May Days

Ahhhhhhh, the sweet, sweet days of May when foals are dancing in the warm sunlight around their Moms. These days are the most formative of all for your babies. And, the most FUN! All those little antics of rearing and squealing, kicking out and climbing on their Moms. They are cute when they're little but "cute" habits become dangerous ones later on when they've grown to 1000# beasts! No one wants a yearling colt trying to climb onto his or her back! Learn how to estalish a good partnership even now with your little ones BEFORE they get bigger! There's no better time to begin than now.
If you've not gotten a halter on your foal, don't wait until he is months old to do so. It will be much harder in a few months than now, just days after birth (or, even immediately after foaling). Teaching the foal to lead is not a difficult thing to do, either, if you teach while the Mom is being led, as well. A bit of behind pressure, RELEASING the pressure with each step forward, will not be forgotten! Just as well, teaching the foal to have a bit of respect for your personal space is vital to the well-rounded lessons. Simply asking him to back up 3 steps and rewarding, instantly, with the release of pressure and nice scritches goes a long way to estabishing life-long good manners. The hind end disengagement can now be taught easily as can side passing and head down. All these things, when taught on a daily basis for a few minutes each time, will begin to establish an excellent foundational support for future teachings. Once the foal is beginning to nibble on Mom's grain, you can then teach him to target objects and reward him with a few grains of oats. This will help to establish good manners with respect to biting. The foal will quickly learn that he must do something to earn a treat rather than mug his handler. Targeting also makes use of the foal's natural curiosity and bravery at this point and will give him a secure platform of self-control when scary things come down the road. There are many fun things to do with your foal as he's growing. Remember, always, that the "cuteness" of a little buck here or a little rear there, however, is NOT cute when the foal is larger and taller! So, nip those behaviors around humans now with alternative teachings ... give him something else to do instead of bucking or rearing in resistance. In fact, teaching him now will help to eradicate resistance later on! So, enjoy this precious time and use it wisely, as well. Happy Spring!