Hiya everyone, im having a new issue with my little weanling colt.
The last few days when he's being led by me back to his stable as we get to the doorway he stops dead and digs all 4 hooves in and refuses to go inside. Im pretty sure i know why, see the problem is that he cant currently go out in the fields. He goes out at least once a day to the indoor school to run free and burn off some foal steam and play, but I cant turn him out yet as the only fields are 10 acres each, filled with huge warmbloods and currently swamped with mud. I mean dont get me wrong, my aim is for him to be out all day every day, but i need first the mud to go, as leading a spooky baby through knee deep clay mud could be very dangerous. Also to get to the male field i have to walk him through a 10 acre mare field, and as they dont know him yet im worried they will charge and bronc around us and make it harder, then finally I also want to wait a little longer as we're still building our bond and relationship, 10 acres is a lot of land and i want to be sure i can catch and lead him safely before he goes so free. I know its not ideal, and if i was an 8 month old baby i wouldnt want to stay in my stable either, even if its got boredom toys, ad lib hay etc. So i think what hes saying is... mum i dont want to go in because its boring in there and ill have to stay inside for the rest of today.
So im wondering what i can do to pursuade him that unfortunatly, when i say come with me into this stable.. it means we need to do that, without forcing and allowing it to be his choice. Im afraid that each time he does it he's learning by bracing against me he can get out of doing what he doesnt want to if hes unsure, as he tried it outside the school yesterday too. My first idea is to pop his dually on (he wasnt wearing it the last few days as i left him to play in the arena and didnt want him to get caught in the loops) so that i can efficiantly do the "you can stay still or come forward but you cant move backwards or its uncomfy" Does anyone have advice on whatelse i can do to work on the stable issue, and to pursuade him that leading kinda means leading anywhere not just selectivly. I really want us to work on this issue now before it becomes an issue or a fight.
Thanks :)
Hi Ellie,
Your little guy needs a companion! He should not be in a stable on his own, he's being "weaned" everytime you put him alone in his boxstall.
Working with his Dually you can help him learn to come off of pressure and follow you wherever you think he should go. Still I think he should find a group of other youngsters, whenever he comes home.
I understand it's not easy organizing all this, but this is part of our responsability towards the animals in our trust. Maybe you can find some other weanling-owners nearby and make a little herd for the time being. Until he's big enough to be part of the geldingherd he'll need some other company. They will learn from eachother and keep eachother fit.
Hope this helps,
Miriam
Thanks Miriam, if only organising this was as easy as knowing its the best thing. Theres a welsh youngster in the boys field he can be a buddy with, but only once i can get him to and from the field. As for finding him a herd of youngsters, again.. trying, but its hard finding fields and co-operative people here. Still.. i will keep trying.
Ellie, where is his mother? If I asume right, she is in the mare field. Take her and the little one, lead them both to the "boys area". He need first thing to be a horse - learn and get the equus right and be socialized, then you can bond and build a relationship. Warmest Ann CI/Sweden
Oh Ellie my heart goes out to both you and your young boy as this is a very sad and stressful situation for you both. It is just so hard for a young colt like this to be locked in his stable alone for most of the day and he is clearly telling you he doesn't wish to be there. I appreciate that you can't take him out through the paddocks with the warm bloods as that would be dangerous for you both. I like Miriam's suggestion - is there anyway you can find at least one other youngster for him or even older friendly horse as a companion. The welsh youngster sounds like a good possibility - is there any way you could put them in a smaller area so that they could run together and be allowed out in the field most of the time? Is there a smaller paddock available or would the owner allow you to fence off a small section of the paddock for them - maybe an acre or so in a corner? Just a couple of strands of electric tape may do the trick. Sorry Ann but your suggestion worries me as I think it would be extremely hard and dangerous for Ellie to lead both her mare and young colt together let alone lead them through a paddock of large horses. When I weaned my filly Tricka there would be no way I could have done this. Even long after she was weaned and I allowed her mother to come back into the paddock/field I couldn't keep them together as my filly was just so excited to see her mum again. Even after being apart for months all she wanted to do was suckle and play with her mum. She could talk to her mother over the post and rail fence during her early weaning time which reduced her anxiety. As her mother was lame and a bit fragile I had to move her away again and just left Tricka with my Uggs as a companion. He was her companion during weaning too and I had put him in with Tricka and her mother for a few weeks prior to weaning so they had become pals. I was sad for Tricka as a foal as she had not other foal companions to play with either but she got on well with Uggs and he was gentle with her. Good luck with this - I do hope you can find a better solution than the current situation for both you and your colt