I have a question about a 3yr with a filly and still isn't halter broke.?

Question

Well my mom's boyfriends is going to get me this 3yr quarter horse that has a filly (not sure of age) from his brother. This 3yr, Zena, or something like that, still isn't halterbroke but is very sweet, and will come up to you. We weren't there long enough for me to check the horse too much. Her hooves were in need of a farrier and they were all dry and cracky. Im 15 and I know how to train and ride a horse so that won't be a problem. But I would like some ideas on how to train Zena and her baby. Also Im not going to pay someone to train them for me. I don't have that kinda money and I would rather do it myself so we can earn each others trust.

Answer 1

If I were you I'd halter break the foal first because your going to have to seperate the mare from the foal before you begin to train the mare if you don't want  a lot of hastle. Now, you say you know how to train and ride... but do you know how to break a horse? If you don't, I know you don't want to  have any outside help but you may not have a choice. If you dont break Zena and her foal right  you will have so many more problems down the road that would cost you more time. When breaking a horse to halter, especially one that's 3 yrs old, I normally bribe the horse into the halter with grain. Leave it on intil the horse is comfortable with it and then attatch a lead line and then very gently ask the horse to step forward. If they won't I once again bribe the horse forward with grain. I do this with turns as well. Every time they do what I ask of them I reward them and praise them. I like to make as enjoyable an experience as possible because this starts the ground work for everything that comes after.  If worse comes to worse with putting on the halter and you don't have the time needed to slowly work the halter onto the horse (I had one 5yr old stallion that was given to me who had never seen the outside of his stall and had had minimal handling! Shame on his owners!) I have a vet come out and tranquilize the horse so I can put the halter on to at least start from somewhere. After  they get used to their newly aquired halter and broke to lead and tie I start to work on getting them used to taking the halter on and off by putting a halter over the one that's already on them. You don't want to take a halter off and not be able to put one back on again! You have a lot of work ahead of you... I hope that you will get your mom's boyfriend to help you because I always have my husband help me for his strength. Wish you the best of luck with your new horse and her foal!

Answer 2

It is often very easy to halter break such horses though it sometimes takes a little muscle.  After using feed to get the halter on leave it for a day or two.  She should be in a pen where she can not get the halter hung up and the throat latch of the halter should be snug fitting enough that there is no way she can hook her hind foot through it.  Yet it needs enough slack not to rub a sore.

After the horse is used to the halter, attach a lead and ppull her in a circle a few times.  Pulling such a horse can not be done if she is facing you or turned away from you but it can be done if you pull sideways.  After pulling her in a circle three or four times one way, change direction and pull the other way.  About 80% of the time a gentle horse will simply allow itself to be lead off after such a lesson.  You may have to repeat it the next couple of times you try to lead her but it can be done.

Answer 3

Well to halter break....fool with that baby every day! That is the only way and OMG I had a mule one time that I broke and half way trained and she would NOT lead so we had to hook her behind a tractor to get her somewhere LOL! she eventually learned ...Saddle breakin will come easy if you earn her trust on the ground 1st. i hope i helped

Answer 4

First of all, whether you like it or not (unless your mother's boyfriend is a good hand and can help you) You are going to need to get some outside help to halter this mare and get her started.  To begin with, she is going to be twice as hard to deal with when she still has a colt on her side...you didn't say how old it was or if it is near weaning age, but I certainly wouldn't even begin her training until that colt is weaned and out of her sight for a while.  Then, unless this mare is an unusually docile horse (even if she does approach you in the pasture) it doesn't mean she isn't going to eat your lunch when you attempt to halter her and until you get her halter broke, you can't go any further with her training.  Patience and understanding go only so far when it comes to training a horse, particularly one that is 3 yrs old, has a colt and isn't even halter broke.   Think twice before you bite off more than you can chew.  Again, if your mother's boyfriend is capable of helping you without you getting hurt, that changes the whole situation.  Good luck.

