Little Filly One Week Old. Need Behavior Training Tips

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sparklingjewelacres

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Our little Filly is one week now. I have spent every day at least 2-3 times a day trying to get it used to me. She is doing all the baby things I would expect a baby horse to do such as nibbling and being curious. She also is starting to do little things that a big horse should never do.. back and try to kick; bite more aggressively; and hoof(paw) at me. All of this seems cute and in play but I am at loss for how to train this spunky little horse. I was not present for the birth. We do have small pens. Her night time pen is about 30x30' and when mamma is eating her breakfast, I am able to spend a lot of time handling lil Jasper. She is sure testing authority and mamma has been too. I put the two in a larger grass pen in the daytime. I've been taking the two on little walks in the more open area Pen and little Jasper will run all around mamma- even run ahead but does not like to trail behind anymore.

I have books and some dvds but they are for older foals not one week. The only info for young foals I could find refer me to Dr. Millers imprint. It is too late for the imprint and I just am trying to handle the baby at this stage.

Q: How much should I allow this nibbling to go on at one week old and it seems normal at this age?

Q: The mamma is teaching her baby bad habits.. Such as not wanting to have her halter on and running away each time.. even with treats.. she first has to make a big scene for her baby to learn from. Do mares normally power up like this?

Q: How and what age would some of you recommend putting the halter on this little foal? I have one ordered and on the way. Even just trying to get it on her is going to be hard.

Q: Is there any one close to me in Northern CA that you may know of that can possibly help me with training this little horse?

I know it is a lot of questions. I feel I need to start now. I think I am in danger in spoiling the baby and not correcting bad habits.
 
At one week of age, I personally don't do any training, I leave it to Mom! I let them bond at this age, but what I will do at this stage is grab a folding chair, and sit in the paddock with the two of them. Mom has hay, but at this age she is still real protective of baby. I'll sit out there and just watch, if mom comes up I give her some scratches and pets, same with baby. Sometimes with babies if you scratch them on the neck or withers they will start to try and scratch you back with their teeth, it is normal grooming, horse behavior, but not allowed with people so I'll firmly say AH AH, usually that is enough to send the little one back to mom. They will come back, and I just keep doing the same thing, till it clicks in their brain. The same if they try to kick, but, horses will turn their little buts to you, sometimes just because they are unsure, so give scratches and let it go, unless they offer to kick.

As for halter training, everyone has their own method, I like to start around two months of age, or later. With mom and foal in the stall I'll halter mom, halter baby, tie up mom, groom mom, take off halters and turn out. After a few days of this, I get a helper to lead mom around their familar paddock and I'll lead baby, sometimes it takes a lot of patience and praise, never pull, if baby stops push on the rear to move them forward or use a but rope. Maybe someone in your area can help you, I'm on the east.
 
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I agree with Terry, at such a young age leave her to HER mum. If Mum is being protective it probably means she is worried, try to leave her alone as much as possible to bond with her baby.

The colt I bottle fed for his first 5 days last year went through a fase at about 10 days old where he would show real aggression towards be, launch with his mouth open and ears flat back, he would also spin round. I just left him alone for a few days and all his bad behaviour disappered as quick as it started.

Everyone has their own way of dealing with foals but I personally leave them alone until they are a few months old and as Terry said just spend plenty of time on a chair nearby so she can decide to investigate you without feeling threatened. She will have her own little character and it won't be influenced by her mum too much. I had a very skittish mare that didn't really like humans much but her foals were always easy to train and very friendly.

I don't put halters on mine until they are atleast 3 months.

