# 4 Month old Colt Training Question



## teddyboy (Aug 15, 2009)

Ok I have a 4 1/2 month old colt (gelded) the breeder I had bought him from said to just leave him alone LET HIM BE A BABY. I have been pick his feet up so the farrier can do his job easier and leading which he does great, taking him for walk to get him exposed to things. The breeder is very mad at me that I will not leave him alone he will be better off if I just leave him alone Sorry I just can't do that. Please tell me what your opinion is? The reason I call her is that my baby is so jumpey and spooky you sneeze, cough, shuffle your feet, clap etc. he jumps or flinches.


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## Spastic_Dove (Oct 4, 2007)

Is it your baby or hers?

I think babies need to be worked with. They should be able to be a baby, yes. But they have short attention spans anyway so I like to work them for short periods of time daily to get them used to being handled and learn the ropes.


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## ChevyPrincess (Aug 27, 2009)

Foals should be worked with! My trainer says the first few _days _they can be a baby, you just play with them. No ropes or anything. 

They do have a short attention span, so work on something for around 10 minutes. Then they get bored. Give them a brake, then do something else. You _should_ pick up their feet, get them used to ropes, being led, be brushed all over. That's awesome you can do all that with him =]

You aren't breaking him, just gentling him =] That is a good thing. It will be so much harder to work with him like that when he is older.

*He is already gelded? I was told to never geld under six months? But I guess you can geld them whenever their testicles drop.


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## kevinshorses (Aug 15, 2009)

I like to just leave them alone. When possible I don't touch a horse untill they are ready to be ridden. Most people don't have that option so I think you should do just enough with your horses feet so that the farrier can trim it and turn it out with some older horses the rest of the time. Try not to keep it in a small pen or stall. It's important to socialize them to other horses. They need to run and learn to be a horse.


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## mom2pride (May 5, 2009)

I figure it this way, my horses, whether baby, or adult, have approximately 20 hours every day to 'be a horse'...a couple of 1\2 hour sessions each day is not going to harm him or interrupt him growing up and knowing how to act like a horse. 

I want a youngster to learn how to do the basics as soon as I can, because it makes training undersaddle so much smoother later on; quite literally most of the horses I've trained from the time they were little ones, the first ride was like we had ridden many times before. They learn all they need to know in the first few years of life, that going from 'ground to saddle' is not difficult at all for them. 

I don't think you are doing anything wrong with trying to teach your baby the basics this early on...as long as your actual teaching sessions are brief, spend all the time you want with your horse. Even going out and sitting in his paddock can have its benefits, especially if he is still leary of you. Chances are, the reason he IS leary is because he hasn't had the handling early on. Just be patient and keep doing what you are doing with him.


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## JustDressageIt (Oct 4, 2007)

I say let the foal learn to be a horse. He'll learn a lot from being in a herd dynamic. Work with him a little here and there, that's fine, but don't keep him by himself, let him go out there and figure out how to be a horse.


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## SaddleUp158 (Dec 26, 2008)

I have a colt that is a little younger than yours. He is already learning to lead and pick his feet up-for short time spans whenever I work with him. Other than leading and halter training I won't do much with him until he is older. I will probably introduce the clippers to him once he is weaned.


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## bubblegum (Oct 6, 2009)

im getting my two colts on saturday and i plan to start working on them the same way you are working on yours, although mine are 5months and not gelded. id love some tips


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## sillybunny11486 (Oct 2, 2009)

4 1/2 and gelded?? my boy is 7 months and hasnt droped. i like to wait till about a year, that way they get more muscle. its kind of like learning to read, the younger the better, you can learn at any age but the more experience you have to better you will be. (im not talking about riding/breaking, just basic despooking/ground work) personally i wouldnt wait till the horse is larger to teach them ground work. its easier to take control with a smaller animal then it is larger. id rather despooke a 500lb baby then a 1000lb+ horse who can very easily run you over.


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## Plains Drifter (Aug 4, 2009)

I have an odd situation here. We have the thoroughbreds in the pasture and then I have Lillie and Lyric. Both are being stalled seperately in the barn and let outside seperately. Right now, I'm trying to halter train Lyric and get her use to me, and I don't want her bonding right away to Lillie. Once she is older I will put her and Lillie together, once I have a good relationship with her. As for Lillie, she's way too small to be put out with the thoroughbreds (and simply I don't want her out there.)

Do what you feel comfortable with for your relationship with your horse.


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## close2prfct (Mar 9, 2009)

The legs and feet are the big thing. I can wait on the rest, but legs and feet are a priority for getting trimmed or if they are ever injured seriously on the legs. Once they quit kicking and stomping and allow me to put my hand anywhere on their legs and lift their feet for a couple seconds I'm done. Sometimes a couple days is all it takes then with others it may take a couple weeks of spending a few minutes every day to get them past the point of kicking, pawing, or stomping. 
With colts I do get them used to be handled on their underparts it makes it easier for sheath cleaning when they get older other than that I don't do any other training until they are around a year old.


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## farmpony84 (Apr 21, 2008)

I didn't really start messing with Riley until about 12 months (other then leading, and doing his feet.) But when he was in his stall, he would roll his eyes and race around like a crazed lunatic when I would empty feed backs, the shaking of the feed bags and the crinkling of the paper. So everytime I emptied feed bags, I put a couple in his stall and let him tromp on them. When I emptied things that were in plastic bags he would freak, so I would tie empty grocery bags to the outside of his bars on his stall so that the wind would blow them... little things like that. I let my son ride his bike up and down the aisle of the barn when the horses are safely in their stalls, we load/unload hay while the horses are watching. Little things like that that you'll want to be able to do around a grown horse... I didn't do a whole lot with him, but enough.


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