# Where would you start with a weanling?



## shesinthebarn (Aug 1, 2009)

Hey all! I purchased a QH foal who will be coming to live with me at the end of the month. She is range - bred, so knows nothing - and I mean nothing. Wanted to do some exercises with her to build our bond, give her ground work and manners etc. I've worked on lots of yearlings, but never a weanling. Any advice on what we can do together? Any books that you would recomend? I've heard a little about the John Lyons "Bringing up Baby". Has anyone read this book?


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## Spirithorse (Jun 21, 2007)

Get Dr. Robert Miller's book! He's amazing. 

As far as ground work, you don't want to do anything too strenuous at this point seeing as she is so young, but you can definitely work on getting her to yield to and from steady and rhythmic pressure, turn on the haunches and forehand, the head-down cue, backing out of your space, take a few steps sideways, clippers, rub her lips, ears, legs in a friendly way, you could even play with a trailer and a tarp....there are so many small things you can do!  Personally I like the Parelli 7 Games.


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## shesinthebarn (Aug 1, 2009)

Ya, that's the kind of stuff I'm after. She's not even halter broke, so does not know how to lead either. I need to be able to lead her, halter her, have her OK with the farrier. The other stuff (like yielding, tarps and trailers) is more for us and our relationship - but the other stuff is a need - to - know!
Are the DVD's of Parelli and the 7 games good?


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## Spirithorse (Jun 21, 2007)

I think the DVDs are excellent. I'm an advanced student of the program, but I watched the 7 Games DVD and I thought it gave a great nuts-and-bolts explaination of how to do the 7 Games and the theory behind it. The Level 1 pack is where you get the "extra" information as it's more in depth.

Sounds like you have an excellent opportunity on your hands! How exciting.


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## shesinthebarn (Aug 1, 2009)

Ya, I thought it was something new to try and have fun with. I've always had horses that were cast-offs - unwanted and somewhat messed up. They taught me so much from their re-training, but this time I wanted to see what it was like to have one that was a blank slate. It should be an adventure!


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## LiveToJump (Jun 19, 2009)

I just wanted to add that I had that book, and I loved it. I think there are excellent exercises in there that you can do with youngsters


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## shesinthebarn (Aug 1, 2009)

Ooohhh! Good to know! I heard some good things. I kinda like John Lyons - his approach is practical and realistic. I might take a little of this and a little of that and see what happens.


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## Plains Drifter (Aug 4, 2009)

Congrats on your filly. I might be in the same boat shortly. A friend of ours had a mare that was accidently caught by the neighbor's stallion...so I might be the mom to a GORGEOUS paint filly (think she's a filly!)


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## kevinshorses (Aug 15, 2009)

If this is a filly that came off the range don't worry about working her too hard she probably would outlast you without breaking a sweat. All I would do is teach her to lead then find a big pasture someplace(preferably a little rocky) and forget about her for a couple of years. If that isn't possible then remember that anything you try to teach her will take about 5 times longer to sink in because she is so immature mentally.


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## Gidji (Dec 19, 2008)

kevinshorses said:


> If this is a filly that came off the range don't worry about working her too hard she probably would outlast you without breaking a sweat. All I would do is teach her to lead then find a big pasture someplace(preferably a little rocky) and forget about her for a couple of years. If that isn't possible then remember that anything you try to teach her will take about 5 times longer to sink in because she is so immature mentally.


 Why would you work hard, teach this horse to lead, and be good then cast it out to a paddock for a couple of years?
As she stated above, she wants to build a relationship with her weanling, not just let it be some horse that runs wild in her back paddock. Horses are very intelligent, I believe, and so what if it takes the horse a little longer to learn? Provided that it learns it correctly, understands personal space and has a good bond with her owner than everything should be fine.
Remember, this was posted in Natural Horsemanship. A topic about understanding your horse and working with it. A topic about strengthening that bond between you and your horse.


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## kevinshorses (Aug 15, 2009)

I think it's healthier for the horse to develop physically and mentally on it's own rather than have constant training from birth. What is more natural than allowing a horse to become a horse.


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## kevinshorses (Aug 15, 2009)

The only reason I would teach them to lead is in case they need to be moved or have vet care. I wouldn't teach them any more than I had to so I could minimally handle them.


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## shesinthebarn (Aug 1, 2009)

I don't want to do serious work with her - I understand that she is far to small to do that. I need to be able to halter, lead, pick up feet to be trimmed and stand for the vet. I do think it's not good to push little ones too soon, that is for sure. I just need to have her quiet and trusting for these every day routine things. I'm a big believer is hoof care from a young age, and I don't want the farrier to dislike trimming her because of her behaviour. I also worm and vaccinate on a tight schedule, so she needs to be able to handle these things without fighting.
I only wish I could keep her on pasture full-time, but I can't. The Paddocks with shelters are full of off-season racehorses, most of whom are studs, so it wouldn't work out!
I just don't want anyone to think I want to like "work her". I just want to form a trusting relationship with her and avoid turning situations into a fight.


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## Gidji (Dec 19, 2008)

Good luck with your filly. I hope you have heaps of fun training her and building a relationship with her.


