That's Andee on the left, Chickory on the right
Once housing is taken care of, that leaves your interaction with them. As a side note, it's always good to have a companion for them, either another youngster or an older horse. Until they are in the summer of their yearling year, most of what you do with them will be just getting them to lead nicely, pick up their feet, behave for your hoof care provider, stand tied, and tolerate grooming all over. If you plan on showing, you can add in training specific for the class you show in, eg. halter, showmanship, in-hand trail, etc. Since I don't show, I can't advise on what you can do for that.
As a yearling, you start introducing other things, such as trailer loading, ponying, sacking out.
Rio trailer loading at age 11 months
You also increase your expectations of good behaviour. If you plan to introduce them to riding in their 2 year old year, then in the fall of their yearling year you can introduce them to longeing for short periods (not too long because it's hard on their joints), sacking out with saddle blankets, and progressing to setting a light saddle on them.
Longeing Sassy as a long yearling
I like to have them checked by an equine dentist and get their wolf teeth pulled before they are 2. There is lots of ground work you can do with them as a yearling, like getting them to move away from the pressure of your hand on their side (imitating leg pressure). There are many books written on the subject of training, and I'm no expert, I just do what works for me.
None of this is rocket science, and there is no horse-whispering- mystery involved in getting a youngster prepared for their life as a good using horse. It's all common sense, and treating them like a horse, not tolerating bad behaviour just because they are cute, and laying out a training plan for them. If you aren't confident in being the first one on their back, plan ahead and save enough money to send them to a reputable trainer for at least a month. Remember, the ground work you do with them helps to build a bond and establishes your "place in the herd". Start as you mean to continue: if you don't want to be pushed around by a 1100 pound horse, don't let a 500 pound baby push you around. Establish boundaries from the get-go.
The end result will be a horse that you know the complete history on, one that you helped form, that you know inside out.
Me and Sundee, Coyote Belle's mama; my first heart horse that I bought as a weanling.
12 comments:
I can't get over how tiny Andee looks there, she sure grew into a lovely mare. Funny wan't planning to keep her, but we love her so much now she will be a lifer
Good advice all the way around....the only thing I would do earlier is the loading. I get them going in with Mama when they are tiny and it makes for such an easy transition when there is no Mama.Love that pic of you and Sundee....you should paint that????
great post with useful information. And I love the picture of you and Sundee too. You paint? Did I miss that somehow? Wow, sometimes my head is way up in the clouds.
Great post, Shirley!
Trailer loading is something I do whenever it's convenient to me,but I never leave it later than the beginning of their yearling year.
lots of good advice there. I have barbwire, but also very large pastures that my other horses know is wire and they teach the knew ones.
I got a yearling long before I ever knew anything about horses (Bailey) and it was a learning experience before and I did everything with her, more than I actually do with my babies now but I had no other horses around.
I have never had trouble loading a horse, even if i leave it later, especially if they already have a go forward cue, that makes all the difference.
Excellent advice Shirley...Raising babies is such a rewarding experience, but so much of it requires having the right set-up and/or being able to keep baby out of harms way.
Like Crystal, we have barbed wire...but have large pastures OR are extra, EXTRA careful to make sure that momma and baby are alone (as a pair). At most, there might be another mare or two that isn't going to bother baby and that momma is comfortable with and won't do anything stupid thinking she is protecting her young.
We usually keep our weanlings separate from everyone through the winter and then in the spring start to introduce them to a herd environment. They learn some very valuable life lessons that way and seem to be more well-adjusted adults. But we are very careful to make sure they are not just thrown to the mercy of the herd. Integration, not intimidation.
Great post, love that last pic..:-)
BEC and Crystal- I understand the advantages about large pastures and barbwire, but not everyone is blessed with that much land. Also, I've seen mama go through a gate in a barbwire pasture and baby go through the wire because he didn't see the opening of the gate.
At weaning time I usually run the foal with one of the herd that he has been grazing with all along and put mama with another mare; I guess that's the advantage of a small herd. In this herd, Chickory is the baby sitter.
Good advice. Raising young ones is definitely not for everyone, but in the right setting it sure is rewarding. I've loved most every minute of the three we've raised!
Good advice. I've raised a few young ones--and my first heart horse was also one I'd got as a weanling. I'm a big fan of the sheds. I actually prefer them over barn stalls. That's all I used to have and I thought a barn would be so wonderful...but turns out, it's much harder to clean them out and dangerous for more than one to be in at a time. The sheds are great for multiple horses going under and keeping warm together.
That was a great breakdown of "Horse 101"
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