Pressure halters-what age to use from?

eirewhisper

eirewhisper

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I've had a yearling colt since last November who was unhandled up to the point of me buying him. He's quite nice to work with - leads nicely and has now been bitted (for in-hand bridle), learned to trot in hand and stand quietly as I wanted to show him once or twice this year.
The problem arose when I came to load him-he flat out refused! This caught me by surprise as up 'til then he was very obedient (he had walked on the lorry when I picked him up) and I had given him all the time to have a sniff/look etc first.
I have gone right back to the basics with him to give him (and me) confidence however others at the livery yard suggest I use a dually halter to teach him.
He needs everything to be taken really slowly- just getting him used to the bridle alone took days and was done in a very piecemeal way. He reacts quickly to anything he's unsure of by rearing & "boxing", although is not nasty. He's very intelligent and uses his brain.

Do you think he's a bit young for pressure halter training yet or would this be beneficial? I think he's just needing another year or so to mature in his head.
Any thoughts welcome ;)
 
There never to young for them as long as they are fitted and used correctly.
I have had my yearling colt about 3 months and he wasnt halter broken when we got him, he really needed a bath as unfortunatly where he came from had him in a stable what hadnt been mucked out in a long while.
He was turned out with my other boys and lives out 24/7, he was brought in daily for feed with one of the boys as a lead and he soon got the hang of it.
He now follows me like a lamb and is bitted as we have done a few in hand shows with him.
On our first bath he started to rear so i put a rope halter over his headcollar and used this each time, once he had reared a few times and realised that it made no difference to me but put pressure on his nose, he soon stopped.
He to loaded when i collected him but on our first show day decided that he would stand at foot of ramp and that was it, i put the rope halter on him and waited till he leant forward to touch the ramp, i then gave a little tug which put him off balance and he put a foot on the ramp, relalising it wasnt going to eat him we proceeded in this way, once is last foot was on he came straight in, i gave him a good scratch and told hm what a good bo he was and off we went.
Next time he placed 2 feet on the ramp, a little tug from me and back feet followed and on we was, now he follows me straight up no hesitation.
As long as its used correctly it will be a great aid.
x:)
 
A woman at my yard who has rescued a 2 and a half yr old mare from the rspca uses a rope halter to do literally everything with her. Apparently she was a nightmare to get into a trailer when she was moved to our yard so yesterday i lent her my parked horsebox put both rear and side ramps down and let her practice. As long as you understand how they work and are quick enough to release pressure as reward for the correct response you should be fine. Within 20 mins after some encouragement up the ramp, she had walked her on and round off the box 5 times with no argument what so ever! I used one on my 18 yr old very stubborn loader for the 1st time on sat and it worked after 20 mins compared to the hour and 4 ppl getting him on the week before!

So they are never too young or too old!
 
Thanks for the replies :) I have a loan of a Dually which I will practise using on my older horse first to get the technique right.
This is the first really baby horse I've had so I am keen not to make any mistakes or rush him so your replies are much appreciated xx
 
I think I saw this question on the Monty Roberts university web site. The answer was you can use his halter from when the youngster is weaned but to use it carefully and don't be too forceful as they are very sensitive to the pressure when young. Only use the minimum pressure but just enough to get them to listen.
I wouldn't allow him to rear when in hand but again be careful to not put too much pressure on when he goes up as they can rear further and go over backwards. Just maintain some pressure whilst the front legs are in the air and use a long rope so you can keep well clear of those boxing feet! Release it immediately he comes down and reward him with a rub for being on the ground!
 
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Why resort to gadgets when it is likely a slowly slowly approach will work, as he is just a baby? What did we all do before pressure halters? You just store up trouble by feeling that in future you need the pressure halter to solve issues.
Use feed, pressure and release (i.e make sure his leading, backing up etc. is really good), let him watch other horses go on and off, open the trailer up. It all needs to be low stress so he learns loading is easy!
 
SusieT said:
Why resort to gadgets when it is likely a slowly slowly approach will work, as he is just a baby? What did we all do before pressure halters? You just store up trouble by feeling that in future you need the pressure halter to solve issues.
Use feed, pressure and release (i.e make sure his leading, backing up etc. is really good), let him watch other horses go on and off, open the trailer up. It all needs to be low stress so he learns loading is easy!
Click to expand...

This. I was given one and rode in it for a while, got it out this week because he's getting annoyed at being on box rest, but he responds to voice and polos are better than a gadget.
 
He's certainly not to young to have the pressure halter on - I use mine for anything where I think there may be some resistance - including loading when they haven't been on there for a long time.

Like today - filly had hers on as the farrier as coming and she is not that good abouot having her feet worked on. I know I have more control.

It may be a good idea to have a chifney on him, make sure that you clip the lead rope to the bit AND headcollar - less severe then but this will help with the rearing. I also use a very long lead rope with the yooungsters.

The pic below is a useful means of encouraging forward movement with you in more control. The knot at the withers is a bowline.

MatamataWaikatoWorld008.jpg
 
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