Handling suggestions

W

Worried1

Well-Known Member
Joined
13 September 2005
Messages
4,369
Location
Kent
Visit site
Luna does not want to interact at all. Diva is a lovely calm mum who doesn't fuss and stands patiently while she does the wall of death around us but I am at a loss as to how to get Luna onside.

I was in with her fairly quickly after she was born and looking back she was 'hot' from the word go. I was able to cuff her for the first couple of days and then she was following her mum.

They were stabled at night until the weather broke but she's now coming up for three weeks and I have never seen anything like it! She's absolutely wild.

She's not interested in us at all, we have tried bum scratching and and 'grooming' but it doesn't really hold her for that long and there is no progress.

She's getting bigger and is now really strong you can't cuff her or hold onto her. It took three of us including my repro vet to get a foal slip on today as I didn't want to leave it any longer.

My lovely sister came up tonight straight from her two week holiday and did a little bit with her but even she admitted she's the feistiest foal she's ever come across.

Over entered Kent and Futurity and am worrying that neither of these will be viable unless she calms down! She is the total opposite of last year's foal who was an absolute poppet from day 1.

Any suggestions please?
 
Just keep persevering.
We have lots of foals every year and the mother doesn't seem to make a massive difference to how the foal is unless she is very hysterical.
The one thing I have noticed is how foals by certain stallions always seem to have similar temp.
If we have a buzzy foal you can be sure that if we have had a foal by that stallion before it will also have been buzzy.
Everything here gets the same handling and with between 10 and 15 foals born here every year it becomes very interesting to see how they behave.
 
I bred one just like this, she came out running in the opposite direction! She would love to say hello, but really was not overly into people. Her cousin bred two weeks before, was incredibly loving and huggy, he is a boy though. With the little girl, we just had to adapt to her way of thinking, within reason. She WAS going to be led, but we accepted her rather bouncy trot alongside, as long as it was alongside. After she was sold, she did like to break in any new handler she had by dragging them behind her very fast trot. I actually think she will be a brilliant competition horse and was sold to a competition home, so fingers crossed she will be out and about soon. I think some foals are just not the huggy, people-minded babies others are. I have a colt now that I bred last year who is the most huggable, loving and affectionate boy going.
 
Right, there may be a queue now to tell me that I'm wrong, but this is what I do, or would do, if I didn't generally leave them until they're about at weaning!

With very young foals, bum scratching and getting them "on-side", is often a waist of time, and totally counterproductive. The problem is with such foals, that they are "permitting" you to handle them, and they're also learning how to avoid you. The more entrenched the idea of evading capture becomes, so the more difficult the correction, and "I speak with some experience here"! :o;)

Foals have to learn compliance and obedience, and they have to learn to acquiesce.

Do you have a head collar on your filly? I'd never use nylon on a foal, but the thin and relatively fine leather ones will break in an emergency. Control, especially with a foal such as yours, begins with control at the head. I always leave a tail on the head collar or slip, about 8" long, so that they can be caught a little more easily. A rodeo around the mare, in its box is also a waist of time, and will introduce fear which isn't what we want. With the foal against it's mothers side, and gentle steering of the head, they very soon learn how to evade pressure, by being compliant.

It's all do-able, but it should either be done from the age of a few days, or leave them completely un-handled until weaning.

Good luck, and if you haven't, get a head collar on her. There's an easy way of doing that, too!

Alec.
 
Appropriate name for her :p well done getting the foal slip on her, I have always found that foals like this quieten down tremendously once they have a slip on. Ideally you need a short length of rope attached to the slip to make it easier to catch her, perseverance will prevail.
 
I agree with Alec.

Foals will quickly and easily learn to yield to halter pressure if the job is done gently.

However, if they are made more afraid and resistant by being overwhelmed to get a halter on, they will be set back by the experience, at least in the short term.

I once had the task of haltering and leading of eight weanlings which had experienced their owner's previous failed attempts to halter them. This had involved lots of people and ropes.

I set up a stable with a high gate in a corner, fixed so that it could be swung round to create a narrow triangular pen. Horse rugs hung on the gate prevented legs going through, as well as cutting down on a lot of visual distractions.

Each foal was quietly walked into the corner and the gate brought round to touch their side. They all stood nicely while I slipped a headcollar and halter on, then they got a bit of desensitisation handling and learned to yield to pressure before being let out into the stable and taught to lead. It all went well with minimum fuss and no injuries.

Teaching a foal to yield to pressure is easily done by simply moving its head a couple of inches to the side, gently and repeatedly, until it learns to keep its head where you have 'placed' it. That is enough to teach a foal to yield to pressure. Thereafter, in the stable, it is easy to build on that and teach the foal to move around according to your wishes. As long as it's done gently but firmly, the foal will quickly come to understand.

In a stable, the foal cannot run away, so if you use 'advance and retreat' as well as the halter, it will be persuaded to trust. If you get into trouble, avoid tests of strength by simply slackening or even dropping the rope. This will allow the foal to settle, and you can start again.

Remember that you should be managing the foal's flight response, by observing how much it can cope with before that response is activated, and using that as your criteria for progress.
 
Last edited:
None of the foals here are handled before weaning. Frankly, I do not see the point unless you need to show them. If they want to come up and inspect me, that's fine, but that decision is left to the foal.

