Foal very anti social! Any ideas?

[JJ2]

I have recently purchased a 7 month old foal. he is gorgeous but hasnt had a great deal of handling. At the moment he is living out with my 3yr old mare. I am feeding them morning and night, just with some sugar beet and hi-fi.
He is very nervous of me at the moment and wont come anywhere near me or let me anywhere near him! When i get closer to him he puts his little ears back at me and really scowls at me! He actually looks quite funny when he is doing it but even so, i would rather he was a little more friendly!
This morning he even turned his bum on me so i shood him away qucikly which startled him but obviously was needed as otherwise the next time he might think he can kick.
I dont think he is nasty but at the moment he just doesnt want to know me at all.
What do you think i should do? I could catch him if i wanted, with a bit of effort, but again he has had very little leading work done either so is very sticky with leading and will object and try and run the other way.

At the moment i am trying to hold his feed bucket whilst he is eating and he is getting a little better with this but still not great at all.

Is this normal for foals to be like this?

Am i doing the right thing people?!

 

[amandathepanda]

I had one the same a couple of years ago. The only way you will get him used to being handled is by handling him & to do that, he really he needs to be coming into stable so you can get near enough to him without chasing him around the field as this will only scare him more. I spent hours playing with my foal, scratching his neck like his mum would have done, working up to his ears so he gets used to having them handled, then you work your way over the rest of his body. It'll take time for him to build trust up in you, but it worked a treat with my baby

Good luck!

 

[AmyMay]

Have you got stables?. I'd start bringing them both in at night - that way you will get to handle him on a daily basis and start laying down some ground rules.

Better to do it now whilst he is still quite small.

 

[JJ2]

I dont have any stables where they are sadly but am in the process of building a field shelter which will become their stables.

I think at the moment i am giving him time to settle in, only arrived on Saturday. but agree that i need to start cracking on with him so he gets better with things.

Hopefully he will come round soon!

 

[JJ2]

I agree but ideally i wanted to leave him out this year to be a baby if that makes sense!

I think i just need to bite the bullet and start handling him as much as possible.

 

[amandathepanda]

I've found with babies I've had in the past that the sooner you start working with them, the better. A section C baby I got as a 6 month old foal was captured regularly by his breeder (before I had him!) by rugby tackling him around his neck. I found 2 days of intensive TLC & handling & he was a different pony. My warmblood that I also got at 6 months was a monster & was actually given to me as the stud were fed up with him kicking their grooms all the time. That one took 6 months to fix but he has turned into such a nice person now because I made sure he learnt a few ground rules as soon as I got him. With both of these foals, they were stabled at night & were turned out into a small, restricted area during the day until I knew I could catch them easily.

 

[CBFan]

I know of another colt who is like this... I think it is quite common after weaning, especially around food as it is no longer 'on tap' so they feel they have to defend it. I'd advise you try and section off a stable sized area of the padock for feeding and handling but before that continue in the larger area and if he puts his ears back or sticks his bum at you he needs to be reprimanded. That means stamping your feet, growning large, direct eye contact and shooing away... keep him away for a minute or two, allowing him back to his bowl on your say so.

Yes they need to be babies but it is best and easiest if they learn how to be a horse from a young age... That means coming into a stable of a night, having rugs on, headcollars on and off, leading, grooming, feet picked out, rugs on and off... if you do all this now he has another 3 years to be a (well behaved) baby. A 6 month old that doesn't like a stable will soon get used to it... a 3 or 4 year old that hasn't been in a stable will put up a fight... and it won't be pretty.