Working With Foals Weanlings & Yearlings

with her first. This is her foal and I dont want her thinking she has to defend her space or her foal.
The mindset I want to establish is to have the young horse see me as a friend. During the first few hours and the following days I proceed slowly. The most important thing is to take the time to desensitize the foal to your presence and to befriend him.
The next step is to build a bit of a language. As the young horses confidence increases it is very natural for him to see if he can push you around. He is not being bad he is being a horse. He wants to know where you fit in his herd. This is where the balance I spoke about begins. You want to make friends but you dont want to be pushed around. Remember what is cute today may not be cute in a year or two. So with assertion not aggression ask the young horse to yield out of your personal space because that space is to be respected. I love him to come close to me providing he doesnt try to be dominant. He learns this quickly because he has already learned this with his mama or with the herd. Orphaned foals are harder to deal with because they havent had a mare teaching them every moment of the day and it takes a lot more time to establish respect.
As this little dance plays out I slip in bits of communication such as stop and stand close to me back away and move the hindquarters or forequarters and then I rub the legs before picking up all four feet. At this point all of this can be done slowly and without ropes.
Depending upon the situation I may move to some type of rope setup. This could be a halter and lead possibly combined with a bum or belly rope combination. How I go about this depends upon how well we did with the basic fingertip yields. Do this only in a small area and its best to have a handler for the mare while you play with the foal.
Start with quality time. Get used to hanging out in each others space. At this point its about hanging out together near the mare if its a foal or walking around to see new stuff if its a weanling or yearling.
I
like to hang out with babies in new and stimulating environments. Time spent in the arena when its full of activity such as the quad and trailer going by to feed horses people riding and when the cattle are in there is especially beneficial. Events of this nature are all about letting the young horse experience new situations and have the time to soak it up. No matter the age horses need to be exposed to new things when nothing is required of them. Around the yard no matter what the activity rarely will you see me without a horse close by. This is not only beneficial but a very relaxing time for me as I love the company of horses.
I rub the legs and pick up the feet a lot. I also simulate the rasp strokes and hammer pounds with my hands and the actual tools that a blacksmith might use.
I load him and stand him in a horse trailer. This may seem early for a foal or weanling but what if you have a late night medical emergency? Its important that during the pressure of an emergency the young horse doesnt also have to be desensitized to a horse trailer and all its noises.
Walking him over tarps rails and logs and through water every chance I get is also a really valuable way to get the young horse used to new things.
These types of exercises are valuable for our older horses too.  If this early opportunity of time has already passed for your horse I want to emphasize that hope is not lost. You may know that your horse had a tough start when he was young and vulnerable. If so you should also know that he is a born learner and retains an amazing ability to change and learn for the rest of his life.
As I travel around the country teaching clinics I have had the opportunity to work with hundreds of horses and to observe and learn these concepts from the best teachers the horses themselves.