My filly

Question
Hi, my name is Jessica and I need a little info on baby horses. I have a filly named Lenora, she is almost 5 months old, she is sepperated from mom and I now have her on a lead line.  I've heard about a foal's neck being fragile so I usually give her a bit of line and she usually fallows me even when her buddy is taken away from her, but I'm not sure if that is the correct way to lead her.  Plus she gets a little fussy when I feed her, she pins her ears back and sometimes tries to snake me, I usually ignore her but I'm not sure if that is best, I don't want it to become a habbit, pluss my mom told me she went into her stall one night, Lenora was laying down and my mom started to scratch her and she was all relaxed then suddenly she reached up and tried to bite my mom, she couldn't reach my mom, but mom said that she didn't have her ears back or anything then she laid back down again, and I hear that foals can be pushy from ages 3-8 months.  She is usually all talk, no action when she gets fussy but I don't want it to turn into action but I also don't want to scare her to death.  This is my first time owning a foal, do you have any suggestions, I appreciate your time. Thank you.

Answer
Jessica,

Boy, you need to put your foot down now otherwise I can see some problems for you in the future.  Number one, she's not nearly as fragile as you think she is.  I wouldn't jerk her around but she can handle pulling on the line with no problems. And can be shanked hard enough to get her attention just fine.  I have a filly too, nearly 2 mos. old.  We've been working right from the start on what is and is not acceptable behavior.  Biting, nipping and pushing rudely are discouraged by shoving her away.  And keep doing it until she gets the idea.  Takes a few times, and on several occasions to get the point across but she'll get it.  As far as the hostility at feeding time that is most unacceptable!  Yell at her!  Let her know in no uncertain terms that you simply will not tolerate that behavior!  You have now taken the place of mommy and you have to dictate the rules.  She should actually have learned to tie by this age as well as leading nicely, standing for grooming, baths, fly spray, etc.  

I've taken my little girl, with mom being led by someone else, for walks around the neighborhood.  Gets her exposed to lots of new things and people.  Easier to do now when she's still too little to pull away from me.

Take advantage of these early months to introduce her to everything you can, all the people you can and polish her ground manners.  The little ones are geared to learning so it's easy with them.  They won't hate/fear/resent your discipline, trust me.  They accept rules so lay down the law.  Make sure that your mom does too.  She should have a good feel for discipline having raised a kid of her own!  All that you do now will make subsequent training so much easier!  Just remember, she will be a baby structurally until she's 4 yrs. old.  Do yourself and her a favor and don't even consider training her to ride until she's approaching her 4th birthday.  Will save you a lot of arthritic problems later on in life.  I'm going to teach my little girl to drive when she's 2 and drive her for a couple of years so that by the time I feel she's ready to ride it's a piece of cake.  

Enjoy your baby.  They grow up way too fast!