Handling a young foal...

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lucyjay11

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Well firstly, i am new to forums so you'll have to bare with me :)

I have just bought a 5 month old foal and was just wondering if anybody had any tips or advice on handling him.

He is a colt atm, however i am getting him gelding asap. should i get one of those Dually halters for handling him?

Also, just wondering if anyone had any advice on getting him used to being caught when he is out in the field.

I have an older horse that he is out with and i had to retrain him as he was an ex- racer, however this is a whole new experience for me.

any advice would be appreciated.

thank you :)
 
You might get more replies if you posted this in the breeding section.

I would suggest firm but fair and also consistent handling should work well. I think that rather like babies/small children they like their regular routines. Encourage the good, try and ignore the bad (if you can)
 
PennyJ said:
I would suggest firm but fair and also consistent handling should work well. I think that rather like babies/small children they like their regular routines. Encourage the good, try and ignore the bad (if you can)
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I second this. Lots of regular handling. I would not suggest a dually halter at this stage, I would just use a standard headcollar. You mentioned you had an older horse, is this horse well behaved and good to handle? If yes, then I would bring your foal in with your older horse and let him see you handling your older horse etc also, just so he sees this is the norm and that your older horse is not bothered by it.
You really just have to handle regularly and be firm and fair as suggested already. Lots of leading, grooming and handling of the legs and feet now should go a long way. And good luck
 
Yeah Jack is really well behaved, was thinking of tieing him up next to jack when he is shod, just so he can get used to the smells and what not, what do you think? i just want him to get used to as much as possible while he is still small, if you know what i mean. so no dually halter, how would you get him used to being caught in the field?
 
lucyjay11 said:
Yeah Jack is really well behaved, was thinking of tieing him up next to jack when he is shod, just so he can get used to the smells and what not, what do you think? i just want him to get used to as much as possible while he is still small, if you know what i mean. so no dually halter, how would you get him used to being caught in the field?
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Yes, excellent idea to bring him in with your horse to experience the sights and smells of everything, including the farrier.
Yes, I would not use a dually halter, just a standard halter.
The whole catching him in the field thing will take time and patience. You will have to build the trust up, you could use food initially, and what I would suggest for example as long as the foal likes them is carrots or such like. Just slice a carrot up into approx 1-2cm slices and have them in your pocket ready.
Reward with a slice when your youngster has responded positively to you and the headcollar
 
There is some seriously good advice on here especially in the breeding section on handling youngsters.
One piece of advice you may not need so apologies if you know already, but please do not just tie him up if he is not used to it. If he panics he could easily hurt himself - you need to introduce this very slowly and gradually and not tie him properly until he is safe to be tied. Sorry if that was unhelpful:p
 
Absolutely not to the dually! Just treat him as a total blank canvas. So anything you ask him to do, make it 100% clear what it is exactly your asking him, then reward him for doing it, even if he doesnt do it 100%. You are mapping out his entire life, so its really important that you get it right. Dont expect him to behave like an adult horse. He may well ping about/try and kick you/get away from you, etc, etc. Its how you handle those things that will shape who he is as an adult.

I've got an 18 month old and a 7 month old. They are both polite well mannered members of society on the whole, but they still have their moments! Its all about rewarding the good behaviour and ignoring the bad.

Dexter, who is the 18 month old, jumped pretty much over me the other day, from a walk! he didn't do it because he was being naughty He'd slipped in the ice on a slight incline the day before, so because hes a good pony and had been asked to walk on, he decided the best way to deal with it was to jump over the incline and the ice, and me cos I was in the way! It was pretty scary to be walking along then have 14.2hh of youngster brush past my shoulder :D He got a brief reassuring scritch, for going forward when expected and that was that. The next day, he tenatively walked down the tiny incline. Nothing to most horses, but a big step for my woosey baby pony :D So prepare yourself for baby ponies to do some pretty silly things!
 
Hi lucyjay11

It sounds like you are in the exact same place i was when i bought mine in 2008. I had a
Tb mare that i sold and bought a Foal (was told he was 6 months but did turn out to be younger)

I had to keep him in stable at the yard i keep him at till had him vaccinated etc but used to take him for walks and grass several times a day. I used to leave him in his head collar with a 1/2 lenth leadrope dangling so he got used to the feel of it and so i could catch hm with no stress in the stable as he was unhandles when he came to me.
 
How much handling has your colt had? I have bred a few foals and also bought a few weanlings, some of which had been handled and one had had no handling.

