know the weather is picking up, but I wanted to wait another couple of weeks before she stays out as she dosnt have a field shelter.

Any advice welcome - thank you
 
what sort of control halter are you using? I find the dually much better than the 'be nice' for babies but only if it is propperly fitting. It sounds like she is really testing you - they all do it! has she become particularly pally with another horse that is perhaps still in the field when she is bought in? I think it is just a case of regular and consistent handling... just try and be patient and although not ideal it is NOT the end of the world that she got away from you. your safety ALWAYS comes above that of the horse.
 
well, she has been going out with my gelding and they are like mare and foal !! its lovely to watch and they get on really well.

I always take turns in who goes out first and who comes in first. Today she came in 2nd, so he came in first.

there are a couple of ponies in the field next to her and they are friends. Ithink you are right she is testing me abit, I think she is nicely settled so its time to push the barriers abit !!!!

The control halter she had was a BE NICE halter and she really didnt like it, the metal studs on the poll are quite horrible (I think)

My gelding was abit pushy at our old yard, but he was only getting a couple of hrs turnout per week, so he pulled away from me a few times, I put a rope halter on him and he didnt do it again.
He's in heaven at the new yard and loves it so much and ive had no problems with him pulling me.

So I just wondered is a rope halter for her might keep us all abit safer.
 
with babies, they are constantly testing their boundaries, and it was a fab day today that all my trible have been having hooleys all day with their rugs off.
I would just treat her as norm tomorrow and you will prob find she is back to normal
 
I wouldnt want to put a pressure halter on a 9 month old baby really. Id work on leading in a safe place, practice starting, stopping, turning etc so that there with you and watching what your doing and doing the same eg I walk faster, they walk faster, I slow down, they slow down, i stop, they stop. Stop and quietly back up if they walk past, then stand, praise then carry on.
Plenty of praise and scratches too!!

Good luck
 
Sounds like she's being a perfectly normal foal, just be calm and take your time and yes she starting to test the boundries with you, just keep a couple of carrots or slices of apple in your pocket, works wonders, if she trys it again, carrot in hand, calm her down take into stable shut door next carrot with a lot of fuss, they love the attention and it does work wonders. But don't stress yourself out and yes wear gloves as then you don't get burn blisters
 
having used them a lot on youngsters I wouldn't hesitate in using a rope pressure halter on a foal this age as long as you know how to use it, and yes, I believe they are more horse friendly than the be nice - as long as used correctly! I would prefer to use one of these correctly and have control instilled at a young age than have to be dragging on a normal headcollar because the horse never learned how to behave when being handled, or being hurt because it got away from me. The dually is good too if your foal has a head big enough for the small one, they really should bring out a smaller size for youngsters and smaller ponies!

She sounds lovely and like you just had a blip but please make sure you wear gloves, I received a very deep rope burn from hanging on to a bolting youngster just because I didn't want him to learn he could get away from me - I won but the burn was very painful and took weeks and weeks to heal! That is when I started using the rope halters for the youngsters!
 
Yeah... I have to agree ... the 'be nice' aren't very nice at all!

My only concern about the traditional white rope halter is that it doesn't release the pressure when they are being well behaved so they don't get an instant reward...
 
Thank you to all of you who have responded with your messages.

This morning I asked someone else to walk with me, just in case, it was all very calm and relaxed as normal. I did loop the rope over her nose and back through the headcollar, and she was strong and very keen to get out, more so than normal, but she was fine :-)

Lets hope it continues, as the weather is getting better as well, I think she would quite like to stay out now as well, so maybe next week I will leave her out at night, and then just catch her and walk her out daily, so she has contact with me every day.
 
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