New Baby

Question
Hi, i have a four month old quarter horse filly. She is VERY shy when it comes to people. I have gotten her to trust me and she will come up to me, but not anyone else. All of her sires foals are like that. I was just wonder if there are any exercises i can do with her to "desensitize" her. She is the first baby i have ever been around, and i have been given the opportunity to break and train her myself [with the assistance of others]. How old does she have to be when i start lunging her? And, what are some good techniques for teaching a baby to lead?

Thanks so much!

Answer
Hi Mariah,
Congratulations on your new baby.  Working with your foal should be lots of fun.  Keep it light and easy, don't force yourself on the baby.  Put her in a stall or small safe confined area.  You may want to just take a chair into the stall and just sit there, allow her to come to you.  Allowing her to choose to be your friend, getting to know you when she feels safe and wants to builds a solid future for years to come.  Once she feels safe with you, add other people and again allow her to chose to meet them.  Soon she will be a social butterfly and will trust you as her best friend - .  Once she is comfortable with you, interduce her to new things, objects that she will have to deal with all her life. Brushes, combs, clippers, bathing her, etc.  If she sees you brushing yourself (which sounds funny) she will know that she can also be touched with these objects and will take to the experience easier.  Everything is new to foals so go slow and let her check these items out on her own time without "making" her which leads to retreat.  Doing things this way takes longer but produces great results in the end. For the second part of your question, lunging her - she has to be taught to lead first, she needs to be comfortable and confident in you.  All exercise must be light and short as her legs are growing and bones are fragile.  It would be unsafe and not adviseable to "work" a foal.  Teaching her to lead - I don't know if you have a halter on her yet - get that accomplished and then I'd leave a lead line attached to her halter so she learns to give to the pressure and stop when she needs to.  (by stepping on the lead rope) Slowly encourage her to move forward and backwards with the lead rope.  I suggest you pick up some of the great books avaiable today about working with new foals.  These are going to be a big help to you as you take on this fun new job.  I answered another persons question not long ago who had a colt that they were trying to teach to lead - he was older and a bit more of a hand full but it may be helpful to read over that post as well.  I'd just like to say - take your time - you have it with this new little girl - and have fun. Always keep it light and don't push so hard with her - always ending on a positive note.  what works today may not work tomorrow with her so always be thinking and trying something new.

Good Luck

Jeff