First Trim

[Joannr24]

When do you normally do your first trim? I bought a three week old baby and I noticed his pasturemates who are about six weeks have very long mishapen feet already. Also, when do I introduce him to the halter?

I play with this guy a lot. Already have started picking up his feet so I wondered about haltering. I want him as ready as possible before I have to put a weanling on my trailer.

joAnn

 

[WhiteTailsMinis]

deleted myself - didn't know how to cancel out - sorry

 

[Katiean]

If you are playing with him I would put a halter on him. I usually put a halter on in the first couple of days. I take it off before I go in. But, I put it on while I am out with the foal. Then I start snapping a lead on and have baby follow the mom and me. Sometimes there is a slight tug. I did my stud this way and I can lead him by his forelock or even an arm around his neck. There never was any real fuss about leading.

Oh and some people wait until weaning to trim. Our ground is decomposed Granit so we trim as soon as the heal gets too short.

 

[krissy3]

If they are able to go out into the pasture and play , he will most likely be doing a self trim, I wouldnt worry about that. I would however handle his feet a lot , pick them up about 1or 2 inches off the ground and carefully set them back down, so he is good for the farrier when he comes.

I would halter him a when your playing with him or supervising him, like the other post said. I have seen people put a sursingle (sp) on the mom and hook the babys lead rope to it , and lead the mom around, so the baby is attached to mom and not you. I thought it was interesting , and it worked really well. This was a Zoo in Germany that did this to train the babys in the petting zoo . It was a cool idea.

 

[barnbum]

My farrier always wanted to see them before they were a month old--and every 3-4 weeks for a while after that. Sometimes he'd come and they didn't need a thing--but he wants to keep things correct from the start.

 

[Monti]

I agree with what "Katiean" said.

Thats pretty much what i did with my little man who is now 3 years old, plus i had help with the stud owner who taught me alot of different ways to train him up, i don't even need a lead rope or halter half the time now

Takes abit of persistence! But i'm sure you'll get there!

 

[Sue_C.]

I generally have the farrier do the first trim as soon as those toes begin growing...and they surely can do it fast. I think it is usually withiun the first month they have to be done, and then it is about every 4-6 weeks max between trims for the first few months. Those little bones are so pliable at this young age, and can go crooked on them in no time.

To make it easier on the little guys, I use a large dog harness, and then you can keep them steady without having to put all the pressure on those delicate heads and necks.

 

[Connie P]

We trim the foals every 3 - 4 weeks. As barnbum stated it is important to keep them correct from the start.

I usually don't put a halter on my little ones for a month or two sometimes three - I really like to let them just be babies for awhile. When we do begin halter breaking/leading we always let baby follow mama to start each session. It works better. I do however play with their ears and legs and feet from birth so they are more accepting of hoof trims and clipping. That is just what works for us.

 

[Joanne]

Hoof trims depend on the foal. Some that come out have to be trimmed their first week as their toes are so long they cannot break over correctly. Typically we have ours looked at in the first two weeks and then every month until weaning.

Halters we like to get on them in the first week or two just so they are familiar with it. It seems to make it easier later on when we need to use them. It is sure helpful when you want to move the mom and baby. Some of those babies take off and are just not that into following mom!