Story too long to tell, but the circumstances are that three mini shetland foals aged 6 months were brought to my club last saturday. Right now they are all together in a box and they will be translated to open boxes with adjacent paddocks in two days.
The problem is, they are too small and too frightened!!! I would feel confident to deal with a foal aged 6 months. But with these three, you cannot separate them, you cannot force them to do anything. And how do you teach three horses in a row?
Any advice about how to deal with them will be welcome. How to feed them, how to deal with them, how to work them separately without causing trauma… Anything!
Time.
Then more time.
These babies need to relax & learn you are The Giver of All That is Good in their lives.
IIWM, for now I’d let them have the comfort of each other.
Feed, water with no attempt to separate or make contact & let them begin to approach you.
Then you will see which is bravest, which shyest, etc.
They will “de-clump” when they relax.
Then, and only then, can you even begin the most elementary training.
If they are haltered, start leading lessons.
If not haltered/halterable, start that.
Babysteps for everything.
Well, I’ve done quite a few PMU foals, brought home from the auction, so here’s my advice…
Separate stalls, right now. A stall is plenty big enough for little guys like that for a few days or a week, don’t worry about “turn out”. And YOU provide the “company” for them… yourself. YOU visit them, tickle them, groom them, get them haltered, teach them to lead, handle feet etc. YOU become their “most important person in their life”. YOU become what they look forward to, you become their friend and advisor. They look forward to your presence, and your touch. Their little eyes light up with pleasure when you come into their stall. When you get to that point, they can go out into paddocks, be together again, and grow up to be good little ponies.
Good luck, and happy pony training.
Our riding center would get a truckload or two of feral horses, just off the mountains, that had never seen a human until a couple three days ago.
All were started being handled and ridden right away and in a few months most sold to other riding centers as school and trail horses.
We did as above, horses were haltered while packed in the open top truck, from above, gently easing their heads into a woven string halter with a 6’ lead hanging off it.
They were sorted each one into a closed in stall just open in front and handled by several people a day at each feeding and taking to a communal water trough at least five times a day along with other gentle horses, led if possible.
We started grooming and bathing and longing and saddling and riding them right off and practically all bonded to people but one exception of several dozen of those.
We had a good program that introduced them gently and quickly, with minimum stress, to their new world.
Letting them just run around scared for days on end before they decided to start getting interested in humans in the end would have been more stressful for longer and created avoidance patterns that had to be eventually changed, may as well start working with them right away.
Most feral horses learned very fast and many were nicer and happier quicker than some home raised colts that were spoiled and had to learn they didn’t rule the human world and those in it.
Ours were not weaning foals but mature horses.
These being foals, maybe get the help of some local breeder and see if their program for weaning and starting those foals would work for your?
OP could try different ways and if one is not quite working, try another, watching every one of them carefully until figuring what is best for them.
Right now they are like sponges, a great time to get to work with them.
I would not feel sorry for them, any one foal, no matter where it comes from, is going to need to be eventually weaned and needs to learn to work with the humans in charge wherever it may be, part of growing up for horses.
Many thanks for your post. Today they are more relaxed, the two smaller ones almost approached me this morning and I could ever pat their head. They are still together in the same box, theirs will be finished by Thursday (I hope so because they are in my pony’s stall, he’s out in his paddock the whole summer).
I will be taking care of them for a while, the yard’s owner asked me because she’s going to be operated on. Now I have two worries: So far we have fed them just hay. Do they need proteins? Maybe we can give them some alfalfa hay? Or a specific mix for weaned foals in an appropriate amount?
The other concern is that the third pony, the taller one, doesn’t seem to respond. He eats and drinks normally, but he never looks at you when you open the door. He doesn’t look at anything or reacts like the other two, whenever you open the door he just goes to the corner and stays there. But he doesn’t even look at the other two. He’s not blind, so much we know. Could he be ill?
Vet will come next Thursday, but I would like to know if there’s something I can do in advance.
Many good questions, but it sounds like you really need hands-on help there.
Weanlings need a higher protein, protein the main limited nutrient in growth, it takes the most at that stage than any will later, but as part of a properly balanced diet.
All is important for their proper growth, that is very fast now.
The balance of calcium and phosphorus is especially important and can cause growth problems quickly if it is not tended to.
Alfalfa is a great food for weanlings, but is too high on calcium by itself, as the main nutrition source.
We weaned on alfalfa and oats to make it a more complete feed for that growth stage.
If that mineral balance is not right, you may see weanlings with knuckling ankles.
There are plenty of commercial rations today prepared just for weanlings, see about getting some for them and, as you say, your vet can help also, ask them.
I would suggest you get on the phone to some local breeders and have them help you, now.
@Bluey has experience with babies, I do not.
IIWM, I’d call the vet & ask about feed.
Also a heads-up that there will be unhandled babies to examine.
Sounds like 2 of the 3 are figuring things out.
I wouldn’t worry about #3, things are still very new for all of them & he might just be more cautious by nature.
Good Luck & Bless you for taking on such a big project.
