Nervous foal

[babeandbessy]

I rescued a 5 month old foal from going to the meat man and when we got him home he was sooo nervous we couldn't get near him! It's been 2 weeks now and he's turning into a cheeky little chap we can stroke him on face/neck/back and have cuddles and he's always happy to see us but we are having a trouble getting his head collar on, when we got him he had some sores where a very tight head collar must have been and these are all healed up now. I still cannot however convince him to have his head collar on and due to this he hasn't been able to come out of the stable yet which isn't ideal.

 

[Wagtail]

Get a clicker. You can then clicker train him to put his head into the headcollar for a click and treat. You need to do it very slowly. Advance and retreat. Reward every forward step towards putting his nose to the headcollar with a click, treat and removal of the head collar. Soon he will associate it with something positive. Each time do more and more. Start by rewarding him just getting close to it, then touching it, then allowing it around his nose, and finally allowing the strap over his head. Each time remove the head collar when he succeeds with eat step. Finally, you will be able to fasten it.

 

[crabbymare]

Have you tried opening the nose and doing it up behind his ears first and then after a few minutes stroking doing up the noseband? that usually works nicely as you have a little bit of gentle control from the bit thats already done up. other than that make it a fraction to big and undo the throat bit so you can quickly pop it on without scaring him and its over his ears before he knows its there then he can have more strokes and get used to the idea that its not going to hurt then you slowly take it off and repeat until he is happy with it. any chance that you can get him in and out with a soft rope under his neck and round his bum for steering and control like with young foals or would that worry him too much?

 

[be positive]

Give him a bit longer, it sounds as if you have made great progress but if he was sore it will take a while for the headcollar going on to be something he accepts, plenty of time handling his head, rubbing round his ears then gradually introduce the headcollar, let him sniff it, even have a chew so he knows it is safe before putting it on.

 

[AdorableAlice]

Been there very recently.

Without being able to get a foal slip on and off it's impossible to make progress. We cornered our bag of nerves, got it on and then spent several days getting him to accept his head being touched and the slip coming on and off.

It is a very few minutes of unpleasantness but my horse would never have had it on if I had waited for him to stuff his head into it by himself.

How big is your foal ? one tip is to handle his neck and bring your hands to his face from the underside of his neck, don't try standing in front of him to put the slip on. By standing at his side you can use your hip and body to keep him still.

 

[babeandbessy]

Thanks all.. Am going to give it a try again tomorrow

 

[Sandstone1]

The book No fear no Force by Sarah Weston would help you a lot, clicker training is great for getting headcollar on. I would get the book, it really is good

 

[Dry Rot]

Another who has been there! It can be immensely frustrating. Just dabbing at the problem teaches the foal that withdrawing is rewarded, i.e. they move away and the problem of your annoying fiddling with the head collar disappears. To my mind that is sowing the seeds of head shyness.

I take a long padded stick and gently touch the foal around the head and body until it tolerates it reasonably well. Then tie the head collar onto the end of the stick and dangle it over the foal's head, touching around head and neck until it also accepts that. You may now stand a better chance of getting the head collar on by hand. Offering the foal tid-bits with one hand while you touch it with the head collar in the other hand sometimes helps.

If that doesn't work, take a smooth rope (yachting rope is ideal) and tie a fixed noose on the end large enough to get over the foal's head. It is important that the noose does not close (use a bow line knot). You should be able to gently place this over the foal's head with the stick. If the foal panics (unlikely), just let the rope go. When the foal has calmed down it should be possible to quietly pick up the rope, apply light pressure and get up to put the head collar on. You are really using the rope to lightly hold the foal in position and stop the natural urge for it to move away.

Done correctly, I've found this works for me without the usual trauma and upset (which I hate and avoid at all costs). Others may disagree and will have their own methods. Choose the method that works best for you!