I know people don't like it but I found turning them out in a leather foal slip which has a short leather strap under the chin worked very well. Once the foal was used to being caught I would turn them out without the foal slip on. Catch in every day and bring the two of them in for a small feed before turning them back out again. He will very quickly get the idea.

Ditto to the advice to not leave your foal tied up until he has become used to being tied. I often use a long leadrope which I thread through the tie ring but hold the end so the foal has the feeling of being restrained without the risk of him panicking and pulling back and getting hurt.

Check with your vet about gelding. I prefer to do it in the spring when it is not muddy and before the flies come out.
 
i would get him used to being caught ext,
if he has a good bond with you other horse and follows him like a lap dog everywhere you could lead your older horse around and just let the little man follow for a while so he knows that being caught is ok. also once you have done this and he is used to being led ...(this is my favourite thing to do ever)...
ride you big lad and lead your little man next to him (holding the rope DO NOT TIE TO SADDLE. he will follow your big boy anywhere and if you have a trot/canter little man will follow him (you can do it loose too if in field) when he is braver and has got the hang of leading from the saddle you can go on little 10 min hacks (on counrty lanes)with him and little one and he will be ok. if he is with you other man he will feel safe, and it is great experience for him to be in a different place which will make him brave and trust you more. sounds scary but it works fab! (as long as you big man is not to forward when ridden and out and you can control him) xx
hope that gave you some ideas pm if you want anymore xx
 
Havnt read other replies.

Id bring him in and stable him for a week or so if possible. Get him used to knowing what a bucket is, get him used to being caught in the stable, having headcollar taken on and off, touched all over etc. When he is confident and you can walk in the stable and quietly put a halter on without any drama, then and only then would I turn him out and I personally do turn out the first few times with a headcollar on to make sure I can catch them.

Gelding, wouldnt even think about it for another year or so unless you get some bad colty behaviour that is too much for you. 5 months is very young IMO to be thinking of gelding.
 
appledoberman said:
Havnt read other replies.

Id bring him in and stable him for a week or so if possible. Get him used to knowing what a bucket is, get him used to being caught in the stable, having headcollar taken on and off, touched all over etc. When he is confident and you can walk in the stable and quietly put a halter on without any drama, then and only then would I turn him out and I personally do turn out the first few times with a headcollar on to make sure I can catch them.

Gelding, wouldnt even think about it for another year or so unless you get some bad colty behaviour that is too much for you. 5 months is very young IMO to be thinking of gelding.
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would agree totally with this
 
Our companion filly, six month and unhandled when she came, had her own stable which we used to get her used to having a headcollar put on, groomed, feet picked up, she used to follow our old boy like a dog and we used him to teach her , walk on and stand, patience is paramount, we were lunging our mare one day and the filly got behind and did everything the mare was asked to do.
A brilliant experience, but I would echo the tying up advice, we used a lunge rein so she had the room to back up safely but it was never needed because we had her trust. One other little happy memory was trailer training, she followed me on with no hesitation and had to be asked to walk on to get her off the trailer, if I was younger that filly would still be with me
 
There is some sound advice already given above. My youngster was unhandled, straight off a mountain when I bought him. When I got him home (herded into a trailer, travelled loose, and herded into his stable) each time anyone even went near his stable door he would be at the back of the stable on his rear legs trying to climb the wall, he was so scared.

I kept him in his stable for the first few days until he accepted me. My intention was to become his first "friend" away from the herd he was born within and show him he could trust me, before he had chance to make friends with any other pony at the yard. I would sit in the front of his stable and read a book out loud, no eye contact, and he eventually started coming over to take a closer look at me, and then started sniffing me. I would then put out my hand and let him sniff or touch me, after a while I started getting eye contact with him, and to touch him. By the third day I could put on and remove his headcollar and was feeding him by hand. On the fourth day I put him out in a tiny paddock next to the fields with his headcollar on, then three days later he was in his own paddock and would come across to me when I went in. A week later he was out with another pony. I have never once had a problem catching him in four years - touch wood!

Spend time with him, let him get used to you at his pace if you can, and talk or sing a lot so he gets used to your voice, and be consistent when handling him.

I used a foal slip and headcollar for quite some time, then when he started getting attitude (before he was gelded) I used a control headcollar. Even after gelding, I would switch back to the control headcollar if he was going through a naughty period, then back to a normal headcollar.

I'm sure you'll have great fun with him.
 
Others have said about not tying him up, well to be honest I do not see any problems with one of those safety lead ropes which easily come apart (small mechanism on the end) once your horse has started to gain some confidence in your relationship. My experience of the safety lead ropes is that they come apart at a safe tension, unless others have not had the same experience I do not see an issue to tie him up once he is settled and listening more...
 
