Difficult Foal.

Hello! :)

I'm hoping to gain some insight and advice from several people on how to handle this situation.

We just had 2 babies weaned from their mothers. One I could very easily halter break. He just took it but this other one... this filly... Is a whole other story. You can go up to her and pat her neck but her head is always in the air with this crazed look in her eye. If she even sees a halter in your hand, she'll spin her bum to you and kick. No chances, no warning. Just BOOM!

She's only 6 months old and she is MASSIVE. She's the size of my horse, literally and my horse, Dots is a year and a half. We are guessing that this filly's sire had some draft in him or something because the mother is a Quarter horse. This baby is way too big for 6 months old haha. XD Very dangerous... I'm kind of disappointed that no body tried to halter train her when she was in the calming and protective presence of her mother. UGH.

So... any suggestions on how to start? It's also very hard to even touch her if she's eating. She pins her ears and swings her bum right away. Scares very easily as well. I don't know what happened to her in those first 6 months that she wasn't around but she's acting really intimidating.

If the halter even taps her back, VERY lightly; bum swing and kick. Lead rope? Bum swing and kick. I even tried being in there without any of the halters or leadropes and she's very cautious. If you even bend over a bit or touch her the wrong way, she'll kick you. XD

SO! I ask again, suggestions? D: Right now she's in a stall with the other baby but if I can't get her halter trained soon, then things will be more difficult down the road...

-Tiffany.

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Permalink Reply by Terri on December 2, 2009 at 1:23am

Your baby is successfully intimidating you. Horses play a game, it's called "whoever moves their feet first loses" and so far this filly is way ahead of you. Do you think any other herd member would allow her to act like that? Heck no. Any horse in the herd would quickly reprimand her for thinking so highly of herself. The fact that she is so large already makes this even more important. I would separate her from the other baby and start working her alone. If she turns her hind-end to you, hit it! Do whatever you need to do to make HER move away from you. She needs to learn that this behavior is unacceptable at any time. You are setting the foundation for what the rest of her life will be like.

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Permalink Reply by Tiffany on December 2, 2009 at 12:06pm

Ah! ^^ Thank you for the input....

So if she spins to kick, spank her? I think I did that once and she flipped out, tried to run away, tripped and landed face first into the floor of the stall. I just stopped and shut the stall door because I had to ask if I should be hitting her. Wasn't sure. Don't wanna cause any unnecessary trauma.

But yeah, thanks for confirming it. You and the BM told me to spank her so I shall!

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Permalink Reply by Terri on December 2, 2009 at 12:40pm

turning her hind-end to you is a MAJOR sign of disrespect. You wouldn't allow a full grown horse to do that, would you? Whatever you let her get away with, is the best you can ever expect her to be. It is important that you teach her to be a respectful member of society now or chances are she is in for a rough road.

Also, I would try to get a halter on her ASAP and then attach a short rope to it. Not long enough to drag on the ground, but long enough that you can grab a hold of it. This way you can hold her safely and work on teaching her to allow you to put another halter on and then take it off her. I would also teach her to back (a sign of respect) and back her at least a little everyday.

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Permalink Reply by A_Sassy_Temptation on December 6, 2009 at 1:09pm

okay..I am so hoping you have a corral. This horse is dangerous..obviously. Get her out of a stall, for her safety and others. I like to halter break when they are still with their mothers, but obviously this isn't whats going to happen. So put her in a roundpen..this gives both of you enough space to cool both your jets and nerves. 2 things may be happening. Horse have fight and flight, when they CANNOT flight, they fight. Keeping her trapped (in a stall) is not helping either of you. A roundpen gives her a better view, so space and she will feel less trapped, as horses are not "evil" by nature..

then work on getting the halter on. Carry a lunge whip, and work on going near her with some treats with the halter around your arm..if she turns with the bum, grab that whip and give her a wack (you are head leader and you are giving her a bite just liker her mom would do), while backing off because the back legs may come up for a kick..she may kick and fart around (hence why you want her in a bigger than a stall roundpen) but carry the whip. Once she calms down, try again.. end on a good note(so do not set a time because some lessons may be 3 minutes on, others may be 30 minutes)! do this for a few weeks until you can walk up to her without any disrespect showing, and both of you are relaxed. Then start working on jangling the halter everywhere on her, when she shows disrespect bite her..again a few weeks of that or until she doesn't show disrespect anymore, then try putting the halter on. Once you get this far, the easy part is done. Leading. Try and find a friend for the filly, and let them follow each other while you guys hold their leads..then slowly work on manipulating their bodies.

remember: to put yourself in her position. "lost mother abruptly, new smells, new sounds, do not have the capability to know these different creatures (you) are friends while they smell like like predators, adn your trapped" last thing I would want to do is have this weird predator creature thing try and put this weird contraption on my face..right?