At what age is a wild foal mentally able to respond to the 'join-up' method in the round pen?

Question

Is a wild foal of 6 months ready for this mentally?

Answer 1

the "join up" method is natural to the wild horse.. if you try it before the horse is weaned you are going to be fighting against the natural instincts of the foal to stay be with its mom, so waiting until after weaning will just be less stress for horse and human, but otherwise the process could technically be done from the moment the foal can get around comfortably, since the whole thing hinges around what is  completely natural for the horse...

dependent upon your skills the process can be tougher physically, so before you work with a youngster and place stress on its joints you should make sure you truly understand the process so it can be done as easily as possible (with little/no mistakes from the human that could add to the process)..

Answer 2

i've never heard of this "join-up" method. i'm intrigued.....

Answer 3

This works best as soon as the foal goes into the weaning process as he will then be looking to bond with another being, human or otherwise. As time goes by, the need will be less, but it will still respond to the method if done correctly. Glad you could find the Monty Roberts info. I hope you do well with this!

Answer 4

to tell you the truth i would wait until it was 8 months old.