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Oh good and thank you for those tips. Monday's are somewhat of a day off for me. Weekends are busy work and family days with people here visiting. I just went out to sit and read in the pasture. This sure worked wonders as little Jasper kept wanting to come over to see me. I kept letting her know not to nibble by doing that 'ahh ahh' sound that my husband says only women make (like an irritating alarm sound) Well little Jasper finally stopped her 'pawing' and nibbling and just stood there with her head down.. so I gave her a good girl scratch on the neck and she lay down beside me. Oh.. that was so good of a step. I have only had goats and puppies to compare to... all our baby goats wanted to snuggle and sit in my lap and they loved the attention so much... still they had to be taught not to jump or nibble too .. they just are so different than a horse. A horse gets offended so easily! So with the time I have this week I think we will develop some good trust. I am finding today some ranches close to us via internet searches that evidently do have minis and offer training so I will check into it. Thank you
 
I dont do any training at all until theyre a couple of months old , sometimes longer , mine are all friendly and will follow me around and come over and enjoy a fuss , if mum is acting out of character she is probably feeling that you are interfering too much at this early stage , enjoy a little scratch now and then but dont over crowd them, let them be horses
 
Agree with Supa- I never put a halter near them until I can handle them all over and they follow me of their own free will. I then put a halter on them when they come up into the round pen, and just let them get used to it, then add a lead and walk with them, letting them call the shots , then I start, around three months, asking them to turn and come with me, maybe walk back towards Mama, it is SO much easier than fighting. I have, I think, tried every way under the sun now, and I find this is the easiest for all concerned. From ten days, btw, I tie Mama up and feed her and offer the foals free choice feed. I have a kids plastic sand tray that is up on legs and I lay out a small buffet for the foals of all the feeds I have, in separate little piles so they can try what they want. Once one is playing at eating they all have to try and they are soon eating a good feed. By the time I wean, around four- five months, depending on how old the youngest foal is, they are all eating, tied up, with their own feed bins, and eating a good feed, too. It just makes weaning that much easier.
 
Jane, thank you so much. This has been so helpful especially about the feeding time as that also has been my concern.

I truly am at a loss at how to train a young horse. I have contacted a mini horse ranch near us to help be a mentor. I have seen shaggy minis zipping around in fields near us but they are not used for much more than looking cute I think- but again.. they, perhaps have two sides to them.. when they get all cleaned up and loose that hair.. hard to imagine them in a show ring right now but after seein some of your minis cleaned up.. it is a new view I give these muddy shaggy field horses.

All of you have given me great encouragement to relax. I know it seems so young.. one week... I just thot' .. "Am I supposed to be doing something with this little spunky filly?" I guess I would rather know for sure now before it gets older that I should or should not be doing something that is going to alter it's training. Thankfully,, the mamma has had some training and is respectful (trust me so much now)

again.. thank you. and I welcome all these tips.
 
Oh I had this exact problem with my baby too...she did it for a good few weeks..I took the advice given and ignored it and shes fine now
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Little Jasper at 3 1/2 weeks is doing so well. She has really done well with us. She is letting me touch her hooves and pick them up and rub them. I feed her out of a bowel every morning and she has learned to not push. I'm just so happy with her. She loves to run and show off for us. She even wants us to watch her do her little run kicks.. so very cute that she wants to please us.

The flys are bad here.. we have fly traps and they are really helping. When I went to put on the adult horses fly masks on.. (They willingly come to have this done) Little Jasper just isnt quite ready to have this on I guess. The mama pushed her toward me holding the fly mask up for her. So I not sure if I should even attempt this until she is willing to have it .. I keep putting it over her eyes so she can see out of it and try to get used to it.

Q: Do some of you even try to put fly masks on your babies? I wonder if it is worse for her to have one as she still needs her vission to run about. Flies don't seem to bother her as much as the older horses.
 
Here is a photo of Jasper running all around showing off and a picture of her with my husband. He is telling her to go run.. and she did just that as if she understood just what he was saying.

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The picture of her with your hubby is sweet! Cant' see the one of her running...

