Foal Training

Question
Hi,
I have a foal who is about 2 weeks old. He has very good muscle and is completely healthy. He is 25% Arabian, 25% Paint, and 50% Friesian. I want to work my mare in the round pen but I know that it is not a good idea to lunge the foal and I'm guessing he would be running beside her. Is there anyway to lunge her that would be okay for him? How old should he be before I start lunging him? Also I have another mare that I would like to teach to jump, but I would rather let her free lunge and jump on her own to begin with. How high should I start the jumps? She is about 16.3 hands and is a 7 year old cross breed but my vet thought she was a warmblood the first time she saw her. How will I know when she is jumping high enough and that I should not try to get her to jump any higher? Is there any particular way I should set up the jumps?
Thank you!

Answer
Courtney,

The round pen is no place to work your mare with her baby! She is by nature going to be primarily concerned with the safety of her foal and would not nor should not be expected to pay attention and learn from you at this point. If your timing or body language is off, you may be unintentionally asking her to get too close to her baby and maybe hurt him. It will make her anxious and make the baby afraid also.

For now all your foal needs is basic handling. Leading, (in a sensible way), picking up his feet, maybe getting him used to being softly brushed, etc., is plenty for now. Linda Tellington Jones has a book about working with all types of horses including foals and I strongly suggest you use her methods.

Your mare should be lunged in a regular ring-rectangular, not round. Make sure you are lungeing her correctly, it is a learned skill. There should not be any snapping of the whip and she should be calm and understand voice commands. The whip is not used to threaten. Teaching her to jump can be from the ground and also under saddle. You may start with ground poles, but put them 9 feet apart at first so she can make mistakes. If you are adept at ground driving and lungeing you can get to the point where you are lungeing her over jumps, but it is easy to get into trouble. You have to be skilled at this.

Height is not important. What is important is that she does not mind jumping and is willing to do it, not nervous. If you have to force her over them, then you need to go back in your schooling. If you are not experienced in this, find a trainer to help you who is kind and intelligent and treats each horse as an individual.

You may write for more information.www.MitziSummers.com....Summersdressage@aol.com