# Plan for raising a weanling



## horseandshow (Jan 19, 2011)

Here is my typical plan for all my young horses (quarter horse/paints). I know will all have opinions on ideal time, but you can see for comparision.

I halter break when i wean them at approx 5-7 months (depending on if they are going to be shown in halter as weanling). This includes tieing, feet picked up, grooming, and loading in trailer. Once they are quiet and easy to catch they head out to pasture till spring.

In their yearling year, they get review of all ground manners, started longing/round penning at all three gaits. It is pretty relaxed and consistent time with the horses at this stage. Lots of tieing up, standing, grooming, etc....

In there 2 year old year I will put 90 days of riding on them and then kick them back out till pasture until they are 3.

This has always yielded great results for me. I know lots prefer not to start them as 2 year olds. We have also waited starting horses who just aren't ready. I like to tailor the needs of a training program to the individual horse. I however do prefer letting my foal be horses till weaning time. We interact with them daily in the pasture, but do not start halter process till they are weaned. Lots of standing and tieing up is a must to.

Hope that gives you something to compare to.


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## Jacksmama (Jan 27, 2010)

Personally I think you are going a little slow with regards to the 6 months off and then a year off, but other than that I think you have a good "rough" plan so far. Your baby may have gone a bit wild with all that time off, but as long as you keep in mind that it may take a little extra time to get them back in the swing of working and listening you should be fine. I would make sure I have a lot of variety in the things I work on with them, they can easily get bored with repetative groundwork over long periods of time if you don't keep things interesting. Work on all of the normal stuff(tying, feet, etc...) but also work on other things. Teaching to move away from pressure, disengage hind and forequarters, leading respectfully, NOT biting or mouthing people, things like that. I don't start ground driving until they're close to being ready to ride, but other than that I slowly teach EVERYTHING that I don't have to actually get on them to do. I have started several like this and have never(knock on wood) had a bronc fest or more than a slightly surprised look when I go to get on them. 

As far as the lunging, I think a yearling is a little early to start lunging at all three gaits unless you have a LARGE area. It can put a good amount of stress on their little bodies at that young age to be worked in circles in a small space. I am assuming your baby will be halter broken when you get it, do you have the wee one picked out yet?


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## MaggiStar (Mar 19, 2010)

So say leave off the 6months and keep her going untill i give her yje year off? Maybe even the 3most disgusting moinths ill leave off as they will be my final christmas exams for college.
i definitely want to give her the year off and mature and develop fully so not even contemplating sitting on her untill she is close to3 and a half.

I aim on doing dressage or eventing on her hence no jumping untill 5 wanna protect those delicate growth plates.
I dont have an arena so all work will be in large open spaces.
I have estimated that i sell my current evebter in May for 4,500E then spend some of that on a J1 in America and the rest keep for baby and breaking.

My chioces of buying are as a a foal at foot or in the weanling sales i am leaning towards foal at foot personally and i have quite a fixes idea as to what i want also


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## mls (Nov 28, 2006)

MaggiStar said:


> Does this sound ideal as a plan or am i rushing/going to slow in certain areas.
> I want my ideal riding horse and i figure manners is my pet peeve this way i will basically have my ideal hopefully,


Bottom line - you are going to be working with a horse. Horses do not read text books - or internet forums. They will progress at the pace they choose.

I have a filly that will be two in May. She has always been extremely high strung (and VERY catty when she wants out of a situation) so instead of forcing her and blowing her brain, we did the absolute basics with her. Halter, lead, manners for grooming, farrier, etc.

A month ago I decided to start with her in hand education. Leading over bridges, tarps - trail type obstacles. 15-30 minute sessions once a week. She is much more accepting than I anticipated she would be. I really feel that letting her be for anything more than necessary was vital for her mental health.

On the other hand, our 8 month old filly stares 'danger' in the face and goes off to greet it . . . 

You'll have to design your plan around your horse!


