New foal advice pls!!!

[Hollyhorse]

We have just had our first foal, well our mare has! He came on friday night, though hopefully after midnight so on sat not fri 13th... He's a lovely bay colt with a big white star and two white front socks. The vet came and said he's really strong and confident already and quite feisty and big for a new born! I predict he's going to turn grey as he's got some grey above his socks and has white between his legs and white whiskers but what do I know! Would be interested to hear thoughts?
Anyway now the foal has arrived I was hoping for some advice, particularly on handling. My neighbour says we need to start leading it straight away, handling it to death, tapping his feet etc etc. Please advise me!!

 

[scotsmare]

Let it be a baby - yes, he needs consistent handling but one thing at a time otherwise you will freak the poor soul out! With regards to colour, what was mum and dad?

 

[spitchwick]

If he has grey hairs on his face when he loses his foal coat, then he's likely to go grey, otherwise, stay a solid colour. As regards to handling, yes, handle well, and teach to lead, hand around bum always works well, but don't stress the poor little chap out.

 

[toffeesmarty]

You need to keep a balance between not handling and doing too much too soon. Have you looked at the breeding pages of the forum? The advice there is great.

 

[magicchett]

Check for grey around the eyes - this gives it away

Congrats on your first!

 

[Hollyhorse]

Some pics!!

Spitchwick n Lanesfield_Larkspur - I shall have a look out for grey on face/around the eyes, all I've noticed so far is specks of black around the eyes and on his eyes and the seriously white mass of whiskers! The dad was a mid-bay but the mum's a blue/chocolate blagdon (depends on the season)/sabino-type as you can see! We're just grateful the foal didn't come out purple...

With regards to handling, thanks for the advice, I've put a post in the breeding section and have had some great feedback

The foal is naturally very curious and becoming more and more confident so I think we'll just continue what we're doing, gradually getting him used to being handled and happy being touched. He's so cute!!