On fly masks - if you have found one that will fit her and you "need" to use it - put it on her. She'll get used to it or she won't. Some never do - and will do anything in their power to rub or tear it off. That can create a problem. Others - love them from day one and will soon learn to come up and stand quietly for you to put them on!

here is a pic of one of our ponies - she laid down in a newly bushhogged field and punctured her left eye at 2 weeks of age (she's a little larger than a small mini - she's 1/2 arab 1/2 hackney and matured at 13.1 hh at the withers). We did field surgery thru our vet clinic on her eye (didn't have to send her to a vet surgical unit) - 3 different times as even though she had the mask on she kept managing to rip out the stitches about 3 days after the stitching was done each time. It did heal - with the help of the flymask and the ointments. The vet finally ended up stitching the eye completely shut to aid in healing. She is now 12 years old and has produced 4 1/2 shetland foals for us... She sees fine! Rides huntseat, dressage, jumps up to 3'6", western and trail rides. I'm getting ready to continue her harness training and see if we can get her hitched...

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And I'm very into "natural" and allowing a mare and foal to bond - but if this filly hadn't been introduced to a halter and leading the first couple of days after she was born - doing the surgery itself and the subsequent handling for treatments - might have had to be done by professionals. She was a wild, flighty thing that also could get aggressive. Halter training started from the beginning helped bunches!! YET, our mares and foals, the stallions, the jr mares, the jr stallions, the geldings and our riding horses all live out in paddocks and pastures 24/7. So I don't consider the handling I do the first several days and in subsequent days thru-out our ponies lives to be bad.

Honestly, I've never been able to "imprint" ours right at birth - but no-where in any of the printed info by Dr Miller does it say that the "imprinting process" doesn't work at older ages. Indeed - both the book and the video/dvd have what can be done/introduced as the foal is older (even by a couple of hours). You don't have to "lay them down" to work with them. BUT with a mini - they are small enough that you can all the way up to a year or so of age (when they are more the size of a new born big horse!). Since she's already learned to lay down in your presence - rubbing, handling and grooming can be done while she's down. I introduce a lot of stuff when "mum" is eating - along with the foals grain. Understand - I now have 30 ponies that I catch and tie up to feed in different pasture groups so it takes me time to work back around to the groups with the foals tohandle. By then they are either done eating themselves (mine usually start eating with their mom w/i 48 hours) and bored and I do about 5 minutes of handling however many foals I want to that feeding session before I turn mom's loose. I will even practice holding a foal quietly when mom leaves the feed area. If the foal gets upset and struggles, I hold solid until the foal realizes I'm not turning it loose. The 2nd the struggle stops, I swipe a hand down their neck (whichever one is free), say "goooooodddd pony" and release and step away. Once they have a name that "sticks" - I use the name in place of "pony" - this way they learn their name almost from day one. Works a charm! With a mini foal - you can hold them by wrapping your arms around them in many areas while your body/legs are behind their tails. Or you can "figure 8" a lead rope around their body to hold them. I have used big horse halters on them like a "harness" - the noseband over the neck & the crown over the back and buckled. Been awhile since I've used that method - would have to try it out to see where I put the legs thru at, LOL... Can't remember!

Here's Cupid as a day old foal. I've noticed that all of our smaller shetland foals (out of Stuffy - the dam of Cupid) get picked up and carried around. Mom - was the mare that was raised as an orphan when her mom didn't want anything to do with her as a baby and she DOES NOT mind that we love doing this with her babies!

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Cupid at 5 days being held by Sierra's class mate, Ashley, while his mom moves off.

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and Cupdi now starting his life at driving...

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Notice he is trotting right past his feed bucket in the round pen. Since he's been worked with during feeding time since day one, he's not bothered by a feed bucket in his work area. He doesn't need to stop and check it out... Nor is he upset by going past it. On this day, it wasn't feeding time, but he has been worked when feed was in his bucket - no problems...

