Stuff to do with a yearling :)

[SamWerner]

Hi all!

Was just curious, as my boy is almost a year old…Do you guys do anything with your yearling’s besides the typical grooming, standing for a farrier, and occasional baths?

I know they are still VERY young, but wasn’t sure what everyone’s opinion was on doing anything else with them.

Any exercises? Stretching? Bending? Lounging (at a walk? just basic learning how to yield to a voice and body language? or is this a big no no?) Anything else?

You guys are the masters…so tell me what (if anything!) I can do with him!

Thank you

[JB]

I think any yearling needs to know very basic w/t/whoa on the lunge line, even as you walk a big circle with him. It doesn’t take long to teach that, so you’re not damaging the joints, and it’s invaluable for a lameness exam.

I think learning to give to pressure on all body parts is a bonus to do while they’re young.

[Equsrider]

other basics about clippers, wearing a blanket, loading and trailering short distances, troting in hand,being exposed to golf carts and bicycles, and dirt bikes, if you happen to have any on the farm. walking thru water…braiding his mane over, all are good things. Exposure to new things one may come accross as an older horse will be well served if introduced now, in small doses…

[stoicfish]

There was a PhD Horse behaviourist at a seminar, that I saw recently. He was a big proponent of pair bonding. In other words, sometimes just hanging out with them and forming a trust bond.
I think, with a yearling, that the only danger with hanging out, is being friendly but having boundaries as they have to learn to treat their horse friends different than their human friends. He pointed out that many children have a special bond with their horses because they can just be with their horses and simply enjoying their company, instead of always looking to “train” them or accomplish something.

[Cataluna]

I had mine trotting in hand, moving away from pressure, basics of lunging, clipping quietly, confidently tying and cross-tying, loading, shipping, blanketing, and ponying. Every now and then I introduced scary things like umbrellas, tarps, plastic bags, and folding lawn chairs. I even tacked her up and took her for a walk (sans bridle), without any fuss.

I showed her during her yearling year (even though she was kind of ugly) because I wanted her exposed and used to the show environment while she was still young and impressionable.

[SamWerner]

He sort of does clippers He blankets, trailers, walks on tarp.

I can do more trotting in hand, as I have only played around with that a few times. Braiding, golf carts and bicycles sound good too!

I love hanging out with my boy…so I will continue doing that!

I am going to attempt teaching him on a lounge today then at the walk and a little bit of trot if all goes well!

[alliekat]

Tell Uri that Allie is coming down soon I agree just spending time is great. If this is done and you build a bond, trust and respect from them that it will make any lessons or training session much shorter and more fun. I haven’t found one thing that my filly wouldn’t do that I have asked of her. She for the most part doesn’t even second guess and for the few times she wasn’t sure, she just stopped and really accessed it. Then once I asked again she said “sure!!” Once they have what I have asked down, I don’t drill them with it. Check out our youtube channel, I have lots of videos of our filly Zumba showing all the different things she has done and experienced. You will be so thankful for these memories of you and Uri together as he gets older. Have fun and can’t wait to meet him

[Merle]

When teaching them about trailering, do you load them in a normal horse-sized “slot”? I have a two horse trailer, straight load, and have been wondering if it would be okay to teach her about trailering (and hanging out in a trailer, maybe?) in one side of it. When we brought her home as a 5 month old, we took out the partition so it was a big open box like a stall. When trailering a yearling to a show, do you just load them on one side vs. having a big open box? She’s a year old now and is a much bigger filly than she was at 5 months.

I have another horse that I will be trailering to an indoor. Would it be too much to bring her along and ask her to stand on the trailer eating hay while I ride him? It would be about an hour to an hour and a half she would have to stand. I thought maybe it would be good for her to learn about trailering but I don’t want to overwhelm her and have her hurt herself in the trailer.

[Bayhawk]

[QUOTE=Merle;5467444]
When teaching them about trailering, do you load them in a normal horse-sized “slot”? I have a two horse trailer, straight load, and have been wondering if it would be okay to teach her about trailering (and hanging out in a trailer, maybe?) in one side of it. When we brought her home as a 5 month old, we took out the partition so it was a big open box like a stall. When trailering a yearling to a show, do you just load them on one side vs. having a big open box? She’s a year old now and is a much bigger filly than she was at 5 months.

