[ilovesonya]

Which is better for the foal? I have a nice leather halter that I got from my barn. I was just wondering if the leather is better than nylon, and why or why not.
Thanks for any info!

 

[Sugar and Spice]

try asking your trainer i bet he/she would know because i dont

 

[kevinshorses]

Whichever you use don't leave it on when you're not handling the horse.

 

[Jillyann]

I would bet either one would be fine. But I would use a breakaway if I had a foal, because they break the easiest if the foal got tied up or anything.

 

[CheyAut]

I use nylon because that's all I've found for mini foals... I never leave halters on when I'm not around so I dont' worry about it being nylon.

 

[Gidji]

For just general handling of a foal, both would be suitable. I like leather ones, but its personally up to you.
If you however leave the foal out with a halter on, make sure its a good quality break away halter.

 

[My Beau]

We use nylon breakaways for turnout- especially when they're first halter broke at about a week, because it's hard to get it on/off in the field, so we just leave them on.

We only use leather for shows, breed inspections and sales.

 

[AlmagroN]

i hate breakaways on foals. if youre just wearing it in the field... ok fine. BUT when theyre young they arent going to leave thier mother so there really isnt reason to leave a halter on them turned out at all. and by the time that they do leave their mother, you should be able to halter them at any point anywhere and lead them.

breakaways cause too much trouble when learning to tie and lead and such. if it breaks once when they throw a tantrum, guess what, they just learned how to get out of doing something they dont want to do. you may not think they break that easy, but they really do. it makes breaking a young horse a nightmare. i wont use them.

as for nylon or leather, it doesnt really matter. me personally, i use nylon because its cheaper and you go through a few halters with foals because they grow so fast.

 

[ilovesonya]

ok, thanks for the info. I will use my leather when training, but I think I am going to leave the halter off. I can't be sure that the halter will always be off since I board Sonya and the barn owners kind of do what they want. They are the reason Sonya is preggers...

 

[stacieandtheboys]

Wow i'd find a new barn. But we used a nylon halter for the same reason as AlmagroN. She grew way fast even for a pony.

 

[AlmagroN]

ok, thanks for the info. I will use my leather when training, but I think I am going to leave the halter off. I can't be sure that the halter will always be off since I board Sonya and the barn owners kind of do what they want. They are the reason Sonya is preggers...

whoaaaaa id be finding a new barn for sure! are they paying for any costs that you have to deal with now?? their job is to make sure things like that dont happen!! i would be on thier butts for sure!

Wow i'd find a new barn. But we used a nylon halter for the same reason as AlmagroN. She grew way fast even for a pony.

i love leather halters, theyre so durable, but theyre just so expencive, i cant afford to buy one everytime my foal has a growth spurt lol

 

[ilovesonya]

whoaaaaa id be finding a new barn for sure! are they paying for any costs that you have to deal with now?? their job is to make sure things like that dont happen!! i would be on thier butts for sure! l

Yes, they are paying for indoor board from January until August i think. They also payed for the vet to come out and check her. I think I have to pay for the vet to come out when she foals.

I have a question about the vet. Does he have to come when she is foaling? My barn says that they HAVE to be there, no buts, BUT mares foal when no one is around, right? And our vet is kind of hard to get in touch with. Would it be ok if I only had the vet out the next day or something, or only if there is a problem?

 

[My Beau]

I have a question about the vet. Does he have to come when she is foaling? My barn says that they HAVE to be there, no buts, BUT mares foal when no one is around, right? And our vet is kind of hard to get in touch with. Would it be ok if I only had the vet out the next day or something, or only if there is a problem?

Nope, they don't have to be there. No one has ever seen my mare foal - she's sneaky and waits til we're eating dinner or something. Just give the vet a call when she's looking close to foaling to give him a heads up in case something does go wrong. Then have him come out after the foal is born, or the next day, if it's born at night.

