Please help, my foal is causing big problems!

[fatpiggy]

I used to drive 52 miles every day to see to my horse - 17 miles from home to horse, 9 miles from horse to work, then repeat in the evening. I spent 3 hours a day just driving. But there wasn't anywhere suitable nearer for my horse so I just had to get on with it. Taking on a youngster is a very big responsibility and you need to have everything nailed down hard and in advance in order to do it successfully. Horses need different care packages at different stages in their lives so what suits a 2 year old isn't likely to suit a 32 year old.

 

[Asha]

I don't understand why anyone would baulk at £120 a month??!! And it doesn't really matter how far away it is IMO as he needs the right company much more than he needs you.

Absolutely this ^^

OP - as I see it you our choices are :

1. Find a new yard, one that has the right herd mix
2. Borrow someone's weanling
3. Send him away to youngstock livery
4. Sell him to someone who can provide any of the above.

Young colts can become boisterous and need plenty of playtime, before they start to play with you.

 

[Gloi]

I bought a foal last year and he's still away in a group of youngsters and I'll be fetching him home, probably as a 2yo. He's happier there with other colts and gets all he needs for a very competitive price so I just have to suck up not being able to see him as often as I'd like as it's a full day's journey to go and see him. I just have to look at the videos to see him growing. There'll be plenty of time to do things with him when he's grown up a bit.

 

[Gingersmum]

Has he been gelded yet?

/\ agree with this.
Particularly as you mention friends pony is a mare. Think your lad may be showing stallion tendencies, which can happen as young as 8 months. I would look at getting him gelded as soon possible

 

[jewel]

has he been gelded? is it a mare he is attached to? I have similar problem with a yearling a few years ago. I contacted a local stud and they had her to run with their youngstock and i had one of their old ponies with me. She is now 7 and still plays up if kept with only 1 or 2 for company, she does so much better being in a big herd

 

[Clodagh]

Can he not be stabled when your friend is riding? I do think he needs friends his own age though, I know it isn't what you want to hear but horses are expensive to run, he sounds very upset and distressed poor little chap. I had one foal at home but bought a yearling newfie and he lived out with two mares as well, his mum and one other.

 

[hollyflower]

It's not that I won't spend 120 a month, I just don't agree that he has to be out with other young stock, all the breeders I know agree an older pony is just as good company for him. If the fencing was secure then he wouldn't be trying to get out its just because he can see holes big enough to just stroll through that he does it, which is why I am moving them. I Can't just send the foal away for a year as I have my 20 year old half blind pony alone then, they are companions for each other, they have to go somewhere together. It is really hard to find livery and grazing around here.

 

[ester]

I rather think it depends on the older pony. Perhaps a foal wasn't the best thing to choice to be your 20 yo half blind pony's companion?

 

[hollyflower]

He has been out with every age and sex of horse and pony and it has never been an issue, I only have the two, both I can't sell. The pony doesn't care either way, he minds his own business.

 

[EQUIDAE]

It's not that I won't spend 120 a month, I just don't agree that he has to be out with other young stock, all the breeders I know agree an older pony is just as good company for him. If the fencing was secure then he wouldn't be trying to get out its just because he can see holes big enough to just stroll through that he does it, which is why I am moving them. I Can't just send the foal away for a year as I have my 20 year old half blind pony alone then, they are companions for each other, they have to go somewhere together. It is really hard to find livery and grazing around here.

But by your own admission this isn't working...

 

[ester]

Do you not see that the fact that he minds his own business might be part of the problem?

I admit to getting grumpy because I know a lot of people that buy youngsters without the set up to give them really what they need so that they grow up to be well balanced and healthy individuals.

 

[paddy555]

It's not that I won't spend 120 a month, I just don't agree that he has to be out with other young stock, all the breeders I know agree an older pony is just as good company for him. If the fencing was secure then he wouldn't be trying to get out its just because he can see holes big enough to just stroll through that he does it, which is why I am moving them. I Can't just send the foal away for a year as I have my 20 year old half blind pony alone then, they are companions for each other, they have to go somewhere together. It is really hard to find livery and grazing around here.

I have had lots of youngsters from 6 mo onwards over the years and they have never gone out with other youngsters as I have only every had one youngster at once. They have all gone out with older horses and they have all been well adjusted and easy to deal with. I have found the older horses have taught them how to behave and how to fit in with my yard.

The only youngster I have had that had a problem came from a stud where they put youngsters together. He lived with 3 others. He was a total nightmare to deal with when he came from that regime. It took the older horse quite a while to get control of him and even longer for me. All he had learnt from his time with youngsters was how to use his teeth and how to stand on his hind legs. It took him a long time to realise that everything including me was not fair game for that sort of behaviour.