Answer 5

ideally, you would wean the filly before starting training with the mare, but you can halter-break the mare before weaning if you do it in a stress-free environment and do it slowly and calmly. put them in their own pasture alone, and keep the baby with her. start rubbing a rope halter (so you wont have all the jingles from a regular halter that might freak her out) all over the mare's body, head and neck. if she stands, loop the rope around her neck and see what she does. if she's okay with that, put the tail end of the rope attached to the halter around her nose, and move it back and forth gently to get her used to it being there. then rub the halter over her head A LOT. be done for the day. next day, come back and do the same thing. after you have done all of that, actually put the halter on her, but dont tie it (or buckle it, if you're using a nylon web halter) take it off immediately. be done for the day (or a few hours). come back next day or later that day, and do everything listed above. this time, when you put the halter on her, leave it on for a few minutes, with you standing there are petting her to keep her calm. take off the halter and give her a cookie. then put a well-fitting nylon web halter with no extra clips or loose peices on and leave it on for a few hours. she'll get used to it and once she realizes that she can run just as fast with it on (haha) she'll calm down. then you can train her to lead. hold a horse cookie in your hand and walk a few steps ahead of her when you ahve the lead rope clipped on. when she walks up to do, walk one more step ad have her follow you and then give her the cookie. do this, increasing the distance every time, until you can have her follow you without a cookie. good luck with her, and just take it slow, it'll be harder because she's three.

(oh, and i'm fifteen too, btw, and i've trained all three of my horses from babies and done great, so it can be done! =])

Answer 6

I will be back with some tips.  Son  has me running to the store first.

Ok, I'm back now and hope to give you some ideas for when you start your process.  It's nice to have lots of ideas to have as a backup.

This info is just for the haltering process only.  You said you wanted ideas on how to train but not which areas.  I'm starting at the beginning.

Now since the mare isn't halter broke you will need to get them into a smaller pen.  This is easier on you.  Since she is coming up to you see if she will allow you to rub that halter on her shoulder.  If she is great on that rub her all over with it and up her neck and let her smell it.  If she's good with that open up the halter and see if you can just put the nose of the halter on then take it away.

Let her see that it comes off.  Do that a few times.

Now..the scary part for many older unhaltered horses is the eye change.

When you go to reach over the head or under the neck your hand goes into the view of the other eye on the off side.  This normally is the area that freaks them out.  

It's best to stand at the shoulder and get her used to a hand going over her shoulder to pet the off side. Get her used to having you on BOTH sides.

Sliding a rope over her neck and let it just dangle there, then pull it back.  Now a rope and your hand..rub her off side.

See if you can slide that rope up more on her neck.  Reach under and grab the end.  Give a little pressure and see her reaction.  If she is scared, rub and retreat.  

Repeat

If she is good, now try the halter. See if she will accept that over her nose.  Do it a few times before you even attempt to pull the crown piece over and buckle it.

If you keep a break away halter on her then you can grab that halter every time you see her and get her used to hands around her face.  When you can toss a rope over her head or attach a snap without her shuddering, take the halter off.

If she let you halter her with no problems don't keep the halter on her.

Daily stalling will also help with the training process.  More hands on and interaction with people.

As for the foal, rub her/him with the lead line every day.  Then the halter.  Let him smell it.  When he sticks his nose into the nose part pull it a little around his nose then let it drop away.  Don't scare the foal. Repeat until he thinks this is a great game and has no fear of that halter.

Same as for reaching over his neck.  Foals hate this :)  Makes them wanna play!  Practice this a few times before slipping that halter up and buckling.  Do not leave that foal unattended with a nylon or rope halter.  Leather or break away halters should only be used on a foal.  I prefer no halter in the pasture and halter only in a stall or a large paddock that has no posts or nails that can hang him up.

When they are weanlings I like to put them in a large paddock  supervised with a long lead attached to the halter.  This teaches them to not panic when they feel pressure on the halter.  They step on the lead and eventually they learn to calmly move each foot to relieve the pressure, not to blow up backwards and react like that.

Daily touching and exposure is where to start...with both since neither have had any hands on.

I have it in my mind of how this mare and foal are so this is the way I went with the haltering....that she's easy going and has no worries.

Answer 7

i suggest a trainer. i know it costs alot, but you can still bond with your horse and they will probably turn out TONS  better in the end. you can probably start the filly and mare a little, but after a few months for the mom (for the filly when she is about 3) you will need a trainer