halters on foals
By Miranda
@Miranda (728)
South Africa
September 21, 2006 3:44pm CST
is it neccessary to put halters on foals from the day the are born?
6 responses
@melanie652 (2524)
• United States
19 Nov 06
I do as part of imprinting them when they're born. It makes it SO much easier to halter them and teach them to lead. I like to teach them to lead within a few days of birth. They are more receptive to it and it's easier than when they get older. I don't leave a halter on a foal or any of my other horses when turned out on the pasture. Too easy to get it caught or hang a foot in it.
@Miranda (728)
• South Africa
19 Nov 06
I introduce halter to my foals at the age of 2 months. They stand perfectly still when I put them on or take them off. But I start working with them everyday from the day they are born. I find I have no hasles at all. Maybe it is because they are appaloosa's and their temperament is of such a nature, or maybe because I worked with them everyday, or maybe a bit of both. I also never leave halters on my horse when they go out in pastures. And I only use leather halters, for if I work with them and they fiddle around and get stuck on something, the leather halter snaps quicker and easier than the nylon ones.
@melanie652 (2524)
• United States
19 Nov 06
I think it's because you're already working with them so much. :)
@JoyfulOne (6231)
• United States
18 Nov 06
We almost always put a halter on sometime during the few days after they were born. The ones that we didn't do that to had a much harder time adjusting to having one on and putting up a fuss about it. We didn't leave it on all of the time though, like if it was out in the field, it could conceivably get caught in a tree or something and that wouldn't be good! We usually left it on when they were in the box stall with their mother. I used to feel it gave me a little more control when handling them, and it was easier to start them with leading, and getting used to that.
@melanie652 (2524)
• United States
19 Nov 06
It drives me absolutely nuts to see horses turned out on a pasture with halters on! I've heard of horses getting caught and breaking their neck or a leg. That's just awful!!
@lulu897 (176)
• Canada
23 Nov 06
Yes, definitely, putting a halter on a young foal is training , and every minute that you spend with a horse is training time. Haltering a young foal gets them use to handleing and being fussed around the last thing you need is a horse that doesn't want to be haltered.
@Datingtheplayer (661)
• United States
5 Jan 07
putting a halter on a foal when it is young does make it easier to put a halter on later on in life, but if a halter is not put on as a foal, you just need to spend more time getting the horse adjusted to having the hlater on.
@majora1112 (103)
• United States
26 Dec 06
It's not necessary but the sooner you get it on the easier it will be as long as you do not scare the foal. Also don't plan on doing any leading yet, let the foal gain some strength first- you may have already knew that but just making sure :P
