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"I have a notebook of the tips from your site and I love them... Bonnie Anderson has been wonderful. All the tips I tried of hers worked the first time. I am now in the riding stage and my horse is awesome. Thank you all very much and keep the training tips coming!!!!!!"
Karen Gossard
Fayetteville, NC

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Teaching your new foal how to lead is an important first step on the road to having a well trained horse. By handling your foal right from the beginning you will establish a foundation of patience and respect that will last the life time of the horse.

When first working with a new foal I usually pet him and brush him and generally fuss over him for the first few days, making sure the mare isn't too upset by this. Some mares can get over-protective and will need to be tied while you work with the foal.

I'll run my hands up and down the foal's legs, over its body, and gently touch its ears. I'll put a halter on the foal only when I'm there to supervise, I don't leave it on if I'm not present. When I put a leadrope on a foal's halter I'll mostly just get him to turn his head toward me, release and turn his head away from me to start. As the days go by, I'll put more pressure on him to actually move a few steps to each side along with the turned head.

When the foal is understanding what the pressure is all about, I'll start to refuse to let him walk away while on the lead. I'll stand still and let him try to pull away and as soon as he stops pulling backwards, I praise him and put slack in the lead. By doing it this way he learns not to fight the rope nearly as much when it comes to teaching him to stand tied.

When it's time to get him to move forward, I'll often use a butt rope. Take a soft rope and put a loop in one end, then drop it over the foal's haunches so that the bottom of the rope comes to rest between the hock and tail and the top of the rope is resting on the foal's back with the loose end of the rope in your hand. Then when you tug on the leadrope to get the foal to step forward, you also tug on the butt rope, pulling his body forward at the same time. After a few training sessions with the butt rope you can soon discard it's use. Your foal should be leading now.

Another important lesson for a foal to learn is to pick its feet up for future farrier work. It's much easier to pick a tiny foal's foot up for the first time than it is with a much larger rambunctious yearling. Start by running your hand down the foal's leg, then using both hands, pick up the foot by the fetlock. If the foal should try to pull away, remain calm and keep holding the foot. Let it be your idea to let go. Don't let the foal pull it away from you before you're ready. This teaches the foal to let you hold it as long as you need to.

Once the foal is letting you hold his foot up you can then start cleaning them out by holding the hoof in one hand and the pick in the other. You can also practice holding the hoof between your knees to mimic a farrier at work. And don't forget to practice holding the hoof out in front of the foal just as a farrier would when placing the hoof on a hoof stand.

These early lessons that your foal learns will pay off as he gets older and stronger. It will give him an advantage over other foals that lack this basic training, plus it will give you less headaches down the road.