Comment

Comment by Linda White on May 15, 2010 at 4:17pm

Good advice, sic2 and an important reminder that our horses may pay down the road for bad habits we tolerated.

Comment by vickie lawson on May 8, 2010 at 6:31am

thanks cindy!! it feels great to be realising the dream- i have wanted to breed, train, and show my own warmblood for over 20+ yrs and to see it's all working out is so cool!!

Comment by Cindy Jeffery on May 6, 2010 at 1:50pm

Yeah those foal nips can hurt, but it just serves to teach just how fast it can happen and how strong they really are. The nip kinda feels like a "bluey" lololol :-) same intensity. Wait till he kicks you in the shin, hopefully if it happens he will be little and not a big horse. I look at these things from the foals as a warning not to take anything forgranted with these little ones.

Comment by Cindy Jeffery on May 6, 2010 at 1:47pm

Congratulations Vickie!!!! Good job!!

Comment by Veronica Delagard on May 6, 2010 at 6:20am

Good Morning Cindy,

Did mean to e-mail you yesterday but I tell you having a litter of puppies and people coming by sure takes up your day.

I 've got more folks coming by today am wiped right out.

But besides that my little guy took a nip at me last night , he was routing at my arm while I was scratching is neck, and it hurt. My first reaction was to respond with my hand and he did move. I was upset with myself but it happened so fast and I knew this was no nibble I even have the mark through my shirt.

So kind of a fist?? Under his chin, is this what you mean?

I loved your story and you know I believe they do understand. It's funny but my husband came home yesterday and wondered why I put my gelding in the larger paddock , I just said " He asked me "

He looked at me like ya right. Well I do believe they do try to communicate and all we have to do is try and pay attention. It's those little things. Like the way the Mare will nudge the little guy towards me. She is saying here you can see him. And when I go and try to give her a carrot and she puts her nose to the ground. She dosen't want to take it from my hand because she knows it will require her to take a big bite , if it's a big carrot so if I place it on the ground for her she can do that without fear of hurting me.

Anyway before I start rambling, I got to go it's just after 7am and I have company coming from out of town to visit my colt!! Will chat soon.

Comment by vickie lawson on May 6, 2010 at 4:37am

ya hoo! we have won the accumulator prize for level 1 for the year. i guess my scholarship was successful- as well as my lovely young horse!!

Comment by Cindy Jeffery on May 6, 2010 at 1:11am

Sounds like you are doing just the right things for your baby. Your gelding's story sounds so sad, it's obvious he has had a bad time in the past, someone misunderstood his actions when he was first wormed and vaccinated that they let fear rule and all these years that's the only way anyone could get those jobs done. Time, patience and going slow will do the trick, it seems like it has already except in the area of worming and vaccines. My old boy when he was a youngster wasn't real sweet about taking his wormer either so everytime it needed to be done the fight kept escalating with head tossing, rearing, holding his lips tight, whatever he could to stop me from giving him his wormer. For many years it was like that, I went from hating the job and getting help to enjoying the battle and trying to figure ways to out think him, flavoured, liquid, hiding it in his food, whatever. When I used the liquid it was easier because it went in without a whole lot escaping followed by a treat to wash the taste away. As he got older and the younger horses took there wormer so nicely he even responded to mocking and teasing telling him he was a wimp (that was hilarious lolol) I told him that "so and so took his medicine and he's younger than you, aren't you embarrassed?" Do you know he actually hung his head low and let me put the wormer in? I was amazed and after that it has gotten easier. Every once in a while his old demons will surface and he gives me a hard time but I give him a little teasing and a lot of love and quiet voice and he accepts. He's a funny old guy, very particular and peculiar but the best and safest horse I have. Trust him with my life.

Comment by Veronica Delagard on May 4, 2010 at 9:16pm

I liked all what you have said because you seem to understand that I do not want in anyway to boss this guy around, just make sure I teach him right. I don't want him scared of me, and he isn't . His halter was a pain to get on and it lasted till he took it off sometime threw the day . Hubby had to put it on him and I held . But he came back and is fine with both of us. Just a bit , or should I say very exciteable, like a kid in a candy store.

I have scratched his butt he loves that and under his chin loves that too.

I guess when he kicks I know he is just a baby and his Mom so far has not corrected him from doing it to her. He jumps all over her and kicks up his heals. So yes I am watching to see her move.

Will e-mail you tomorrow sometime.

And my gelding came to me as a 14 Year old Dressage horse, he has bad memories and hates Vets, needles and so forth. Last year I was so sure that he was a changed horse meaning he was so good. So when the Vet came I didn't even remember how nasty he was when I first got him. So we went out to the pasture did the horses that needed to be done. My gelding even watched us , was right there like a puppy dog. But when the Vet turned to him and I took the lead he ran me over.

I got up dusted myself off and took him over to the cross ties where we twictched him. You can't even pull a worming paste out in front of him, he thinks it's a needle and his nose starts to puff.

Other than that he has been wonderful.

Comment by Cindy Jeffery on May 4, 2010 at 8:28pm

It seems foals will always try nibbling, they abandon it for a while when they have been disciplined then they go back to it because it is one of their main senses. So, later after he has stopped for awhile and he is older you may find he will try nibbling again even with a bigger bite just to see what happens. By this time he should be in halter and when he tries again you can come up from under his chin with your closed hand and bang him on the lips with the same measure that he dished out. For a more detail explanation you can email me at cjeffery747@gmail.com

Comment by Cindy Jeffery on May 4, 2010 at 8:20pm

That's great you got the vet coming, you are doing a great job. It's too bad you have to have your gelding twitched sounds like some retraining in that area might help.
With the little guys nibbling: when my foals nibbled I had to make the decision whether I was going to look at it as just exploring his surroundings and getting to know me or if I was going to make a stand right away and let them know what was acceptable behaviour and what is not. Clearly biting is not, and nibbling can lead down the road to biting harder when they are bigger and stronger and that can be at 1 month of age. I found pushing the nose away firmly and saying "NO" firmly to start, if he thinks it's a game you will need to be firmer. Kind of like when we give a leg aid gradually getting firmer, usually I give to a count of three then "that's enough" I pop them in the ribs with my heel if they are not paying attention after three gradual warnings. With your little guy you don't want to flick your hand at him in anyway because this will encourage head shyness which is a pain to get rid of. Push him away, don't slap his nose (as yet) first see if he understands by pushing him away. If he likes being with you he will behave better when you allow him back again. Mares will do this to their colts when they are misbehaving ie. kicking, biting, etc. Watch your mare let her teach you how to discipline foals. The darn little things are so cute and cuddly I always want to play with them till they start jumping around and raising their little hooves, but that is a dangerous thing too. So, same thing applies: 1. stay out of range and always be aware that he could kick at anytime just because he can (just like a baby who kicks and waves their arms around for what seems random but actually has a purpose, to grow) foals are the same, newborns are hypersensitive because they have been in the womb for 9-10 months and the air tickles their coat and they react by running, bucking and jumping. It's nothing to be disciplined until those hooves connect with you or it is obvious in your gut that this guy is aiming for you. This is where being super aware of where he is and where those hooves are comes in to keep you safe. When he does connect or almost connect you can discipline him by knocking him off balance but you only have a 2 second window for it to make a difference, any longer than that just makes him distrust you. Yeah so be careful out there.
It's good you have an experienced mare she will help you, obviously she trusts you and accepts you as part of the herd, so she wants you to know her baby too. What a privilege. :-)

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