foal, tieing up, training?

Question
I have a 1 yr and 6 month old foal he has been gelded and we have been taking everything  really slow. We have been involved with horses for years although this is the first foal on our property. We got him used to the headstall when he was only a few weeks and then left him for a while as he was very pushy, just gave some time for him to grow up. He was weaned at about 10 months then i began doing a bit of lead work, i didnt push it and it took a few months before he was willing to step foward and he has only just started leading properly recently. He is very willing and not pushy at all. I can pat him all over, and walk him over logs no trouble. I have just started trying to pick up his hooves know although he either almost falls over of forces it down. What should i do keep trying or is there another way? Also i want to teach him to tie up although dont want him to injure himself or frighten himself,what is the best way to do it?, should i leave the tieing up until when he gets broken in?, i dont think they'll take him until he's 2 1/2 or 3.

I dont know whether this is relavent or may help???....Hes still rather small and baby looking, thoroughbred, max about 16hh


thanks Tory

Answer
Release is the key to training.  Your horse is falling or putting his foot down since you are holding it too long.  You need to pick it up and put it down before he puts it down, then he learns to stand still and knows you will put it down, when you hold too soon he thinks you will not put it down and then gets nervous or scared thinking he is trapped.

I can tell by your wording that you don't understand how a horse thinks or you would not be describing him as pushy.  All horses are pushy it is how they survive in the herd.  Horses are herd animals and if you don't understand herd behavior and how they think and why they do what they do, then it is hard to train them correctly.

Read my site, especially the horsemanship page and horseman tips page, it will give you a better understanding of how they think.

Rick

After you read my site, write me back if you have more questions.