Farewell, Foals

We received a phone call earlier this past week asking about one of our foals for sale. The lady said she would be coming to see the filly (female horse baby) pictured here on Saturday.

Here on Rainbow Gate Farm, we do not handle our foals for the first four to six months of their lives. While many people believe in early handling and even imprinting the foals, we think this can interfere with the very important 'horse' lessons a foal must learn about being a part of a horse herd. Most of our mares are very friendly and come up to see us when we walk into their pasture, so the foals, while wary, learn very early that people are not so bad.

During those first few months of life, a mother horse teaches the baby about the horse world's "social ladder" and how to behave around other horses. When a young foal sees an adult horse it doesn't know it will stretch out its neck and open and close its mouth rapidly. This is horse language for "Don't hurt me - I'm just a baby who poses no threat to you." I have seen young horses do this up to the age of two years when they encounter a strange, older horse they do not know.

There is a distinct pecking order among horses in a herd. Even though our stallion (male horse capable of breeding) runs with the mares, he is not the boss. A mare is always at the top of the pecking order. The head mare always decides who eats first when hay or grain is given out and she leads the herd through the day when they graze out in the pasture. The stallion may be allowed to eat beside her if she likes him, but quite often his position will be at number three or four.

Foals are often an exception in a group of horses who know each other well. Younger mares without foals will even "babysit" the youngsters, allowing them to eat with them, while the mother is eating elsewhere or if she is taken out to be ridden on a trail ride. The foals will spend less and less time by their mother's sides as they grow, returning only to nurse and if they become frightened.

Once the foals reach the age of four to six months they can be weaned from their dams. If a mare is maintaining her condition very well, we might leave the foal with her until it is seven months old.

With a pending sale, however, the weaning and handling process must begin. We promise our foals will be halter-broken and know how to lead by the time they leave the farm at purchase.

On Wednesday night, we weaned "Lucky," the filly in the photo, and left her until Friday morning, to get used to the idea of being without her mother. She soon realized her source of food was coming from us, and would nicker when we entered the barn, but touching her was out of the question. She didn't trust us. You could almost see her wondering, Are they going to eat me now? I'm ready to run away!

On Friday morning, I entered her stall with a lasso, being careful to leave the door unlatched behind me as an emergency exit if I needed one. The filly moved as far away from me as she could. Tossing the rope over her back, I let it slip to the floor several times. At first she flinched but soon realized the rope was not hurting her, and she ignored it as it flew past her head.

I threw the rope so the lasso end fell over her head and pulled it just tight enough so she knew I was now in contact with her. She ran around a couple of times and then stopped. I walked up to her and she moved away. Talking to her in a gentle tone, I continued walking up and reaching out my hand until she finally stood long enough for me to make contact with her head. As soon as my hand touched her, I stepped back five paces. End of lesson. I stood looking at the ground for a moment before glancing at her once more.

She watched me intently, and you could almost hear her thinking, Hmm, I wish she would go away. I run around and she follows me. I let her touch me and she leaves me alone. Letting her touch me is a good thing to do because then she leaves me alone.

We repeated this scenario several times. Touch her, walk away. By the third time, she hung her head and licked her lips. This is a key sign to a horse trainer that the horse just calmed down and relaxed. The next time I walked up to her, I stroked her neck and under her chin, lingering for about ten or fifteen seconds before walking away again.

She stared at me, and I imagined her thinking, Well, she hasn't eaten me yet. That actually feels kind of good when she scratches underneath my chin. Maybe that's why Mama liked these people creatures.

Within fifteen minutes of entering her stall, I was able to place a halter on that filly. I then left her alone for a few hours to absorb her lessons.

When I lived in Australia I was blessed to know the great horseman, Tom "Robbie" Roberts, author of the "Horse Control" books. In 1982, Robbie was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia, for his service to equestrian sport. A veteran of both World Wars, he took on difficult and dangerous horses and turned them into well-mannered, riding horses. He taught me a great deal about "gentling horses" and I still use his methods today. I remember him telling me over and over again, "A lesson is anything you teach a horse, good or bad." It is up to us to be sure every "lesson" a horse receives is a good one.

When I returned to the filly, she allowed me to walk up to her. I patted her and then snapped a lead-rope to her halter and taught her to give to the pressure and follow me wherever I went. I spent another fifteen minutes or so with her, and then put her away in her stall for the night, confident she would be ready to meet her new owner the next day.

On Saturday morning I received a phone call from the lady coming to see "Lucky," our filly. She mentioned having seen a buckskin foal on our website and indicated she was interested in purchasing that colt too.

Out the door we flew to catch the mare and foal in question. We weaned the foal, and I began to work with him right away. Using the same methods as for the filly, I had the second foal leading by the time the people arrived.

Tom "Robbie" Roberts always said if you teach a horse the right way, you give them a very good chance of having a good home for life. Although he was referring to a horse raised and then 'broke-in' or gentled for riding, I know the same holds true with foals started the right way too.

I always ask people to keep in touch and e-mail photos of the foals as they grow. Most people love to share but sometimes we never hear from them again.

As evening fell, I watched their trailer loaded with two foals, travel up our driveway, and drive away. I wondered if we would ever hear from them again and I think of Robbie's words, and smile, knowing I gave them a good head start on a happy life.