As to nibbling and kicking - you've gotten great advice. I can add this - I used to have all kinds of children around - mine and others. NO pony is EVER "allowed" to touch a human body with their muzzle for any reason on our farm. However -WE are allowed to touch their muzzles, nostrils, chins, gums, teeth and tongues. That USUALLY prevents biting incidents. To discourage nuzzling, nibbling, nipping and biting we used a wide variety of courses - the "ah-ah" you have already been told about, pulling their little whisker hairs, putting our hands on their muzles and IN their mouths and rubbing their gums and teeth, putting an elbow or knee forcibly "in the way", a harsh slap (on an older foal) to the neck or chest (not the head if can be avoided).

Much the same with kicking. I teach both new people and children to step into the hind quarters (quickly with a young horse) - as they can't get the hind foot up to kick if you step into them. I also "kick back" - turn my back, "squeal" like the Boss Mare that I am (I'm an old bitch!) and kick the offender right back! From that position, you aren't going to damage the foal (your toe is pointing down and will not get them) - but you are sure going to teach them that kicking isn't acceptable. I had a 3 week old filly (Bunny) 2 days ago corner a yearling filly(her 1/2 sister - Classy) in the barn and nail her good with both hind feet... There was much noise - Bunny's squealing and Classy's running right into the barn wall when she leaped away. Bunny may not keep her "innocent & cute" name! Trust me, had that been a person that wore those hoof prints - there'd be huge bruises (a small child such as either of my granddaughters could have been seriously injured. Bunny meant business and she gained AND held the upper hand). Had Bunny come after me, she'd have been kicked right back (honestly - I'd probably have knocked her down on purpose) - she will be a boss mare of the group later - but I am the boss mare over her. Yes, her dam is a dominant mare in the field (she lays ONE ear sideways and the others LEAP out of the way!) and Bunny is already showing tendencies that she will be the same (her two full sisters weren't so obvious). I have a feeling that the next time our 2 grand daughters come out - they and Bunny will need to be closely watched. Bunny will possibly flatten her ears and run over the girls... One of the ways a "boss mare" starts teaching others to move out of her space. She definitely has a different personality than little Rio (who is very much a little lovebug right now)... If the girls' were to run across "her" (bunny's) pasture - a chasing race could be on. Our daughter and SIL have been warned that Bunny is dominant and that the girls need to be monitered if in/around the foal paddock. ***added - This is the first year that I've gone this long and not had halters on our foals.. Next week - that will change - especially for Bunny!***

If your foal kicks at you when you have a halter and lead on her, pull her head towards you. You shift her off balance - requiring her to put the offensive foot on the ground AND you point the butt away from you.

You can push them off balance, if you see a kick coming (a solid push on the hip closest to you).

When you can, add to your library of books and DVDs - John Lyons' - "Bringing up Baby" (book) and Clinton Anderson's - "working with foals & yearlings" (DVD) and Cherry Hill has "From Birth to 5 years" (book). I believe there are others out there. These are all good refrences.
 
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I also am a believer in just letting the little ones be little ones with their mommas. I sit on a bucket in the pasture, and we make friends that way -- or sometimes in the stall while momma is eating.

I wouldn't worry about trying to train her to do anything at this age. Just let her learn she can come and go without being bothered, and she'll learn to trust you more and more. As you spend time with her in the pasture, you can introduce the halter as a game -- like picking up her feet and touching her all over. Always do no more than she will accept and not be afraid of. She'll learn that you are fun -- not frightening.

So, just ENJOY the little one! You waited a long time for her - so just spend time enjoying her. Just spending quality time is training enough at this age!
 
Oh Paula,<br />Thanks for sharing about your little pony stories. I loved reading it. I am soaking up as much as I can learn and sorting it out. I did manage to get a good little fly mask purchased that is just her size. Today.. she was fine with me putting mammas on over her head for a viewing so I think I will eventually get her little mask on. The older horses know what they are for and are glad to have them on. I really loved seeing all your pictures too. What a great job you are doing - especially with Cupid driving. That is so awesome to see that. Every day is a fun day with the baby so far as she has been healthy. I know it is so hard when there is a health issue .. they get all weary of humans doctoring them So I am so happy to be able to have her be at ease with me next to her while she is eating.. and she has learned manners now.
 
