For those of you who have access to trails and other safe places outside the regular barn/pasture area, and who like to do this, how soon do you start going for little walks?
Do you just let baby follow along, knowing he won’t go too far from mom (assuming he’s young enough)? Or do you put a halter and lead on him?
Depends on the Foal
Hi, I have done this in the past, but I have one filly in particular this year that loves her mama, but will wander an incredible distance away. I am always worried she will get too far and then panic and do something silly. I guess you would have to gauge your foal and it’s attitude.
Thanks! What sort of outside environment do you have to do this in?
I would never ever take a foal on any sort of walk unless it was on a lead shank. Last year our first foal got spooked and took off down the driveway while leading to the paddock and ran, ran, ran until she realized she was WAY far away from mom and WAY far away from home. She ended up in our neighbours field next door close to the road. Luckily she was scared enough she just stood there and let us catch her.
Now our foals don’t leave the stall unless there is a lead rope attached.
I “found” a foal one year wandering in the open field near my farm. I ran to get a mare that would attract the foal, and got it following her. I was able to get it to follow her to inside the field, and then to a smaller paddock. At that point, a person that lives about a half mile down the road came by frantically looking for the missing foal. Apparently when they were leading mom from field to barn, the foal took a turn and wandered down their drive way, onto the road, crossed a larger road with lots of traffic, sometimes going 50-60 mph, and then down my driveway to where I found it.
This farm was a breeder of VERY expensive TB race auction yearlings.
Foals follow mom sometimes, but not reliably enough to risk a loose foal, in an unfenced area.
I have a 45 acre park with a cross country course next to where I live. Last year when my filly was about 2 weeks old I started walking her (on lead) with her mom on the trails. At about a month old, my mare was going under saddle again, and I would have someone ride her and I wuld take the baby. It was great, she went through the river, over bridges, on trails, and through feilds, and got used to being led away from mom. By the time we got to her inspection at 4 months old, she was perfect.
… and since foals don’t reliably follow their moms and you don’t want to be in a situation where you end up dragging the poor baby behind mom, it’s not a good idea.
If you really want to ride the mare you can do so in the paddock where she and her foal are usually turned out (or any other enclosed area).
With my first two foals (both out of the same dam), I was lucky enough to have a mare that is very nonchalant about her babies being handled by people. If another horse tried to play with them, she’d turn into the b*tch from hell, but people? No problem. She couldn’t care less.
Once the foals were VERY solidly leading, both at walk AND trot, I started taking them for handwalks away from mom, first just in the paddock, and then outside the paddock.
I also had a friend lead my mare and I led the foal and we went for short handwalks off the property a couple of times.
But I would never, EVER try and wander around outside a fenced paddock with a loose foal. Under no circumstances.
as you know this is my first foal but, I’m with you!! he does wonder and is very independent although mom looks for him…but, on occasion he has gotten a little too far away. When he was first born they just wanted me to hand graze mom for a few days and said he’s stick close NOT! He’s learning to lead with a butt rope and halter and I would never let him free again at this point…but, perhaps those more experienced are more comfortable
And yet, I have a neighbor with a mare/foal who rode by our house every day last summer to hit the trails. They didn’t have the foal on a lead or anything and there are some windy roads to travel between their house and mine with quite a few cars traveling on them. What is the saying, “God protects the ignorant and the stupid.”?? He sure did last year! :yes:
When the foal was about 4 weeks old I started taking her around the yard, and after about a week of that she proved that she’d glue her nose to my heel and follow her mom. I took her out on trails, trails I knew well and that didn’t stray that far from home. I didn’t halter her, I didn’t halter her much at all when she was really young…and not in any situation where she could panic or pull back…I understand that it is VERY easy for them to injure their jaw/poll/neck at that age and deal with stiffness their whole lives.
People at the H/J barn would have gasped in horror, but any of the draft horse/old skool guys I look up to wondered why I waited so long! They will often have a foal following mom while she’s in harness. You just have to remember that the foal has almost no stamina. 15-20 minutes MAX of following you riding. Choring with a foal is different, because you stop the hitch a lot.
Once the foal started to approach the 3 month mark, she got too bold for us to leave the yard. That’s when I really started her halter training in earnest, and started taking her on her OWN trail walks, areas she was familiar with, without her mom. My strategy of “you lead a few steps you get a cookie” worked well, and she learned to behave on the halter quickly. If I had kept her on her mom, and she was leading well, I might have started taking her back out on a lead…but she was getting so big (and fat) that I had to wean her before her halter training progressed that far.
ETA: you need to pick the trail carefully too. These were quiet, sleepy trails, no traffic on the way…no surprises.
I started riding moms again at 6 weeks, and we would go out behind the barn and into the back of the property. Just at a walk, and I never had a problem with the foals going where they shouldn’t be simply because they weren’t able to get that far away (terrain, fences). It was always sort of rough (brush, a creek, woods) but it gave me a good idea of which foals would be eventers and which ones would be hunter/jumpers. They were loose. The creek crossing was the only real problem. Mom would be on one side calling, and baby would be on the other (the creek was 3 feet across, and sometimes had no water in it :lol:). The braver foals took a lot less time to get over. Those were theones that would canter around mom in circles instead of sticking close by her flank).
I think I started riding mom last time at three weeks because she was so energetic. Foal was halter broke. Where I am I have lots of access to open space. I lead them out to this and let them go. They walk/run along with mom. Obviously we start out with short walks, but by the time she was seven months, we were all over the hills.
I’ve always done this with all of my horses, babies or not. When I am in park space I let the horse I’m ponying go, and they always run free and follow. They just love it, and it’s great conditioning, for babies and adults alike. I’ve never had any problems with horses not following along (except this mom who’s not so great as she’s got her own mind) never had any problems, never had a horse hurt, babies get phenominal conditioning (nothing like going down steep hills to work on sitting) and the love it.
I catch them and put a lead on when I get back near to anythign that could be a problem.
Ditto. This is not something I would do.
I had a scare in a large field that made me not trust him sticking to her at all times. I just made sure the space was big and safe enough. I think Mom being able to go after them is how nature is able to keep them together, when the foal spooks.
Good luck with your little one.
oh, I’m not there yet - give me another 10 months :lol: But as I think of these things, I gotta ask, or I’ll never remember them all later 
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