Far easier to put them with older horses.

 

[catroo]

And who is the foal going to play and run around with? Doesn't sound like either are suitable companions for each other. Your old boy will care when the foal starts constantly pestering him because he's bored out his brains.

Your old boy will be less and less able to put the youngster in his place and that is the only benefit to turning out with an adult. If he doesn't learn how to interact with others correctly now then you'll have trouble in the future.

 

[catroo]

I have had lots of youngsters from 6 mo onwards over the years and they have never gone out with other youngsters as I have only every had one youngster at once. They have all gone out with older horses and they have all been well adjusted and easy to deal with. I have found the older horses have taught them how to behave and how to fit in with my yard.

The only youngster I have had that had a problem came from a stud where they put youngsters together. He lived with 3 others. He was a total nightmare to deal with when he came from that regime. It took the older horse quite a while to get control of him and even longer for me. All he had learnt from his time with youngsters was how to use his teeth and how to stand on his hind legs. It took him a long time to realise that everything including me was not fair game for that sort of behaviour.

Far easier to put them with older horses.

That's why breeders turn out in mixed herds, older mares alongside the youngsters so they can play and learn.

 

[Clodagh]

A foal and an old blind gelding are a disaster waiting to happen. Stop thinking what YOU want and start thinking what they need.

 

[ester]

I don't necessarily think it is a bad thing to have them with older horses, but it depends a) on the older horse's character, b) if there is more than one of them to share the load.

 

[zigzag]

Gosh, I feel sorry for both your horses, the youngster who needs youngsters to play with and the old pony who needs peace and quiet, not being pestered by a youngster

 

[hollyflower]

I asked for advice on helping them bond and him settle, what I have been advised so far is to sell one or both or send them miles away for someone else to deal with. I have had the pony for 21 years so obviously he isn't going anywhere and the foal was given to me by the friend who bought his grandad that I always have regretted selling. I'm not an idiot, I spent my childhood on a stud farm, handling and showing young stock, we always turned a baby out with an older companion so I genuinely didn't see them living together would be an issue. When the other younger gelding was separated he was quite happy with the older pony but since living with the younger one he now pines and looks for him. I'm looking for ways to help him forget the other pony not judgment and criticism.

 

[hollyflower]

And just so we are clear, the foal is not a handful, he is really well handled and easy to do everything with. How do I delete this??

 

[hollyflower]

And I don't agree youngsters NEED other youngsters to play with atall.

 

[Clodagh]

If he is so easy why do you have to move them off the yard you are on?
You can't delete it, you just have to log out and walk away.

 

[AmyMay]

I asked for advice on helping them bond and him settle, what I have been advised so far is to sell one or both or send them miles away for someone else to deal with.

No, what you've been advised to do is find a more suitable environment for your 8 month old foal. A foal is not the right companion for your elderly pony (very obviously) and visa versa.

I've given you the details of THREE yards that might be able to help you - on your doorstep.

 

[hollyflower]

Because the fencing isn't secure and he can get out of the fields, he has another pony out with him some of the time and when he is taken out he tries to follow and find him.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Whoa, I can't send my goal to an 80 pw livery yard 60 miles from where I live, I have contacted every livery yard in the area and most are tiny electric fences paddocks where they won't let you put two together let alone large groups. I have been posting ads, scouring yards and adverts online and in every shop for miles, it took me two months to find any grazing at all. There are no reasonably priced yards that let horses go out in groups, most aren't happy for them to be out a couple of hours a day, he is a small crossbred family pet, not a top eventing prospect. Thanks everyone but I think we are living in different worlds.

Perhaps it would have been a good idea to have worked this out before you got the colt. Just about any literature you read about bringing up foals/young horses will give you the same advice that you have received on here. Young horses need to living out in mixed age herds where they will learn manners and how to be a horse.

 

[hollyflower]

they were not on my doorstep, they were 60+ miles away.

 

[ester]

Because the fencing isn't secure and he can get out of the fields, he has another pony out with him some of the time and when he is taken out he tries to follow and find him.

I thought the issues was that he was getting frantic too. The fencing is relatively easy to sort.

If you have all that experience you didn't really need to ask on here at all surely?

 

[hollyflower]

every single person I know puts their youngsters with an older companion so that is clearly not the only way

 

[ester]

but not all older companions are equal!

 

[AmyMay]

And I don't agree youngsters NEED other youngsters to play with atall.

You may not agree, but it's a fact that most do.

 

[Nudibranch]

It isn't the only way - but if you are having problems then you need to do something differently.