Gentling a yearling colt.

Question
Hello, thanks for giving me a moment of your time. I have been with horses for over 16 years and have experience with foals to adult stallions. I did unfortunaly move here a few years ago help break colts, needless to say the exerpiece was encrediably disasterous to my confidence level when it comes to spoiled or dangerously agressive horses who were never taught proper ground manors or social behaviour. Rather then fixing those problems first, they wanted to push training and sell. It wasn't for me. Expessially when these horses were supposed to be great show horses. I don't and never have allowed my horses to disrespect me and to be truthful i'm quite proud to show my horses off. So here is my issue. I do some breeding, however with the market the way it is, I have produced only one colt in the last several years, a foal I bred for myself to replace his dam who I tragically lost just after he was weaned almost exactly a year ago.  I had planned on gelding him as he had a full sister owned by their sires owner who was going to be used as part of their breeding plan. I also owned their dam. He has a really nice half brother out of my mare but he was gelded prior to his sale.  Unfortuanly i just got word that his sister was put down due to someone inflicting heinous and lifethretening wounds to her legs and tendons. I have had alot of peoples interest in my colt as he is   growing into a fantastic little horse, very correct and he has some fantastic old lines to boot. I do not have a herdsire though I do have experience with breeding stallions so i have decided to continue evaluating him as a potential breeding stallion when he is older. I usually gentle and halterbreak my horses soon after their born but unfortunatly when this guy was born, I was 8 1/2 months pregnant with my first so there was no way I was allowed to do more then their daily feeding schedual, and well life got super busy after my son was born. I have finally been able to start gentling him but of course he is much stronger and bigger then then when they are brand new and this is a new experience to have a yearling who isn't halterbroke yet. Shame on me! he is pretty quiet, and has his own pasture and pen where he resides a safe but viewable distance from the girls and he has no problems following me around or approaching me when i ask. We just need to work on respect and trust which we have started doing. SOmeone sudgested clicker training but I don't want to use treats as a reward at this point as i already noticed it was encouraging nipping and pushy behaviour. We have established boundries now and he will let me touch his face but does not like the idea of me touching his neck or shoulders and will give me warning signs to back off - these are becomeing less frequent however and he is looking forwards to my visits now. I know these things take time which is perfectly fine! I was wondering if you can give me some ideas on how to continue gentleing him with out promoting the idea of bad or dangerous habits So that i can get him used to the idea of his halter. Particularly striking or biting- even ideas or tips to nip these habits when i see the signs rather then waiting until he's already done it to deal with it.

Thank you,

Kali

Answer
Hi Kali,
It sounds like you have enough experience to train horses. And I applaud your stand on your previous employer. You have your work cut out for you. I can understand why the training on him hasn't been consistent due to your pregnancy. Safety of you and your baby are paramount.
I'm not a huge fan of clicker training. I'm not saying it's bad or good. Any training can provide adverse effects if not done properly. It just hasn't worked for me although many good trainers have used it with good results.
Keeping in mind a stud colt will start showing his studdiness about 1 year, some sooner, some later, I have found you can't get super aggressive with a stud as much as you can a gelding or mare. However, you still have to show him how to respect you and your space. So essentially, the training is the same as any other horse. Just keep dong the approach and retreat method as far as touching the horse. Get his feet moving forward, back, left and right with energy and rewarding the slightest try. Make him back up with energy. DO NOT LET HIM NIBBLE OR MOUTH YOU! That will sooner or later lead to a biting issue. I agree in not using treats. I would start desensitizing/sensitizing him to ropes. Start at his withers and slowly (as he becomes calmer to ropes around him) work your way to his head so eventually you can halter the young man. It sounds like your on the right track. Just begin to introduce newer things to him. But please be careful. Remember, this is a stud horse and not a gelding. I would never take my eyes off of him completely. If you do turn away, always keep him in the side of your eye. He will try to test you. That is a given. But don't let him get away with it. Insist on him remaining outside your safety zone. I also would not stand directly in front of him or behind him until he is fully trustworthy. When working with him I would remain at a 45 degree angle from the front shoulder. You will be too far to the side for him to strike you with his front hooves and too far forward to be kicked. If you have any reservations or feel like training a stud colt is a little more than you bargained for, send him off to a professional trainer who is experienced with stud colts. There is no shame in that. Remember, you are a mother now and your child depends on you. No need in taking chances if you don't have to. I hope this helps. Good luck and feel free to contact me again if you have any other questions.