I decided it was about time to ask on here...

[upsidedown]

Just after Christmas I decided to give a home to a lovely little chap (Artii) who had been brought from wales for a friend as a first pony along with a mare. (to look after, not ride!) The mare dropped a foal, and consequently one of them had to go. After umming and Ahhing about him I decided to go ahead and take him on.

He's an un-handled 3 year old, who along with the mare had been herded onto and off of lorries to transport them, apart from this having nothing done with them.

He went over to my BF's straight from being picked up, as he has plenty of grass over there and otherwise he would have to have gone to the livery yard my horse is at, which wouldn't really be suitable. He grazed for a month, to get him to fill out a bit (he was a little underweight/condition). Only really having human contact for short periods of time, but he did get a lot braver, and more sociable.

So we decided it was about time to start doing something with him. Starting enticing him to us with buckets of feed and treats was a good basis, he soon got to eating out of the bucket whilst we knelt close to it. However, he wouldn't eat out of our hands still and things weren't really moving along, due to me living too far away to go and see him every night and my BF having his own horses to deal with and not the time to sit about waiting for Artii to come round.

So it was then decided, if he was at home, (we have a small paddock that my miniature lives in) then I would be able to get more time to see him, so we took JJ over and brought Artii back. He's been here five days now and theres been a lot of improvements, he'll now follow us around the paddock (at a distance) and is getting much closer.

However, we still haven't got him eating out of our hands and nowhere near getting a head collar on him yet (just as a precaution I'd like to get one on him)
I know its going to be a long process... but wondered if anyone had any hints or tips on how to make him more interested in people?!
or anything that my move things along a little more?!

**Did have a breakthrough this afternoon though! I sat up in the paddock with my books studying, and he came over, and laid down next to me after about 10minutes of me being there! Then he laid flat and his head was on one of my text books (teachers are going to be happy when I hand back a muddy book!) and wasn't fussed about me moving my folder about or flicking through the pages!** Normally if he was laid down, as soon as anyone started walking up the the paddock he'd jump up and scuttle off **

Bit of a long post... But...

 

[Innocence]

Why would you need him to eat out of your hand? From past experiences this could encourage biting if he looks to your hand for food and there is nothing there? (i could be wrong)

I would put your hand out and let him touch it but not for food basis. Once he allows then look to try and move to his neck etc.

I think he has to get used to you touching him without asking for anything before trying to get a headcollar on him.

 

[Native Lover]

I had an unhandled foal last year (Stormy) and I documented his handling and taming in a diary called weaning to full grown in the diaries section. You could try some of the methods we used mainly we followed Sarah Westons book No Fear, No Force ( highly Reccomend it).

From a completely wild spinning around the stable weanling we now have a lovely well behaved colt who is comming for two this spring. It took hours to get a head collar on him the first time but now he has it on and off , catches easy in the field.

Good luck

 

[domane]

Unfortunately it does seem to be the case that the older they are, the longer it takes to tame them. BUT, it sounds like you are making great progress with the laying down thing - that's the ultimate submission for a horse so consider yourself honoured! I think you are just going to have to be patient and persistent but you both definitely moving in the right direction

 

[natural horse]

You just need time and patience. You can never rush things along with a horse and it is a case of advance and retreat. Carry a halter in you hand so that he gets used to seeing it. Approach slowly from the side in a non threatening position (head and shoulders lowered), but as soon as you sense he feels uncomfortable back off a couple of paces. He will eventually let you near him with the halter and when this happens let him sniff the halter if he is inquisitive about it or stroke his neck with your hand that is holding the halter. When he is comfortable with this you can try touching his head/face with it before the next stage of just slipping his nose through and then taking it off. Everything needs to be broken down into very small stages so he is not frightened at any time. Talk to him and praise him for each small achievement, even if it was just letting you advance one small step more towards him. I don`t class myself as an expert but I have found that the advance and retreat method, taking things slowly and calmly, does work. He has already shown that he trusts you by laying down next to you, so build on that trust. Good luck and I will look forward to reading about your progress.

 

[bitsnpieces]

I would just go with time and patience, spend time in his company whenever you can, doing this will encourage him to be inquisitive.

 

[kate5303]

I am in total agreement with natural horse . Patience and repetition of each of the stages is the key. I also think that spending time just sitting in his paddock is an excellent idea.