Videos for Skurup, Sweden - Barnmice Equestrian Social Community

Foals first training session continues

2009-10-08T17:09:29.164Z

The training session continues a little later the same day. This clip is filmed a little closer, so it’s easier to see what I am doing.

Bravo is at a very mouthy stage, and I don’t «correct» that. It’s clear that this mainly is something he does when I touch him in places he is not comfortable (an trying to correct him wouldn’t make him feel any better about it!). In stead I stand where he can’t reach me with his mouth.

Stallion helping with training foal in sacking out

2009-10-03T23:55:37.823Z

In this clip I am jumping a bit ahead in time. I still want to show the clips of his first leading lessons, but after the comments I got on some of the other clips of this foal and his upbringing with both parents, I wanted to show this clip that shows what a big part the stallion was when it came to training the little guy.

The plan in this clip was to do some leading training with the foal and teaching him not to be afraid of things like a tarp, but when Fabuloso got excited about it I changed my plan on how to do this...

When daddy shows that something is OK and cool; the foal gets convinced easily and the training happens in the most natural way; mimicking his parents.

I didn't go any further with this than what is shown in this clip, and didn't try it again until almost 6 months later. I pulled out the tarp to see what Bravo would do, and I couldn't even get it out in the field before the colt was standing on top of it; happily banging away at it with a very self satisfied look on his face.
Horses are so great!

Free lunging in collection without side reins

2009-10-03T23:18:12.244Z

In my opinion collection is not something that can be forced on a horse, especially by the use of side reins. I believe the use of restrictive equipment causes the horses natural movements to be..., well restricted.
Collection should be about self balance, self carriage, free movement, and not about setting a horses head in a fixed position.

The horse shows his most beautiful movements when moving at liberty, while he is having fun and playing. If you can have fun together with your horse, do things with him instead of to him, it's pretty amazing how easily they collect all by them selves. Besides; it's pretty fun and a great way to warm up for both the horse and the rider.

Foals first training session

2009-10-01T20:33:01.141Z

Two days have passed since Bravo first approached humans. He is getting very comfortable and adores getting scratched around his withers. Under the disguise of petting him, we carefully start to handle him a little; getting him used to being touched in new areas, as well as restraining him a little.

With his parents casually grazing nearby and soft music playing in the garden, he really doesn’t even know that he is being trained!

Our movements are quick so that he doesn’t have a chance to pull away from the feel of our hands in new places. We move from scratching his favorite spots, and then quickly run our hands over his legs, under the belly and over his neck. The head is more difficult for him, so we hold off on that area for now.

We prevent him from moving forwards by holding an arm in front of his chest to get him used to being restrained. At this age it’s a lot easier for a foal to be held back like this, than to be held by a halter. As soon as he relaxed we release him.

The session is kept short, and we often check to see if he wants to leave. Keeping him away from his mother if he wants to go to her would only make this a negative experience, and the most important thing here is to make him feel good about the handling.

Foals first real meeting with humans

2009-09-29T18:02:22.503Z

Bravo is now two weeks old and this happened the day after the previous clip. Gunnar Martinsen, my husband, is trying to get up close to the foal.

He has a «secret weapon»: scratching is something most foals enjoys, and Bravo is no exception. This is all it took, after this the foal was loving the idea of humans…

Stallions son is becoming a daddy’s boy

2009-09-29T17:55:18.070Z

Already the day after their first real meeting the stallion and his foal has created a clear bond. The foal is now hanging by Fabuloso’s side most of the time, he only goes to his mother when he gets hungry.

We left the horses alone during these first days, thinking there was enough to deal with for the little colt, and he became a little shy about people. Gunnar, Ellens husband, is here introducing himself to the colt, using the same approach as Fabuloso did; just standing still and letting the colt check him out.

They get interrupted by Lebrera, the mare. It can seem that she is protecting the colt from Gunnar, but knowing her and seeing her behavior it’s more likely that she is just wanting some attention herself.

Bravos is born

2009-09-29T12:06:28.236Z

Right before midnight Lebrera comes knocking on the door (literary! we were sitting behind the veranda glass doors to be ready when it was time). A few minutes later Bravo is on the way!

Stallion first meeting with his foal

2009-09-29T00:03:32.080Z

Fabuloso has been with his mare Lebrera for 3 days. Up till this moment the mare has not allowed the stallion to get close to their foal. This is the first time the mare allowed the foal to approach his father, and the stallion is very careful.

In this clip the «calming signals» are very clear; Fabuloso is showing the sleeping posture, the turned ears and most importantly; standing very still. Another interesting part is that the horses hindquarter is considered the safe side of the horse; a horse that wants to show that he is safe to approach will turn his hindquarters to the other horse, the head is more frightening.

The reaction when the stallion turns his head towards the foal is typical; the foal feels threatened and responds by not only the typical foal chewing, but also by turning his hindquarters towards the stallion.

These calming signals can be used by humans to show a timid horse that we mean it no harm; turn our backs to the horse, looking down and standing very still is a far better way to get a horses trust than to try to pet it on the head.

Stallion turned out with his mare and foal

2009-09-28T23:17:41.423Z

Lebrera came in heat eight days after the foaling, and she showed that she was ready to be together with Fabuloso again. He is very happy about this and is showing off to her as much as he can.

Although she is showing very clearly that she wants him to breed with her, he isn’t quite sure that he is allowed; he has been with mares before and knows to take it slow. Experience tells him to be careful with those hind legs, and she gets a bit annoyed with him for not understanding that she is ready.

Lebrera is clearly torn between her concern for the foal while at the same time wanting to be with him. The clip is just showing a few scenes of this interaction; in real life this lasted for two hours before the actual breeding happened.

To often a stallion and a mare are not allowed to have this interaction and flirting process with each other, and many stallions are taught just to jump up and breed without any chance to get to know the mare at all. The mare is tied up so she is not given a choice in the matter. The reason is of course the safety of both of them, but the price of this form for breeding is that is depriving both horses of a very important part of their natural behavior.

This, combined with the fact that most stallions don’t get to live with his mares, is probably the reason that so many people sees stallions as something dangerous and think he will jump on any mare given the slightest opportunity.

Mare telling stallion to stay away from foal

2009-09-28T10:41:10.333Z

This clip shows some amazing body language! The mare, Lebrera, wants the grass near the fence, but isn’t sure about Fabuloso standing there. So, she tells him to move, but he wants to check out his foal. Bravo wants to talk to daddy, too, but mommy says NO...

The main thing for me in this clip is that it clearly shows what I call «calming signals». The signs of aggression are often talked about, but I don’t think I have heard people mention the signals they use when they want to show that they are no threat. The stallion is showing this very clearly; his posture is similar to a sleeping posture with his ears hanging to the sides.

The mare responds to this signal by settling down a little, but as soon as he makes a little move she warns him. Her communication with both the stallion and the foal is very clear. It needs to be mentioned that this mare and the stallion has lived together for a year and has only been separated for the first few days after the foal was born in order to give the mare a little peace. As soon as she shows that she is ready the horses are placed together again.

Foal in a hurry!

2009-09-28T10:02:32.706Z

Bravo is a day old and ready to meet the world for the first time, and he is enjoying testing out his new legs!

This is the first video in a series about this foal and other horses at the farm. The clips shows both training and interaction with each other. I train the horses using positive reinforcement and I am a firm believer in keeping horses as natural as possible. The foals grow up with both parents and the herd is often trained together. People rarely gets to see a stallion together with his offspring, and this is the main reason I started to makes this clips. I wanted to show that the stallion also has a natural part in the herd that goes way beyond just the breeding part.