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## CJ82Sky (Dec 19, 2008)

i have two babies - a 9 mo old (logan) and a 21 mo old (max)

max (registered Magnificent 8) is by OLD NA stud Mannhattan out of my TB mare (now also regis/approved main mare book OLD NA) Ebony's Opal. i was there when he was born and handled him from day 1. he had a few temper tantrums, but progressed quickly. he was weaned around 4 - 4.5 mos. by weanling he was used to clippers (still not a fan but each session gets easier) and halter broke, stands for farrier, etc. by a year he was able to longe with voice commands on a line (did this very lightly to learn handing/longing w/o taxing joints). he's also gone over raised cavaletti to learn how to pick up his feet several times, and has jumped 2'6" once on his own free longing in the arena bc i had left a jump up and though no way he'd go over it. well he did and loved it silly boy! he's also had a saddle on his back 2x and girthed once bc we had another horse in the arena and i had to carry the saddle back to the barn so i girthed it so it didn't fall off and spook him. he couldn't care less. he HAS NOT been backed and won't for some time still depending on his growth. i have no issues backing a 2yo to sit/stand. 2.5yo to take a few steps at walk. that's it. jumping can start x-rails at 4 in light amounts. plan for 5 to be doing more is fine imo. (just posted a link to a GREAT article on this in another thread about teaching to jump if you want to read).

logan was a rescue from a mare who was at auction and "never bred"..... yeah that turned out well. she was somewhat defensive to handle but after foaling despite having someone in the stall with her she immediately got aggressive and dangerous. she was unhandleable for weeks. it took 3 weeks to turn out mom and baby (she was in a 20x10 stall and we had to use a 14' gate to push them to one side of the stall - clean it - then do the other half. stall had 2 doors one on each end thank goodness). logan wasn't even handled or haltered until about 2 weeks prior to weaning. because of the extreme situation he was weaned at 3 mo almost to the day. to get a halter on him we had to usher mom into barn to her stall and use his curiosity and a few helpers to get him in the stall across the way. they could see each other - but it gave us the opp to get a halter on him. less than ideal, but again extreme. we roped him and he fought, fell (in a nicely bedded stall) then stopped fighting. we got a halter on him and smart ****** was almost instantly-broke. worked with him daily and as soon as weaned he was taught to pick up feet, etc. despite the initial need to rope/halter, then wean 2 weeks later, he was once handled as much of a dream to work with as max. 

despite very different situations the common denominator was handling EVERY SINGLE DAY until everything became commonplace. for logan that daily handling had a late start but still was able to have the same affect. actually logan is easier to clip than max (i assume that is partially the QH v OLD NA lol).

logan shows no interest in jumping and will not do that unless he wants, he'll be western. he'll have a light pony saddle on him soon just to get him used to it. both are in blankets. both now stand w/o x-ties (they will ground tie!) for farrier. both get dentist this spring and when gelded will have wolf teeth checked. (max dropped late bc mom was sick when preggers with him so gelding this spring.)

overall i think you have a good plan EXCEPT i would not let a horse just sit for more than a few weeks - especially an uneducated one. i've found a horse with a solid start left for a month or more can easily revert back to "wild" or more independent behavior such as not wanting to lead, issues with clipping, etc. even if just once every few weeks, i'd still do something with a baby.

also please please please consider adopting a baby! we have one here for adoption that was a nursemare foal that really needs her own person to love! there are so many in need there incl well bred ones. it's a great option if it fits with your need.

good luck!


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## MaggiStar (Mar 19, 2010)

I am from Ireland and there doesnt seem to be a large market to adopt foals iv not seen anyhitng online or in my reaesrch i would love to however so if i was to come across something and the foal was ideal i would most certainly tkae it up of course.

The likelness of the filly standing for a year is highyl probable as i would like to do a travel stint in Australia and would not really like others handelling her for a whole year wothout me around so a year to grow and mature just seems to fit i am allowing about 6-8months after that to get back on track really.

I am in no rush to purchase or break this foal i want to wait for a forever baby to come along ideally and be something i can work with and learn on for a long period of time. I will however also be looking at unbroken 2-3 year olds. I definitely think i am ready to fully start at horse with the help i have available and i would enjoy the chance to do it.

O i know there not done by timescale MLS i would just like a rough idea that by the time i am settled and in a steady job i should have a nice decent ready to ride horse and i will be earning so will have the resources to bring on and allow her to reach her full potential.

I am quite set on a filly as i just love mares i am not sure if i am setting my ideal type to specific though


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