what can i do with my 10 month old colt i have had him out with traffic hes not bother with the slightest traffic he does trotting poles he canters beside me when asked and trots i need some more ideas of what i can do with him
thanks

Hi ive had horses for many years but never babies! however 10 months is still quite young,i wouldnt do much at this stage,as his bones are young and growing and doing to much to young could give him problems in later life.walking in hand and introducing him to sights and noises at this stage is ok but pole work etc is definatley a long way off.I personally dont like people backing horses to young either,there was a man on my yard who was putting saddles on,and sitting on his 18 month old!backs arent strong enough at this point.Take it slowly and enjoy him.Why dont you try a bit of parelli type games,like getting him to walk over and through spooky objects,this is a great way to bond and gain trust and confidence.The long line training teqniques are also good.Have fun.

no way wouldni back or put weight or even a saddle on his back at 18 months but in the book i baught from foal to full grown it told me to do trottin poled from babies a cant remember exactly what age but it says as it helps them move it also says that what ever they learn at babies they will never forget aswell so i supose anything that frightens them and they dont get over will frighten them for ever

To be honest, at less than a year old I wouldn't do too much with him - by all means teach him to lead, stand quietly, introduce him to being groomed (start off with your hands first) and handled, but I'd focus on just leting him just be a horse in a field with his herd and learn off his natural equine behaviour off the other members herd.

Doing too much too young (either physically or mentally) isn't healthy for them and IMHO, is where difficult behaviour often stems from.

he already stands and lets you groom him he lets you bath him ties up walks and trots beside me he does everything the thing is he doesnt like being turned out he will canter round then come and wait at the gate until hes braught in

What about doing a couple of small shows with him, as i agree theres not much you can do with him as hes so young,

mazzi

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Sorry shauna, didnt you win the book in a competition that was held on another forum? but as i said in my other post theres not really much you can do with your colt as he is quite young.

mazzi

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yeah off global horses
and he has a show on saturdaii but hes acting up a but with the inhand lead rein but when i take it off he walks beside me then trots behind me then stops when i stop when he doesnt have a lead rope on

maybe he needs to get use to the inhand lead rein, a few times per day at a not long period of time. hope the show goes well


mazzi

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at last someone has given a quote that i can help with

i am a pro rider and trainer, so i look out for issues like this

i normally start road work at this stage, on a lunge line, never put one hundred percent trust in any youngster i did that once and i had my arm broken in 3 places, not a good thing to do as they have never really seen anything before to accustom one self with it, so be careful

let them smell and get used to sounds make sure that they are sharp on the vocal commands as i promise you faithfully this will pay dividends later on, and also dont put any weight on the horse whatsoever untill they are 3 and make sure that oyu dont have the urge to lean over the horse at all as this is weight bearing aswell even for a few seconds, you can introduce a bridle with a rubber vulcanite bit at any stage as long as the bit is kind and then you can teach the youngster to accept this which will help you later on, cone work and poles etc is not really a good idea although walk round them alot dont be tempted to go over them as this can cause problems later on which is not good, make sure that the horse will work for other people as well as yourself horses can become really attached and you may not be able to be there all the time ie when you are on holiday which is when this will pay off.

i hope this has helped a bit, i would say enjoy him at the moment and then train later on, there is lots to do from the ages of 3-5 so enjoy these tender and young baby stages they are so precious and dont last for long

if you have any more probs then please feel free to email me on sdean_1983@yahoo.co.uk

take care and happy training!!!!!!!!!

sam