Things to work on with your foal, weanling, or yearling.
If you have purchased your baby from us, he or she is already leading. But depending on the age, there are other things he/she still needs to learn. Even if your new baby has already received training on moving his front end and hind end away, he/she still needs practice, and lots of it. Your new baby must also practice on staying out of your personal space when leading him or doing anything. Standing tied, picking up his feet, grooming, trailer loading, and bathing are other areas your new baby needs practice in. If he is a year or older, short lunging sessions are helpful. The most important thing is that you do not accidentally teach bad habits. Some bad habits your baby can learn are: rearing up, breaking lead ropes or even cross ties when tied, getting in your personal space, kicking, and finally, he can learn to bite. These are very hard habits to break once they are learned. The best way to prevent these bad habits, is by be very conscientious in handling your baby and not ever giving him the opportunity to learn these new antics! Avoid teaching him to bite by simply avoiding his mouth. Your baby will out grow this. Its kind of his way of showing you affection right now. He doesn't understand his teeth can hurt you. Afterall, mom used to groom him with her teeth. Avoid teaching him to break lead ropes when tied, by keeping him calm. If he becomes upset, get behind him to encourage him to move forward and talk in soothing tones. Teaching your baby the word "easy" is a great start. When you pick up his feet, make sure you are doing it properly and never let go even when your baby pulls. This will teach him he is stronger than you, (because he is clueless) and will cause problems with the farrier on down the road and even worse, could teach him to kick. As soon as your baby stops pulling, you may put his foot down. Again, always use soft, soothing tones when your baby gets frightened. When leading baby, if he is frightened, stop and calm him down. Do not continue leading until he calms down. This is a sure way to teach him to rear up. The six key elements in bringing baby up properly are: Practice, practice, practice and sooth, sooth, sooth. And most importantly, never hit baby either with your hand or a whip. This will only make him aggressive. The proper use for a whip is in a tapping way only to teach or reinforce movements. Never any harder. Guage it as though someone were tapping you on the shoulder. You should also teach him the word Whoa! and that clucking means to move forward. You should also teach him to back along with the word "back", on the ground. Believe it or not, horses are able to learn the meaning of many of our human words relatively quickly and easily. Never confuse your baby Tennesee Walker by allowing bad behavior one day and not the next. It will cause conflict in the trust area. Correct your baby by saying "Quit it" in a very serious tone. He will soon learn that particular behavior doesn't doesn't bring him any pleasure. And always, always praise your baby horse when he does something right. He does understand and it makes a huge difference in his confidence level. He will learn to seek out positive praise as opposed to "Quit it".
Breaking Time
Finally, the big moment has arrived. The one you have been waiting for. Your baby Tennessee Walker is growing up! You've seen him through elementary school and junior high. You have now developed a deep bond and to see your baby graduate to high school is exciting and maybe, just a little bit sad. But you know many good times and memories are just waiting to be made! He is at least 19 months old now and is ready to break. If you have done your job right, this will be relatively simple for your young horse and you. Breaking begins with ground driving, then riding, then head setting last. A Tennessee Walker is initially taught to plow rein to help him collect his frame for gaiting. Without collection and balance, it is hard for him to maintain a smooth gait and a young horse is clueless about collection and balance. He needs your help. He will be ridden for many years in this fashion until he is set in his gait. At that time, if neck reining is desired, no problem. Your horse knows enough by then to collect himself, has found his own balance, and doesn't need as much help from you in that area any more. Many people start their Tennesee Walker's themselves. They are not bucking broncos. However, just as with the ground work when he was a wee one, you do not want to teach your horse bad habits at this stage of the game. This requires top of mind awareness and some skill. Walking horses are very big hearted and very forgiving so don't panic. If you are nervous about it however, we do offer a 90 day starter package for your young horse and YOU. Yes, we work with you too so that you will know how to continue your young horse's education upon his return home. Whether you are riding him on the trail or around your back yard, he will be learning for several years. Consider the next few years to be the freshman to senior phase of his high school education. Practice, Practice, Practice! to be Perfect, Perfect, Perfect! We want him to graduate with honors! Your walking horse will give you many years of pleasure if these simple ground rules are followed!
For more information on the foundation training starter package, click here.
So, you've purchased or bred your first young horse! There is nothing cuter! You will fall in love! Over the next couple of years, your job will be to bond and bring baby up right so that his tranistion to a riding horse will be easier for him and for you. First, let's start with some simple definitions.
A foal is a baby horse that has not yet been weaned. Foals are usually weaned any where from 4-6 months.
A weanling is a baby horse that has been weaned and is between the ages of 4 months to a year.
A Yearling is a young horse that has reached its first year of life. Some breed registry's however consider any horse born before January 1 of the following year as a yearling no matter what the age while others say if the horse is born after November, he will not be considered as a yearling until the following January. Gets a little confusing.
A young horse is any horse that is between the ages of 2 and 3. Horses are usually broken in at this time. How young you start depends on the breed and bone structure. With walking horses, it is generally 19 months. Some of the taller, lankier walking horses need a little extra time to sort of grow into their bodies. Between 3 and 6, a horse is considered to be a young adult and is still very much in the learning stages of his/her life, no matter what the breed.
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