Foals are weaned by putting them in the field shelter and the mare is removed as far away as possible, preferably out of sight and sound. The field shelter opens into the round pen which is handy for later when they can be let out to run around. I say "them" as I usually have more than one to wean.

I've tried all the text book methods of head collaring foals but hate to introduce any form of trauma into a young life. I am convinced they don't forget it. I've also tried head collaring them when they have had their heads in a bucket of feed but only succeeded in losing my temper and initiating head shyness in the foal!

I now handle the foal a bit more every day when it starts to take hard feed. I also stand next to the hay net and feed from my hand. It doesn't take long putting a price tag on each bite....the price of which is being gently touched with my other hand. Again, the foal makes the approach and has to brush past my hand to get at the hay. I do not move the hand until they've learnt to accept it.

As they get bolder, I will touch them with a long stick. I'll hang the head collar on the end of the stick and stroke them all over with that. Then I'll dangle a non-slip noose on the end of the stick, gently drop it over the foal's head, work my way up the rope, and put on the head collar. It's a simple as that. These are techniques I've borrowed from over 50 years of training various species of raptors for falconry...and a wild trapped hawk is a lot more spooky than any foal, I can assure you!

Teaching to lead takes about five minutes, ten minutes tops. I went to see a foal the other day that had been well handled but the owner talked of "getting someone in" to teach her to lead. I showed her how to do that in five minutes, in the field, with a standard nylon head collar. I do not understand why some make such a song and dance about it. A few minutes a day will get there faster and with less trauma than faffing around with gates and rugby tackles.
 
Last edited:
Could you elaborate on the teaching to lead? My foal can be steered and sort of controlled with a rope around neck and hand on bum but im unsure of when i should start working with the head? He has accepted headcollar on/off fine. Hes only 16 days old but already quite strong and full of himself! Is it still too early though?
 
sarah and hatty said:
Could you elaborate on the teaching to lead? My foal can be steered and sort of controlled with a rope around neck and hand on bum but im unsure of when i should start working with the head? He has accepted headcollar on/off fine. Hes only 16 days old but already quite strong and full of himself! Is it still too early though?
Click to expand...


Unless you have a large breed of horse (and even then) which might be too strong to handle, I'd concentrate on getting the foal to trust you at this stage so you can stroke it all over (or at least head, neck, back, and sides) without causing panic. But let the foal come to you and don't try to force the pace.

When your foal is head collared, you can put a finger through one side and gently pull to one side. Pulling to one side is more effective as it puts the foal slightly off balance. When you notice any shift in weight, instantly release the pull. Wait, say, 20 seconds and try again.

Basically, what you are attempting to teach is that the foal has the power to turn off the pressure by moving in the direction of the pull. Very quickly, the penny will drop that it only has to move in the direction of the pull to turn off the mild discomfort of the pressure on the head collar.

The foal will usually try various things, the first being to pull in the opposite direction. Just go with the movement but maintain the pressure. (Do not let go as one "expert" recommends!). If you do this properly, it will work surprisingly quickly. If you apply too much pressure too soon, you'll cause the foal to panic and struggle. This you do NOT want! So less is more.

The key is to be gentle with instantaneous timing. Timing is everything. You do not need to exert strength as teaching this has nothing to do with power.

We use rope halters here but extremely gently. I am reluctant to recommend them for foals in case they are used harshly when an ordinary head collar will do just as well.

Remember, animals learn by experimenting and making mistakes, but they quickly remember what gets them what they want. Gentle but firm pressure on the head collar is mildly uncomfortable and the foal will try moving (very slightly) in different directions. Just maintain slight pressure until it moves in the right direction and so hits on the right thing to do to turn off the pressure. Just shifting weight (without moving feet) is enough the first few times, then you'll get a foot moved an inch or two.

When the penny drops, you have succeeded and the foal will lead anywhere with the slightest pressure. Just remember to ALWAYS release the pressure as soon as the foals moves in the direction of the pull. The inclination is to drag a pony around, that is wrong. You'll soon have a foal that can be led by one finger and follow you anywhere.

Here are a couple of our yearlings. They really aren't that long in the body! The video was shot in 4:3 but it shows up in wide screen for some reason! But it will give you an idea.

[youtube]Sd_h7ZC3BCk[/youtube]
 
Thanks everyone, particularly like the comment she came out running as looking back this is her!

So we have a leather foal slip on which admittedly took three of us but it is a leather one with a short lead, we have not been putting them in the foal box as there was too much room for her to escape so instead have been putting them in a pony stable to work with.

My only concern is that she is hysterical and will hurl herself away and backwards rather than stay with you but we will persevere and I will keep you posted and she was certainly better on Saturday than on Friday.

She des need to lead, as I do want to show her and also do Futurity,
 
I went to the WHW welfare round up of the Dallas, Morayshire, ponies. 90 ponies running wild on 2,000 acres.

http://www.worldhorsewelfare.org/Article/Behind-the-scenes-of-horse-round-up-to-be-televised

I remarked to one young lady that whoever took on one of those would have their time cut out.

She replied that they had got a weaned colt and he was leading, having his feet lifted, being groomed, etc. inside a week....

,,,then she added, "But I did move into the stable with him!"

There's your answer. All it takes is time!:D There really aren't any short cuts -- just don't teach them to be afraid and run away by chasing them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top