Halter breaking a miniature horse

Question
Hi, I am working with a yearling miniature stud colt. I ride quite a bit on our ranch and have worked with young horses some but have never started a colt. I volunteered to work with him because we sold him to our neighbors for their kids to play with. They really just want to be able to catch him, halter him, lead him around, and ride him in the corral some. They are not interested in working cattle on him or rodeoing. They say he has tried to kick at them. They don't have a round pen but I moved him from the pasture into a medium sized corral (by having him follow a haltered saddle horse). I am not sure if I am using the proper techniques to start him as I haven't done this before but I watch a lot of RFD tv.. Firstly, I wanted to make him move his feet so I have free lunged him in different directions, always trying to be the one to control his direction. When he stopped and faced me and started licking and chewing I went up and petted him. Then I moved my hands to his neck. If he turns away or starts to turn his butt to me, I make him do a few laps until he will stand and face me. When he stops and is calm I go up to him again and try to run my hand over him. I brought a halter and lead rope and have tried 'pressure and release' by letting him sniff it and then gradually rubbing it on his face and neck before withdrawing it. After a while of doing well and accepting the lead rope touching his face and neck, he seemed to get mad and tried to prance up to me and turn his butt like he was going to kick. I stepped back to be safe and made him do a lap - he seemed to be frustrated and started bucking and acting ornry, so I wondered if he'de had enough for the day. I had him do laps, and whipped my rope on the ground firmly, until he stood and faced me and licked and chewed his lips. Then I let him go because I wasn't sure if I should push on or if he would just get more and more mad. My questions are: should I have waited until I could run my hands all over him before introducing the halter? Is it proper to make him take laps if he tries to kick or is there a better approach? Should I push through his getting pissed off and just be firmer in asserting authority, or is there an approach to make it more fun for him? I just want to make sure that he learns without getting totally pissed off with the whole deal but also while understanding he has to respect people. Am I headed in the right direction? Thanks!

Answer
Hi Jenny,
It sounds like you have a lot of great ideas for working with this colt. I do not know how old he is but what is the reason he has not been gelded? If this family is not familiar with working with stallions, no matter what their size, I would really push them to geld him. A good stallion makes a great gelding, and if they want to keep some of his semen for breeding they can work that out with the vet. The only other piece of advise I would give you is to go for getting him to like working with you, not dominating him. If a horse is happy with you they will not try to bite or kick you. This does not mean he will not test you and if he tries something get big and send him away, but keep questioning yourself how you could work better to get him to see you are allright. If you can pet his face I would get your halter on him before you try to handle the rest of his body, it will give you more options if he tries to kick you, you could back him up or draw his nose toward you so the hind end goes away.
Let me know how you two work out.
Best Wishes,
Caitlin Day Huntress