Diane..<br />Thanks for your advice. I really see that with horses, they need to warm up to us in a bit of time. It is good to know I can relax and enjoy this little horse.(She seems to be bossy like her mamma but wants to please) I have already been able to establish that I am the boss to this little mare.. just by having my presence during feeding time. I sit there by her mamma for first few minutes of feeding time (actually inside the long feed trough as a bench) and I feed jasper her mush meal right next to me. Food is always a good way with our other animals to show we are in charge..I just wont tolerate a food aggressive animal. So.. I actually look forward to feeding time. Today.. I let Jasper eat her food alone and I stood back, then moved in slowly to see if she was protecting. .. yes.. ears went back a bit.. so I just sat by her and petted her and she knew I was boss with just watching how her mamma would respond to me. Jewel and I have had a good understanding on who is boss now. All Jewel needed was a tone of voice change when she tried to bite .. My firm stern voice was enough to scare her into submission. that was all she needed. .. and even with that .. she was almost trembling... in fear that she had upset me.<br /><br />I have never had horses to train.. I am amazed at how sensitive they are. .. at how slow I need to approach things and how any change in my demeaner.. (such being in a hurry to feed them or clean their pen) will getthem a bit unsettled. Maybe its just these horses... I am really their only 2nd home they have had all their lives. They miss their old home so much.. I can see it in them and feel that emotion in them. We've come a long ways. They even treated us the first week,like.. "You two don't really know how to even look at our feet.. that's not at all how you do it." "What kind of barn is this?" "Where is the pasture.. we do pasture.. you people don't know anything about what we are supposed to be doing." and we were a bit intimidated by them at first because they really had that attitude toward us until they realized.. no.. they are not going back home .. this is it.. Now... I have gained their trust and they know I am out to do good for them.<br /><br />So.. to have the advice to relax has helped me because... I want this little foal to have a good start.. a good feeling about us and to know that we are fun.
 
and again.. Paula, from painted Pony.. I really loved seeing and reading about your little pony with the fly masks. I think eventually, she will get it.. oh.. and I did buy a dvd with John Lyons. Thanks so much.
 
I don't ever put a fly mask on a foal. If they lift a back foot up to scratch, the foot can get stuck in it and they don't have enough power to get their foot out of there.

I also don't bother them when they are that new.
 
Yes.. I am wondering about the fly masks. Here from where we are.. flies are horrendous. It is my thinking that It all has to be weighed out.. I think at such a young age.. she will not have the vission she needs if she has one on. and as it is too hard to get one on. As for her foot getting stuck.. it is good to think on.. they do pop off very easily with ease but it is not worth that risk. As for 'bothering' her.

She isnt being bothered, or smothered by us. She sees us twice a day and loves when we come in the pen. She gets plenty of horse mamma time.

Just this eve.. her mamma had rolled in a dry weed patch of corkscrews; terrible weeds that were all throughout her mane. I put mamm's halter on, tied her and was working all these out of her hair. Her baby was helping me groom her mamma. It was so cute. After I took mamm'a halter off and let her go.. baby jasper came over all curious about mammas halter and I let her nibble it and I slipped it over her nose and off again. She was very pleasant about this.. then she just stood there in front of me with her head down waiting for her turn to be brushed out as if she felt she should be also getting this special treatment... NOW that just made my day. She just loved her little grooming time. No.. she is not being bothered or made to do anything at this time.. she looks forward to this attention very much.
 
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With babies this young, just enjoy them, and make everything a game. Then you'll find that they are quite adjusted when it comes to haltering and leading, etc. Just good play time makes a happy and emotionally stable baby!
 

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