Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
foal in the same manner as before, but he carries the halter, tucked into his
belt so the foal doesn't see him carrying a novel object, which may cause
fear. With the halter tucked into his belt, he gets the foal into the hug posi-
tion, then slowly pulls the halter from his belt and gently slides it up the
foal's nose. If the foal resists and pulls away, he lets go, remembering never
to use force when introducing anything for the first time. If the foal does not
resist, he slowly slides the halter up and down the nose a few times until the
foal begins to show indifference. He then brings the halter fully up the nose
and simulates the movements used to buckle the halter before actually buck-
ling it for the first time. After the foal accepts this he buckles the halter and
has the foal wear it for a few minutes, and then he takes it off. Every time
he handles the foal, he follows the same consistent pattern: the first
approach, then hugging with an arm over the neck, then sliding the halter on.
In most cases, it takes only a few minutes each day for the foal to accept
wearing a halter.
The next step is to teach the foal to lead with a halter and lead rope.
Once the foal is habituated to handling and will accept a halter, he clips a
lead rope onto the halter. The foal needs to see the lead rope and associate it
with the halter, but learning to lead comes later. Holding the lead rope
loosely, he stands next to the foal and starts to teach it to accept having its
feet handled. Starting with a front leg, he slides a hand down the leg and
tries to get the foal to flex the knee. If the foal refuses and pulls away, he
lets it go. When the foal is settled down, he again approaches the front leg,
slides a hand down the leg and tries to flex the knee. If no force is used the
first time, the foal does not associate having the leg handled as something to
be afraid of and to subsequently avoid. Once the leg can be flexed and held
for a moment, he moves on to the next. Each leg is handled the same way,
never using force. Throughout this process, the foal is wearing a halter and
the lead rope is held in one hand. Slowly, he begins to pull the foal's head
slightly toward the side of the body on which he is standing, using the halter
and lead rope to get the foal to watch as he rubs his hand down the leg. This
is the first pressure that the foal feels from the halter and lead rope.
Subtle Individual Differences
A note here on individual differences: if a foal is of the reactive type, caution
is required to avoid sudden movements during each of these steps in order to
prevent causing a fear reaction. He keeps the lead rope loose to avoid any
sudden pressure if the foal becomes frightened and tries to pull away.
Habituation occurs quickly in less reactive foals, and less caution is required.
All foals eventually habituate, but differences in reactivity and fearfulness
are important to remember during halter fitting and picking up the feet. A
basic principle is that each step of the training procedure must be introduced
gradually to more reactive animals (
Phillips et al., 1998
). It is also important
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