We have a very cute but very intelligent five day old filly and I have a few things on my mind that I could do some help with!
Firstly, she has decided that she will try to kick people! From the moment she started doing it, I have pinched her to try and mimic another horse biting her to tell her off but she doesn't care and will still try kicking.
What should I be doing to stop this or what other strategies can I use? She enjoys attention and will come for cuddles but then just decides she has had enough or you stroke her bum and she will turn on you, I don't want this to become a thing!
Secondly, when can I put a halter on her? How should I be introducing it?
The only reason I ask is that she knows full well that mum will go were she goes, so if we need to move them, we can't just take mum and hope that foal will follow because she wont. The foal will decide she doesn't want to go and will walk off, waiting for mum to get upset and follow her. I think by getting a halter on her it would be easier for her to realize she has to go with mum and us.
There was just a discussion about sassy foals in a warmblood breeding group i'm part of. Everyone agrees, a foal thats starting to kick this young needs to be nipped right away and the best bet is a good wack with a dressage whip across the rump. You don't need to hit them so hard it will welt, just a good thwap to say "smarten the heck up". Momma would kick baby if it was kicking her so its not much different.
As for halter. Put a leather halter on her now. Never use nylon or rope on a foal. Always leather. You can get them with a little grab strap on them as well. These are my preferred halters for foals Leather Foal Slip Halter - Foal Halters - Halters & Leads
Sounds as if the dam is a first time mother and letting the foal get away with to much.
I agree with NB that this foal needs a short sharp lesson in manners towards humans.
Most foals will at one point or another, try bossing humans and they need to be corrected in a very firm but fair way. If a foal turns its butt towards me with intent to kick then it gets a very rapid open handed slap across its flank. It is not so much causing pain but more the shock of it.
Good mothers will discipline the foal. When a mare is eating its feed and the foal will try to suckle the mare will stand square making the udder less accessible. If the foal persists there is tail swishing and the mare will swing her quarters towards the foal. The next is an actual kick, not with the hoof but with the back of the leg. The foal learns that no means no.
As for a halter I agree woth want a leather foal slip. You will also need to teach the foal to lead.
A good swat on the rump when she tries to kick will usually do the trick, it might take a couple of times. My three week old baby did the same at just a few days old. I think it's a normal thing for them to try out their equipment. When my baby tried to kick, I swatted her and she hid behind her mom and then peaked out and came over for more scratches. She only tried a couple of times with the same consequences and then stopped. She hasn't tried to kick me since, but if she does, she will get a swat again.
Stop scratching her bum. At this point it only encourages the behavior. You also train them to think it is OK to present their bum to you. Fine for a horse that only you deal with and you keep forever but could cause issue down the road. A good firm swat as others have suggested would take care of it. All of our mares allow the babies to suckle when they feed so I wouldn't necessarily say they will correct them at feeding time. But a good mare will take them in hand and make them behave. If she doesn't, typically in a herd situation, someone else will so they still learn.
I also have a foal that's just turned 1 and she's also a filly.
The fist day I got her (at nine months) she also kicked me.
What we did was basically each time she turned her bum on us, we pushed her bum so she moved away.She doesn't do it anymore. Pinching is also a good idea.
The halter was quite easy at the beginning because she is really confident, but she now doesn't like us putting the halter on. This is because we just put the halter on when we were going to lead her or lunge her or groom her.
We are fixing this by putting the halter on before her ffed, or before being put out to graze. Then she doesn't associate the halter with"work" and she sees that when the halter gets put on it doesn't always mean work, it can also mean being put out to graze or feed.
I hope you really enjoy spending time with her and I hope I helped, even though this is my first foal I'm training so I'm no expert
I agree with putting a halter on now. I would also suggest putting a short lead on it and letting it dangle (One that's only about 12 or 18 inches long, just leave it on the halter.
I agree also with either using a dressage whip or even a lead rope to swat her the MOMENT she kicks, I mean the instant that foot comes off the ground, not after you've dodged it or ran away. I mean the instant she starts it. You only have about 3 seconds to respond to bad behavior for them to understand action vs consequence.
I would also suggest teacher her to turn her head towards you now and to never have her butt facing you.
Pinching is useless - a mare will actually bite a foal really hard if it gets too pushy - and they only need to do it once. You don't need to go abusive on them but you do need them to think 'ouch'
I agree with not lunging a foal - very bad idea
When you train them to lead you start out by getting one arm around and sort of under their backsides and push them along while the other hand is on the lead rope - it gets them moving but reduces the risk of it turning into a tug of war situation that can end with a foal going over backwards and hurting itself. Once they start to understand that they're 'going with you' you gradually move to pressure on their head and they'll accept it. I don't clip a lead rein to the halter until the foal is really sure of what the leading thing is about, I just thread a lead through the ring so if anything does go wrong its just going to pull through and I haven't got a loose foal racing around with a lead flapping around that it could get into an accident with
I'm a firm believer in educating foals from the get go but not in 'playing' with them like they're puppies it just creates dangerous behavior later on
I haven't ever scratched her bum as I had heard stories about what can happen which is why I was so upset when she started the kicking thing. I tried what everyone has suggested and gave her a smacked bottom when she tried to kick me however, she has now decided that because of this she wont come near me! I have just carried on like normal and ignored her, I figured that after a day or two she will become curious as to why I haven't been to see her and come over to me?
As for a halter, I can't get one on her! I tried a gentle approach of letting her see it and she didn't care for it much until I tried to put it on her! She is clearer and as soon as she seems me with it, runs away!
I think I have my work cut out for me with this one!
Once you can get near her again...put your arm over her shoulder to get ahold of the part of the halter that goes behind her ears. She won't think you're trying to get the halter over her head...then just slide it over her nose and you're in. You'll need her trust to do this...otherwise you're just creating trouble for the future. If she is still small enough, use a long lead rope around her hind end without a halter....pull her from behind if that makes sense....and don't bother with her head for awhile.
Sometimes it takes two people and a 'corner' to back them into
Honestly I would rather have a fight with them at this age when they're smaller and win than have the same fight when they're two years old and lose!!!
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