I have another horse that I will be trailering to an indoor. Would it be too much to bring her along and ask her to stand on the trailer eating hay while I ride him? It would be about an hour to an hour and a half she would have to stand. I thought maybe it would be good for her to learn about trailering but I don’t want to overwhelm her and have her hurt herself in the trailer.[/QUOTE]

Come on now. Lets not ask a yearling for this. Let her loose in the indoor while you ride your other horse. You’re askin for an accident once you take her trailer buddy away. It’s not at all fair to ask her to stand for an hour and a half on the trailer alone.

[alliekat]

I personally wouldn’t leave her alone in the trailer for that long. Is there anyone that can go with you and hand walk her around the show while you ride. That way she gets used to trailering and leaving her trailer buddy?

[Merle]

My plan is to NOT bring her along. I thought it would be too much but I just thought I would ask. I might as well consult people who have more experience trailering yearlings than me.

We could bring her a few times and have my husband walk her around in the indoor but even then I thought an hour would be too much for her. So she’ll just hang out at home then.

[Merle]

I am curious - what do people do when they show yearlings? Do you only bring the yearling, unload and go into your class, come out and then go directly back home? I have never shown a weanling/yearling/2 year old before or talked to anyone who showed yearlings.

[stoicfish]

[QUOTE=Merle;5467529]
I am curious - what do people do when they show yearlings? Do you only bring the yearling, unload and go into your class, come out and then go directly back home? I have never shown a weanling/yearling/2 year old before or talked to anyone who showed yearlings.[/QUOTE]

I’m not an expect. I put mine into a box stall.
Trailers are not a comfortable place naturally. They are small and the ground moves. It is very easy to traumatize them at a young age. Every horse is different but you want to make things as pleasant as possible until they become more secure with themselves and learn to manage things.
I see young QH’s that are very willing and calm and put up with most things. I do not find my WB’s to be that accommodating when they are young.

PS At the breeder’s shows there is usually noise coming from a couple of stalls and most of the time it is the yearlings. Like a 12 year old with out a i-pod or game boy.

[Merle]

Oh, okay, that makes sense! The analogy of a 12 year old without an ipod or gameboy is a good one.

[Callaway]

I like to show my yearlings in hand. That way, they learn to deal with:
Bathing, clipping, tying, trailering, loud noises, ground manners, being in a new enviroment, etc.

[siegi_b]

Reading all these responses I get the feeling that it must be really hard for some folks to just let a young horse grow up (for the most part). The OP is talking about a weanling that hasn’t even reached his first birthday yet and even then there are suggestions regarding lunging the kid at a walk and a trot!

What those babies really are meant to do is grow up in a nice big pasture surrounded by other horses… Sure, pulling them out here and there for little lessons in patience, grooming, and leading is great, but generally most of that could have been done while the kid was still with mom and, therefore, much less stressed about such things.

The day will come soon enough when you can start working with the kid in earnest, so why not allow him some time to grow up and have fun?

Just my opinion…

[alliekat]

I can only speak for ourselves, but our babies live out 24/7 in 4 acre pastures with appropriately aged pasture mates. I don’t work my foals everyday, in fact far from it. I would say once every 2 weeks we do something fun and new. I don’t drill them and our foals happily runs up to me when she see me coming with their halter. I think my foals have the best of both worlds. They do get to grow up and just be babies and they also occasionally get to leave and do something new. Yes my foal has learned to walk around me on my lunge line. To move in and out of a circle to halt on command and stand quietly. I do trot her in hand on a straight line. Even these things are done rarely. I can’t imagine anything I am doing is detrimental to her physical or mental development. She seems to enjoy the time we spend together, whether it is just hanging out in the field getting some scratches, standing ground tied to be body clipped, going on our adventure trail walks or going for a trailer ride to visit the big training farm and take in all the sights.

[JB]

@siegi b.;5468543

there are suggestions regarding lunging the kid at a walk and a trot!

No, it’s a suggestion to teach the horse how to w/t and whoa so that the tool can be used if necessary, and it introduces the concept of learning. Nothing wrong with that. Nobody is advocating anything beyond that

[Festivity]

How about taking walks on the trail, learning to be out and about. Also mine go on easy trail rides where they are ponied off of an experienced trail horse. That way they get even more exposure and have fun getting out. I think the key is to not work them too hard or bore them to death.

[alliekat]

[QUOTE=Festivity;5469059]
How about taking walks on the trail, learning to be out and about. Also mine go on easy trail rides where they are ponied off of an experienced trail horse. That way they get even more exposure and have fun getting out. I think the key is to not work them too hard or bore them to death.[/QUOTE]

We do this with ours, although I just hand walk because of a back injury I have. We cross, roads, ditches and creeks. She loves our trail walks the best.