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## Spirithorse (Jun 21, 2007)

I actually think it would be a good idea to do work with her like discussed and then allow her to have time out in the pasture with other horses so she can grow up. Take the best of both worlds- training and letting her be.


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## mom2pride (May 5, 2009)

With babies, I do like to get them used to handling, so things are easily done with them; but I also like alot of turnout. As long as you get a solid foundation of ground work done on her (haltering, leading, handling feet, etc), the rest will be easy later on.


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## Spirithorse (Jun 21, 2007)

^^ I agree


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## equus717 (Aug 20, 2009)

i agree that you need to build a bond with this weanling. i have 2 foals and they are as differnt as night and day. my stud colt is very personable wants to be with me and my filly is a little more standoffish i think this is because she cut her leg up real bad at a week old and then i had to call the vets out to put her to sleep so that they could sew it up. it healed nicely but because of that first type of handling i am having to start over with her. but caddo is helping alot because when he comes up she comes up so i pet them both. caddo will already let me pick up his four feet. caddo was halter broke at a week old but i took his halter off because it was too small but i can put my hands all over him even between his legs. i do that so that if a branch gets caught between his back legs he will not panick and stand there until i can get it out from underneath him. maggie is learning to accept me again because of caddo. i take it very slow and only work on a lesson for about 5 minutes at a time because their attention span is not long as well. many times though i go out and watch them in the field at play and see how they interact with each other then i try to mimic that as well.my best advice though is to take it slow.


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## jillybean1 (Oct 12, 2009)

well first of all u got to think how am i going to catch her with out freakin her and forcing her. i just got a weanling and the owner could never catch him he knows nothin

its called clicker training u see u can not lundge him if he is naughty u want her to like u see u and nicker, walk in the paddock and sit there with her feed bucket she will come over is she feels right give her time. and bout getting her use to u well first thing u want her to beable to halter and want to not forced thats when clicker comes in let her sniff the halter dont hide it the when she does give her a treat soo she thinks "wow if i touch the rope thing i get food" so eventully she will be like " ow her is my play mate i hope she has that rope thing so i can have a treat" my little fella now comes runing to the halter. then when she come friendly to u play friendly games this is were parelli comes in handy get the end of ur rope and throw it over her show her is alright any way thats how i would do it hope i helped.


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## kevinshorses (Aug 15, 2009)

jillybean1 said:


> well first of all u got to think how am i going to catch her with out freakin her and forcing her. i just got a weanling and the owner could never catch him he knows nothin
> 
> its called clicker training u see u can not lundge him if he is naughty u want her to like u see u and nicker, walk in the paddock and sit there with her feed bucket she will come over is she feels right give her time. and bout getting her use to u well first thing u want her to beable to halter and want to not forced thats when clicker comes in let her sniff the halter dont hide it the when she does give her a treat soo she thinks "wow if i touch the rope thing i get food" so eventully she will be like " ow her is my play mate i hope she has that rope thing so i can have a treat" my little fella now comes runing to the halter. then when she come friendly to u play friendly games this is were parelli comes in handy get the end of ur rope and throw it over her show her is alright any way thats how i would do it hope i helped.


Could you try this post again with some punctuation and spelling? I could only read the first two lines before I got a headache. If you want to be taken seriously then you should write like an adult.


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## TroubledTB (Jun 26, 2009)

Thank you kevinshorses for advocating letting them be a horse, "so it can be a horse" was my response when I got to the end of page 1. Then I saw that you had it handled on the next post, but beyond that, as far as going into the middle of the pasture and bringing that big bucket of grain, good luck, they don't even know what grain is, or carrots, or apples, they just know grass so good luck using food as bribery. This almost is better for your relationship though because you will go out there and she may not want your company at first, but once she does you know its because you earned her trust, not her stomach. Treats are wonderful, don't think my horse didn't figure out what they were eventually, but babies that age can really bust your chops. I can't tell you how many times I chased circles around the pasture just trying to be my horses new best friend, and when I say chased it doesn't mean she exerted herself, she was always just out of reach and trotting away ten steps to far. Eventually she would get tired and usually decide to lay down at some point and I would get my chance to finally snuggle and bond. Sometimes I would watch the pasture all day for her to take a nap so I could sneak in and hold her. That eventually won her over and I was able to catch her more regularly. 

As far as leading goes, make sure you try to get some knowledgeable help with this, it is usually best done with one person holding the halter and another with a lead rope around their butt. You have to make sure to establish that she can't break away but other than that don't use the halter to pull her around. Instead have the friend with the butt rope encourage her to follow you when you walk so she learns to be lead not pulled. Young horses that age can throw some pretty big fits, and pull rearing jumping stunts during this process so whatever you do, don't let her get away during this, she is still small enough to think you are really strong and they never really wise up as they grow up and realise they can overpower you later.


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## Alicia (Mar 21, 2009)

I agree with handling her a lot and to also offset that with letting her be a horse and putting her out to pasture for a bit. I think I would do something like working with her for a couple of days (short stints since her attention span will be pretty short) then let her be with other horses for a week or so, to give her mind a break.
Another thing would be to have other people handle her as well, so that she doesn't become a one person horse. Good luck and enjoy this experience.


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