# Working with my 1 Week old Foal



## mbender (Jul 22, 2009)

Your doing everything right. Don't chase her around the stall. It will become a game to her. Let her come to you. Just have fun and keep up what your doing.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## travelinscout (Mar 28, 2011)

Thank You! I want to make sure I am doing everything right. BTW what color do you think she will be?


----------



## mbender (Jul 22, 2009)

Does she have a stripe down her back? Do you know the color of the sire?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## travelinscout (Mar 28, 2011)

She has a very definitive reddish brown stripe on her back that she got from dad who is a Grullo stallion. All his babies get the stripe no matter what color they are.


----------



## equus717 (Aug 20, 2009)

You are doing it right. If she walks away let her give her time to come back up. I imprint mine but I only do it for the first week and then I leave them alone to be a horse. I normally don't do much until they are a yearling and still find they remember what I did when they were first born. This approach works best for me. 

I am not sure if I would work her 10 minutes she is a baby and she probably isn't retaining a lot. Instead work her for 5 minutes. You are doing good just keep it up. Don't burn her out if she doesn't want to come up don't make her. 

Something else that you might want to do is at least one of those times go out pet her and let it go at that. That way that she doesn't start associating you with work all of the time. She could start resenting to see you because she knows that when you come down there to see her that it is always work time and not just pleasure time.


----------



## TheLovedOne (Jan 26, 2011)

Just curious: why do you think she is skittish around you? 

The color... we had a foal born as a buckskin and turned into a red roan. The dam was grey and the sire was buckskin.


----------



## travelinscout (Mar 28, 2011)

I wouldn't say she is skittish, she just comes up to us when she wants to. I don't have to really hold her to rub her, once I am next to her she is fine. When I go into the stall she is curious of me and looks like she wants to come over just isn't quite sure yet. I don't push the issue and become aggressive and she has no problem with me rubbing her and she licks my hand when I reach under moms belly when she is standing on the other side. She seems to be getting a little better each day.


----------



## TheLovedOne (Jan 26, 2011)

Oh I see. I wouldn't force myself on her in any way. If she looks at you then I would look away and wait for her to come to me. But overall it sounds like you're doing fine. Take your time.


----------



## My Beau (Jan 2, 2009)

Lots of "scritches" and she'll be running over to you, especially when she starts to shed the baby coat 

You just have to find the sweet spot!


----------



## travelinscout (Mar 28, 2011)

Thank you all for your help! Daisy is now coming up to us and looking for attention! I have a question about water, she is starting to check out mom's hay and all and I have read varying opinions about whether she should have access to water. She is nursing regularly, and just having the normal once a day or so tiny bit of diarrhea. So what do y'all think? Water bucket or not?
Thank you.


----------



## mbender (Jul 22, 2009)

Let her do whatever she wants. The one thing you need to watch is when she starts to eat hay. They can get compacted very easily. My filly did and she could have died. So just watch that.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## travelinscout (Mar 28, 2011)

OK, so should I let her have access to water or not?


----------



## mbender (Jul 22, 2009)

Yes. She won't drink much, she'll just dip her mouth in it.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## satrider (Nov 10, 2008)

As mentioned above, don't rush it too much, she will be coming to you. Lots of scratches and rubbing. once she gets a little older she will be coming to you.


----------



## Azale1 (Jul 5, 2010)

Your doing everything right. And I thank you for it. I can't tell you how many people I have come across that think they shouldn't do anythign with foal till minimum yearling, then it is next to impossible. You can never do to much with the foal on introducing to new things, touching, handling, etc. Also I would begin to halter break her and begin to teach her how to lead properly. She is old enough to begin learning this process and will be much easier to teach when she is small like this rather than when she is a weanling and not have mom by her side. Also be sure to never chase her to catch her. Make it fun for her to come to you. Cause once she learns the chase game it is very difficult to break.


----------



## travelinscout (Mar 28, 2011)

I agree with you totally. Why not work with her when she is young, small and receptive instead of waiting for her to get bigger? I have friends that don't do anything much with their foals and I think it is a disservice to the horse and will only make things harder for everyone down the road. We have already had a halter on her 8-10 times and are working on leading being very careful not to pull on her neck at all. We are showing her everything we can think of, plastic bags, water bottles,tarps etc. She is responding well and quickly and we are happy about that. We are careful not to chase her and she is coming up to us more and more each day. Frankly, I don't understand why anyone would not work with their foal. We waited 11 long months for her and we can't get enough of her!!


----------



## Cowgirl140ty (Jan 7, 2010)

When imprinting our babies... we blow in their nostril. And to this day.... my two babies (not babies anymore.... one is 2.5 and the other is 4), Will still come up and put their nose to your mouth. It is their way of greeting. Its a way of giving them your scent. My baby was meeting me... waiting for me to blow in his nostril before he was a week and a half old.


----------



## travelinscout (Mar 28, 2011)

I have put my face up to hers many times and she loves it, but I will try the blowing in the nostril too. Thanks!


----------



## Cowgirl140ty (Jan 7, 2010)

No problem. It helps to learn your scent.


----------



## Azale1 (Jul 5, 2010)

travelinscout said:


> Thank you all for your help! Daisy is now coming up to us and looking for attention! I have a question about water, she is starting to check out mom's hay and all and I have read varying opinions about whether she should have access to water. She is nursing regularly, and just having the normal once a day or so tiny bit of diarrhea. So what do y'all think? Water bucket or not?
> Thank you.


I wouln't put a specific water bucket in there for her that is lowered. If she wants some or to check it out she can do so in Mommas bucket.


----------



## Azale1 (Jul 5, 2010)

Also I wanted to add that when she becomes a weanling I would suggest introducing her to things on her back at that point. Thow a saddle pad on her and maybe walk her around with it. It wont hurt her to have it on her back and again will make breaking her easier cause she will be used to the feeling. Could even try very lightly cinching a pony caveson on her. So she can get used to the feeling of somethign around her belly. And I do emphasize lightly. Just enough that if she did get squirmy wont slip off or back but at the same time wont hurt her by being too tight cause she will still be fragile at that point. I have done this with all the foals, weanlings, yearlings that I have had under my care and it makes my life so much easier when it does come time to really start training and breaking.


----------

