Part 2 of Starting Your Foal

O.K., we talked about getting our new babies started in a halter and for how long. Most of the foals will only be handled 8-10 days until the mare/mom is starting to come back into her foal heat. They will then be moved to the pasture with the stallion we intend to breed her to. Since we breed most of our mares by putting them in the field with the stallion this makes things a lot easier on our part by using a lot less man power. Our stallions have always been very considerate of the foals and we have never had any problems by doing this. After the mare is confirmed in foal, usually a couple of months later...we will then move them to a field where the confirmed mares and babies will be kept until time to deliver. The foals that we think will do well in the show ring will then start their training again. We will teach them to lead from both sides, reinforce the obstacles and teach them to stand still in order to be judged. They will slowly become introduced to the cross ties area, water for baths, and standing still for the farrier. Never cross tie a foal. The one thing I will caution you about is to never try to out pull a foal or confine them to where they feel they have no way out. Nobody wins by doing this. I have heard of foals rearing and falling over backwards and causing permanent and even fatal injuries. You will really enjoy working with your new foal and spending about 30 minutes a day with them. If you live on a road that you feel safe walking on, take a trash bag and pick up the garbage on the way, this introduces something new to the foal and makes you feel really productive too.

How do you separate the mare and foal while you do the foals training you ask? Stop by tomorrow and we will cover that.