Haltering A Foal

Question
My mare had a beautiful baby filly just over a month ago now. We handled the foal from day one and she is very friendly, you can touch her everywhere, pick all her feet up, she loves attention. I was told to put a halter on her around three days old. Unfortunately our tack shop didn't stock a headcollar small and safe enough for her, so this was delayed until about three weeks old. She backed off and ran away from the headcollar and it took a while to get it on her head. We left it on for a couple of days. But I knew that having it on her head was not my issue, and I worried she would get stuck in the fencing, I needed to be able to get it on and off. I took it off. But now she backs off and has the same look in her eyes each time I approach her with it. The past few days I have been sitting with her and playing with her, and she has chewed it and picked it up and played with it too. I managed to get the nose band over her nose a couple of times, then I backed off and praised her. I made it into a game because she loves attention so I back off before she does so she comes back when she is ready.
My question is;
Am I doing the right thing taking it slow to gain her confidence in the halter? Have I left it too late to try and get her used to a halter? Is my foals' behaviour towards the halter considered normal for a horse her age? This is my first time looking after a foal, and her mum isn't exactly very vocal when I ask her these things :P

Thankyou in advance, and sorry for the essay! :)

Answer
Dear Becky

First and foremost DON'T LEAVE A HALTER/HEAD COLLAR on any horse when you aren't there. Yes, I know things are done a little different in the UK, but I am going to tell you some horror stories. Although cheap and flimsy leather halters are safer because they are more likely to break when they get caught, why would you use a cheap, weak halter that might break when you are handling your horse.  Anything that doesn't break VERY easily can lead to a story like one of these.

2 year old gelding rubbed his head on the fence.  Snagged the nylon halter on the edge of a nail that had been bent way back and pounded into the post so no one would get injured on it.  Found dead the next morning, broken neck.

3 year old mare.  Slightly loose shoe.  Got the edge of the shoe caught under the halter.  Found dead.

Breeding stallion.  Found dead in his stall.  Caught halter on a hook used to fasten water bucket to wall.

6 month old foal.  Reared up near a tree and caught the nylon halter on a small stub of branch. Couldn't get loose.  Spinal cord injury from struggling.  Had to be put down.  

There are thousands of more dreadful tales like this.  It sounds like you already knew leaving the head collar of wasn't wise, I just wanted to applaud your instincts.  When I was 17 (eons ago), I mentioned to my landlord that the halters on his horses were dangerous. He laid into me and pointed out he'd been working with horses for longer than I'd been alive and never had a problem.  Three weeks later he found his favorite mare dead.  He'd left manure spreader in the pasture and she evidently thought it was a good scratching post and caught the halter.  He never said a word to me, but he did go out and remove the halters from all his horses.

Now, for halter breaking your filly.  I would have started the day she was born, but no, it is not too late.

Get about 20 feet of the softest cotton rope you can find. Don't ever use nylon, it can rope burn both of you.  (I also hate nylon leads for the same reason.) If you can't find a really soft twist, buy 30 feet, untwist it and plait it so you have soft rope. (I say thirty now because the process of plaiting will take up a lot of the length)  Since she sounds gentle, quietly rub her all over with the rope.  Remember, foals have short attention spans, like kids. Keep your lessons short.  You might do a session or two just rubbing her all over with the soft rope.  Then after a bit of rubbing, you want to catch her around the neck with the soft rope ONLY held in your hands.  Don't tie it.  Stay close to her and be ready for her to argue a bit with it.  Don't be startled or let go.  Just talk to her until she stands still.  Quietly remove the rope and walk away from her.  The idea here is.....she never leaves you..YOU walk away from her.

After a few times of this, try putting the head collar on again.  With a soft lead rope attached.  If you have never done this before, you may want some experienced help to keep you from getting tangled up. Because you have been rubbing her everywhere with the big soft rope she shouldn't mind if you lay a big loop of it around her butt. Either hold both ends or tie a big loop so you now have a head collar on her with a lead rope and a big loop of soft rope around her butt. Then you hold both ropes. Get your helper to lead her mum forward.  She will want to go that way. For the first lesson or two with all this stuff on.  You aren't actually trying to MAKE her go anywhere.  You just follow her mum, keep things untangled and convince her there is no harm because you are going where she wants to go, with her mum. IF she should pull back....you can put a little gentle pressure on the lead rope...but DON'T do much pulling on her head.  That's what the butt rope is for.  babies have somewhat delicate necks and you don't want to injury anything.  If she rears...immediately give her slack...you don't want her going over backwards and hurting herself.

If she jams on the brakes and freezes, try going sideways instead of straight ahead.  You want to stretch this over several days until she doesn't mind you placing the head collar after you are holding the soft rope around her neck.  

Your filly sounds pretty normal. Sounds like you just need a bit more confidence. Remember, the first time you restrain her by holding (not tying) the soft rope around her neck, she may fight it.  You want to be ready for a pull and just calmly stand your ground.  If you are holding the two ends of the rope around her neck close to her, she won't be able to pull away as long as you are calm and expecting this pull.  When she stands quietly, pet her, take the rope off, walk away.  Give her a moment to nurse and get some comfort, then do it again.  You are right to make a game of it.  At this age, you want to keep serious lessons fairly short.

Hope this helps.

Lynne Curtis Gudes
"Common sense isn't."