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Introduction
About
Ruth Mazet
A
calming exercise
Happy
hackers like a
loose rein
Riding
on the roads
Competing
tips & advice
TO
THE RESCUE
Meeting
with pigs
Spooky
corners
A
walk on the wild side
Keep your horse happy
Making
friends with Baby
Training
for riding
Bribery
is a useful tool
What
you didn't know about lunging
Do
horses like water?
Before
you buy an ex-racehorse
The
horse's hate list!
Help
for horse-riders
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GETTING
TO KNOW YOU! Befriending the foal (2)
The
essence of making friends with a foal is to let them be themselves and
quietly incorporate yourself into his life. It doesn't much matter
how you do it. You just take advantage of their natural curiosity
and any situation which presents itself.
In
the beginning
Dee had
a rather different beginning. Not much was done with him.
When his Mum was brought into the yard, he was allowed to wander around
and do his own thing. Like all babies, he poked his nose into
everything. People and all their activities became a natural part
of his environment. He got acquainted with people just by being
among them.
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As
usual, the sitting down trick worked its magic. Jess makes
no attempt to touch him but lets him nuzzle and
investigate. |
At
about 6 months old, he was put into a head-collar. It was
left on for a few days while he got used to it. |
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When
he finds a bucket with food in it, nothing is going to distract
him. Jess takes advantage. |
"I'm
not sure about this" he says, as Jess gives him a body-hug. |
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We
soon find out that Dee loves a bottom scratch - and still does to
this day! |
When
he becomes too much of a nuisance, he is tied up and consents to
wait quietly. |
Sowing
the seeds
The
purpose of body-hugging is to acquaint the horse with the idea of a
saddle, which of course comes much later, but the seed is sown.
Tying up
must be done prudently. It is the close proximity of the other
horses standing around that keeps Dee quiet and happy to oblige. As
soon as he started to fret about being restrained, he was untied. In
this way, a youngster slowly becomes accustomed to staying tied up for as
long as is needed. The seed is sown and grows naturally.
To get the
head-collar on, he was cornered in a stable. Not a happy affair, but
it was all over and done with in a few minutes. With a head-collar
on, we were able to use it very lightly from time to time, thus
getting him used to the idea of our direction and control. Such
interactions were extremely brief, no more than a second or two.
Another seed is sown!
The
principle behind leaving him loose to wander round the yard is the
presence of other horses. Natural horse instinct dictates that he
won't go far away from them.
If
you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
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