baby equines

[Abi_2k]

Hi

i am 15 and have recently bought a 18month old connemara x tb filly, she was neglected in her previous home but she is now coming out of her shell and adores my two other ponies.

When we got her home she was to frightened to go in a stable, have her legs/feet touched or have a headcoller on but i have worked on earning her trust - as has my mother who trys to handle her when i am at school, and am now able to stroke her front legs and i have got her a 'field safe' headcoller that is soft and she wears it most of the time

however she is still very nervous about having her back legs touched and this is where problems arise as her feet are badly in need of trimming but i ont want to frighten her and undo the work we have done so far! also are farrier is a man and she is terrified of men! what can i do?

Another problem is that she gets quite destressed when shes in the stable, we have an American style barn with a row of 5 stables either side(only 4 of them are occupied). I wish i could leave her out 24 hours a day until she has settled down but the ground and weather as it is this is quite impossible!

please help

[Wally]

Can she see the other horses in the American Barn? If not make it so she can see the others all the time, even talk and groom over the partitions.

Don't worry, just keep going with positive input and reward and you'll get there. It takes time.

I remember trying to shoe a mare we bought who was used only as a brood mare. She would not let us nail on, she'd stand on her hind legs and swing us round like rag dolls. Now, with a lot of input and positive reward she will stand reasonably still, she still needs to be bribed a bit though, but it's still early days..2 years. I have to say she had very little handling before, but no coarse treatment.

Another mare I bought wild off the hill was so scared of having her front feet picked up she'd hold her breath, we got there in the end. Best of luck.

[intouch]

I used clicker training to get my 2yo to pick up his feet - he had an injury on his front leg and hated it being touched. I started by getting him to "touch" a target, then when he realised what the clicker meant, he let me gradually run my hand down his legs and finally to hold them up, for rhe farrier, as well! If you go to www.equininfo.co.uk and click on naturalhorse, you will find some sites on CT, Kurlands is probably the best.

[Dizzy]

Along with all the above advise, I would try and introduce a man into the equation. If she enjoys a bucket feed, do you have a male who would give it to her - possibly working up to holding the bucket while she eats it.

Hang in there, you're doing all the right things.

Good luck and remember to update us.

Lesley

[me2]

Wally - without meaning to sound facetious, may I ask why you were shoeing your brood mare ?

[Lucy J]

My 4 year old was giving me a terible time with her back legs, kicking out to the side etc. She would let you brush them, and I taught her to rest them for me then I made sure she only ever got a carrot, apple when she let me hold them. That was 2 weeks ago. Since then she has been shod and been perfectly fine. SHe does get very nosy though, but I think it takes them a while to figure out it is only you trying to lift up their legs, I think it takes time fo the penny to drop.

Patience and patience and understanding and time and rewarding are the key. I wouldn't worry too much for now, she'll get there.

[Wally]

I said we bought her as a brood mare ( she was a brood mare when we bought her) with a view to training her, which we have done. The reason she was not easy to handle was because she had simply been in a herd environment with little human input!

She is now a wonderful riding horse, and having a well deserved rest from foals.

[me2]

Ah thanks Wally - that explains it :)

[Abi_2k]

Thanx guys Stormy was very good today i picked out her front feet - although she was a bit fidgety and i managed to brush most of her body :D she is such a pretty little thing - every time i she her i just think what a fab show horse she could make one day! :D but one step at a time! :rolleyes:

In the barn she is in an end stable so she can see out of the main doors when there open and has dawn across from her and Crispin to the side - although she cant see or touch crispin.
She and Dawn have bonded really well! its like mother and daughter - despite them being the same size! :eek:

Do you think it would be a good idea to get my boyfriend to feed her as he isnt as big and impossing as my dad? at the moment i am giving her one small feed in the morning (mainly carrots and hi-fi) just to get the day off to a good start and it also gives me a chance to visually check her for any lumps and bumps.

Dawns stable is a foaling box and is double size so would it be worth putting them in together? The thing is they are both 14.1hh and i wouldnt want them to get hurt - especially cos dawn has a recurring lameness!

or if i left her stable door open could i let her loose in the ailse over night? it doesnt have anything in it as everything is stored in the spare stables, the barn doors are closed, locked and alarmed over night. the barn's entire floor has rubber matting so so wouldnt hurt herself on the floor and the stables have plenty of shavings in so hopefully that would incourage her to go in there when she wanted to lie down? i know she likes to lie down as the other day when i came back from a hack with crispin she was led down in the field with Dawn grazing next to her! :D

My farrier is coming on friday so i thought maybe i could bring her in so she could see what was going on and then if she was calm enough may let him try and trim her front feet or is that pushing my luck? I really dont want to upset her or loose her trust! :(

[Abi_2k]

Hey everyone!

I put the horses out today and i can see them from my house and they have been running around and playing all morning - even Dawn who tends to stay out of the way has been having a little canter and a few feeble bucks! :D

Stormy and Crispin seem to have found perfect playmates in each other - every now and again they both start galloping around! they dont appear to be chasing or bulling each other so i think they are just in good spirits! Storm is prancing about trying to get the others attention but they have settled down to graze now and are ingnoring her! bless her!

I read that young horses like it if you scratch the tops of their withers as if reminds them of their mothers and find it reasurring so i tryed that with storm and i think she liked cos she looked really relaxed! :D

[Dizzy]

They sound a happy bunch :D I always hate introducing a newcomer, my stomach churns horribly, its such a relief when the prancing round stops and they settle down.

Good luck with the farrier tomorrow.

Lesley