Hi everybody!
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Yesterday I got a new horse to train. It is a Holsteiner yearling, a filly. Her owner buys abused mares and lets them get a baby first. Then, after one and a half years or so, she starts training them again without any force or painful experiences. After they got able to be ridden again, she sells them and their foals to nice people.
In this case, the filly doesn't know anything. Her owner is able to touch her, but that is all she knows. She does not even know a halter, because her owner had an apoplectic stroke last year. Now she got an degenerative illness and can't even halter a horse. So that's why she engaged me to teach this mare being haltered and led.
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The first few minutes the filly was really excited and a bit anxoius. But then after a while she was relaxed. The problem is that I was not able to halter her, because she was always running away from me in her box stall. She was not afraid of me or the halter (she was even playing with it in her mouth), but she just did not want to be haltered.
She even started biting me (two times in my arm).
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I know a boy stall is not the best place to do this, but they do not have a starting shoot, a round pen or even a small paddock, only a box stall and a big pasture (the size is one hectare, too big for doing Join-Up first).
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So, now the owners want to build a small provisional roundpen for me, so that I can do Join-Up first.
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My question is: How can I get a yearling to letting me put a halter on her easily and without any force? She would most likely jump out of a shoot, she has done it before out of her box stall (the door is about 1,2 metres in height, now they close the window of it everytime they leave her in ther).
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Would be very happy to get some help! She is already sold, and will be driven to the new owners as soon as she has a halter on, is leading well and going into a trailer easily.
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Best wishes from Hamburg, Germany
Jasmin
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Horse Behavior and Training
How do you halter a horse for the first time in his/her life?
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Good morning Jasmin,
I know many beleive we cannot do join-up in a large space but remember Monty did join-up with SHY BOY in the wild. It can be done.
You use the same principles as you would in a round pen. You just need to use your body language a bit more.
When I first got my filly, 3 years ago, she was very wild and would not let anyone near her, we did not have around pen of any kind.
This horse will allow you to touch her, this is very good. Go very slowly, at first just put your arms around her neck, as if to hug her, just for a second, walk away.
Do this several times and each time rub her head and say good girl.
After she is completely relaxed with this, have the halter drapped over your shoulder and hug her, rub her and walk away. Remember a predator never walks away. This will surprise her.
Now with the halter drapped over your left shoulder and your arms gently wrapped around her neck pass the strap to your right hand,step back a bit(slowly) and gently place the mouthpeice over the tip of her nose (only), remove, rub and walk away.
Repeat this several times until she accepts it easily.
Always remember a predator never walks away in a horses mind.
When we do this we show them, by our actions we are not there to pressure them or hurt them.
Hope this makes sence to you and helps,
Ronda
PS: What type of halter are you using, sometimes the noise of the buckles will frighten them. The first halter can be a rope one, it is soft and no noise. Then graduate to the dually for work and loading.
Hi Ronda,
yes, it makes sence what you are talking about!
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I know that Monty did Join-Up with Shy Boy in a large pasture. But he was sitting on another horse, I have will to walk - and I think she is much faster than I am! ;-)
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She does not even allow me to put my arms around her neck. She will start biting in your clothes or your arm then and run away after that.
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But it is a good idea to try it that way and to start with a rope halter, I tried it with the red Dually.
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Thank you for your ideas, I will try it next time I am working with her (probably on Saturday next week).
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Jasmin
Sorry, my third sentence was terrible in word order. Of course I mean that I will have to walk. So, now it's correct!
Jasmin
Hi Jasmin - I would certainly start with the rope halter as the dually is so much more cumbersome to put on. I would just try getting her used to the lead rope first. Hang it over her neck if you can then take it away. Repeat this until she accepts it. Her biting is a problem. If you have the space I would send her away from you as soon as she tries to bite you - if the box stall is large enough then you can do this in there. Reward her with lots of strokes and pats and any other reward you can think of when she allows you to go up to her with no attempt to bite. Can you put some temporary wooden bars over the window of the stall so that there is plenty of light but she can't climb out? Young horses hate been shut in enclosed dark stalls. You will need to correct her biting habit before you can successfully work with her. Once you can put the rope over her neck then I would start moving the rope right over her face and over her body so that she becomes very familiar with it. Once she has no fear of the rope then I would use the headstall the same way as you did with the rope. Putting it over her neck initially, then her face and then her body. Once all this is done I would put it over her neck and fasten it and just let her get used to it being there. Then finally I would try to put it on her head. Once you have it on her head I would just then add a very short lead rein and just let it hang off the rope halter until she accepts it only then would I start holding it. As the dually does give you so much more control it would be good to move to it as soon as the filly is familiar and content with the rope halter and will allow you to move around the stall with her. I agree with Star that you could probably achieve join up in the field but be able to halter her in the stall first and let her trust you and come to you in the stall. If she is content to be near you and trusts you then when you chase her off in the field she will just tend to canter around you anyway and not run off to the end of the field - it is quite a neat experience. You could even try a mini join up in the stall if it is a large one prior to trying it in the field. Good luck.
NB I really admire the owner for taking on these mares and having a foal is a wonderful way to have them mellow, forget their bad experiences and be more acceptable to retraining. Congratulations to her for helping these horses.
Hi there check out a book by kelly marks called handling the untouched horse (she is montys first instructor in the uk)
rowan tree - that makes good sense!!
Hi all!
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MaggieF, thank you for the good advises too. The box stall is about 3x5 metres in size, so a little bit tight.
She won't try to climb out there as soon as there is someone with her. But as soon as the owners leave her in ther for the night they are closing the window so that she can't even try it. But I will try the things you recommended with the rope halter, thanks!
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Rowan Tree, thank you for recommending me a book. I did not know that there are books by Kelly but of course I know who she is! ;-)
I have just looked it up, it is not available in Germany, but in UK, so I will order it there - thank you!
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I will let you know about my progress with this filly, I will restart training her on Saturday next week.
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Have a nice day,
Jasmin
Hi Renjaho
See the thread on how to start a horse you cant even touch theres some good advice there that will be relevant to your situation. First best to get the horse used to being touched - I started by standing at the stable door (my stable was approx the size of yours) with my touching stick which made the door about the least comfortable place to be and also let me make a quick exit as soon as he stood (my complete going away was his reward for stadning still for the stick to touch him) I then workedup to being able to touch him with the headcollar on the stick and sraped over his neck and then worked up to getting it fastned - hope this all helps and good luck
Hi Rowan Tree and all the others,
thank you sooo much for helping me with my problem. I will try a bit of everything tomorrow, when I am working with the filly again. Hope she won't bite me again, it was painful!
Rowan Tree, I have ordered the recommended book from Kelly last Saturday, but until now it is not delivered or even shipped to Hamburg. So I think I will have to wait for that one more week or so. ;-(
I will write again soon this weekend and tell about my progress!
Have a nice day,
Jasmin