 

[kevinshorses]

Or don't have the vet out at all. I have never had a vet look at a foal untill it's ready to be gelded or it's hurt and needs stitches. I would tell the BO that if she wants the vet out there then she can pay for it. I have three foals that have never had a hand layed on them and have only seen humans twice and they are the healthiest horses you could ask for.

 

[AlmagroN]

I have a question about the vet. Does he have to come when she is foaling? My barn says that they HAVE to be there, no buts, BUT mares foal when no one is around, right? And our vet is kind of hard to get in touch with. Would it be ok if I only had the vet out the next day or something, or only if there is a problem?

your barn needs a kick in their ***! unless they can determine when the mare will foal, there is no way youre going to have your vet there. PLUS they typically dont want to foal infront of people, so when you have a whole bunch of strangers standing there gawking, its not going to happen. definately talk to your vet though. my vet checks the mare 2 times after shes been bred, 1 to make sure she cought, 2 to make sure shes still pregnant. she also likes to have us collect the afterbirth and keep it for her to come and look at to make sure everything came out so there is no chance of infection, and also checks the level of colostrum in the milk.

Nope, they don't have to be there. No one has ever seen my mare foal - she's sneaky and waits til we're eating dinner or something. Just give the vet a call when she's looking close to foaling to give him a heads up in case something does go wrong. Then have him come out after the foal is born, or the next day, if it's born at night.

thats kind of unlucky. we have pics and video of my mare giving birth both times. its amazing.

I would tell the BO that if she wants the vet out there then she can pay for it.

i agree with that!

 

[My Beau]

thats kind of unlucky. we have pics and video of my mare giving birth both times. its amazing.

Yea, she's a character. She's had 4... no one has seen a thing. She'll be dripping milk, ready to go - but no, not until we go to the house for 5 minutes. Or, she goes early - this year's filly was 2 weeks early, no signs she was going to foal. That was a surprise in the morning when we went to feed and there was a foal in the water tub!

 

[stacieandtheboys]

We were so lucky to get to see and participate in our foals birth (the sac was caught around her nose and she couldn't take a breath without sucking in sac. I just ripped it a little and pulled it off of her face.) We called the vet and he was like eh I will be out tomorrow. He came out gave her a shot, dipped the cord, and that was it. We only had him out cause we were first timers and caught off guard by having a pregnant pony in the first place.

I had kept her up for about a week. Getting her out to hand graze and walk around. One day I had to clean out her stall and just decided to let her out front. Cleaned out the stall. Then watched her much on some grass. She started biting her sides and I told my husband see she is trying to get the baby into position to come out. He was like oh cool and walked off and down she went. I yelled at him to get my camera and we went out front with my two boys 3 and 6 at the time. We stood back and watched...then the neighbors came down and watched. It was beautiful. And to think we nearly went inside to feed the dogs. She was done in 5 minutes maybe from the biting of the sides to pushing her out. We would ahve totally missed it. from turnout to birth it was about 15-20 min. I have pics of the whole thing.

 

[sillybunny11486]

My weanling has been in his weanling halter from age 3-10 months. Hes currently too big for the halter, so hes going to yearling. There are only really three sizes you need as they grow: foal, weanling and yearling. I prefer leather because nylon always rubs when I use it. I always use breakaways and keep a spare halter on hand. If the horse continues to break the halter, I keep it off and use a regular nylon for things like trailering and cross ties, ONLY when the ties have break aways on them.

 

[Marrissa]

Personally I trained Brego (and still do) in a nylon. Especially when tying for the first time. The last thing you want to teach them is that they can break their halters and get away.

Look at used tack shops for equipment. They grow fast and halters aren't cheap. I found some awesome deals for mine.

 

[my2geldings]

Leather halters are very nice but I unless you are showing, I wouldn't be wasting some money it. Those babies grow so quickly, you won't be using it for more than a few months before you have to buy another one again.

I would invest in one in a baby who's already closer to being 2-3 years old, that way it will be done most of it's growing.