I prefer to hold a long lead rein or lunge line through a ring when teaching about tying up. If you use a lead with a safety release the animal might realise if he pulls back he is free, which wouldn't be such a good thing.

My friend's 15yo mare went through a period of being silly when tied up, and I'm convinced she got worse because she was tied to a peice of string which would break too easily for her weight, setting her free to trot off up the yard. I tied three pieces of string - each progressively longer than the last, and tied her to all three, she pulled back, broke the first, realise she was still tied up, pulled back again, broke the second, pulled back again, realised she was still tied up and gave up. We only had to do this a couple of times and she realised it wasn't worth the bother! (By the way it literally was a silly period, nothing serious, she would watch us while she was doing it to try to get a reaction from us - such a character! We have both known the horse for about ten years so it was obvious it was just her trying a new trick out on us.) Obviously I wouldn't dream of doing this with a youngster or if I had any doubts as to why the horse was acting in this way!
 
Moggy in Manolos said:
Others have said about not tying him up, well to be honest I do not see any problems with one of those safety lead ropes which easily come apart (small mechanism on the end) once your horse has started to gain some confidence in your relationship. My experience of the safety lead ropes is that they come apart at a safe tension, unless others have not had the same experience I do not see an issue to tie him up once he is settled and listening more...
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I wouldn't recommend this as you don't want your foal to learn that he can pull back and get free. He could also get injured if he does pull free and runs off in a panic.
 
eggs said:
I wouldn't recommend this as you don't want your foal to learn that he can pull back and get free. He could also get injured if he does pull free and runs off in a panic.
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Agree completely with this, if he learns as a foal that he can break free there will be no stopping him and it could end up a life long problem, once fully grown any headcollar/leadrope will give under the full weight of a horse. I would go with the lunge line through the ring to teach him but diamondgeezer mentioned leaving a half leadrope on the halter, this can also be used to teach them about pressure and release and was one of the 'old ways' of teaching to tie up and lead. If they stand on the rope then they will learn that they have to move themselves in order to release it. I haven't had youngsters for a while now and I don't really know if people still use it but it could kill 2 birds with one stone.
 
Patience and more patience. Just try to always remeber that he is very much a baby and needs lots of encouragement when he responds even partly as you want. Be calm and consistent with him and don't try and do too much too soon

I would never use food as a reward from your hand. If/when you catch him, bring him into a stable and give him a good scratch etc and if you want, a treat from a bucket/tug. He will then associated being caught with nice things. It's not much fun having a nippy colt looking at you for food!!

I would also have him gelded as soon as the mud dries but before the flies. He is plenty old enough and there is no benefit to keeping him entire.

Have you posted in the breeding section on here? Loads of friendly people and fantasic advice if ever you just want a bit of reassurance!

Good Luck and enjoy your baby, they are great timewasters, I spend hours just watching mine play :D:D
 
Thanks for the amazing advice people!

hes already letting me pick his hooves up and mess with him and groom him, and he has had no handling before me, so i think i have a quick learner here which i am chuffed about :)

He has been in this week because the yard i am on didnt really want him out as a colt, however i think after they have seen how quiet he is, she is letting me turn him out this weekend. So i have a plan.....

I'm going to turn him out this weekend, he is going out with another youngster ( a two year old) i am going keep going to the field and groom him and stroke him etc then walk away, just so he knows that im not going bring him after a week of being in a stable.

He is then staying out that night with the youngster. So i shall 'attempt' to catch him, bring him in, give him his feed, then turn back out again, so overall its a good experience.

The next day, again i'm going to catch him, bring him in, do a little bit of handling, give him his feed, then turn back out.

Going see how he goes doing this, which i read in one of my horsey books, and seems like a few people have given me some similiar advice and see how i go on.

What does everyone think? Think i'm going about this in the right way?
 
im not even thinking about tieing him up yet, dont trust him.

When i do though i am going get one of those safety clip things. They are awesome, i have one with my older horse, they are pretty strong, but they are easier than bailing twine.
 
Patience and loads of handling is the answer with babies. You need to be firm but not rough. Don't let him do anything that you wouldn't let your older horse get away with.

Get a fieldsafe headcollar and tie a piece of baler twine to the bottom loop - or get a normal foalslip (leather) and replace one of the side straps with something that will break.

Good luck and enjoy!
 
Hes doing really well, considering he only moved to the yard last weekend.

Hes already letting me mess with his feet and that :)

I will do the fieldsafe headcollar thing and will tie the bailing twine etc.

Thanks for the advice.
 
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