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Elite Veteran
Posts: 631
  
Location: Somewhere in N.C. | I have always imprinted my foals, but decided not to this time. Did I make a mistake? What do you guys do with a mean foal? Do you scold them? leave them alone? Never had this problem and not sure how to handle it. He kicks, bites, pushes against you with his should etc.... He is only a week old., please help |
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 Veteran
Posts: 222
Location: Texas | We had a "difficult" colt a couple years ago. Just put hands on every day and we did discipline. Mares discipline so we discipline. It took a little bit but he did come around and turned into a really sweet nice boy. I definitely would not leave him alone to get bigger. That will just make it that much harder. |
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 No Tune in a Bucket
Posts: 2935
Location: Texas | Married2Rodeo - 2014-04-21 8:34 PM We had a "difficult" colt a couple years ago. Just put hands on every day and we did discipline. Mares discipline so we discipline. It took a little bit but he did come around and turned into a really sweet nice boy. I definitely would not leave him alone to get bigger. That will just make it that much harder.
Totally agree. We raised one that we did not handle enough and in a storm he would kick and we never could break him from it. After they get bigger, it is so hard to fix. |
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  Damn Yankee
Posts: 12390
Location: Somewhere between raising hell and Amazing Grace | I don't feel like I "imprint" my babies. I'd rather leave them alone and don't want them in my pocket. However, I handle them just enough so that they respect me and can be handled in the case of an injury etc. |
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 Swiffer PIcker Upper
Posts: 4015
Location: Four Corners Colorado | I always imprint my foals and then build on that. I train in respect and softness from day one. A colt doesn't have to be scared to be respectful. If they are in your pocket and walking all over you it means you missed the part about teaching them to respect your space. If you can going to do imprinting I highly recommend watching and reading all of Dr. Millers information. Lots of people don't follow the procedure properly and cause more problems.
If I get a colt that hasn't been imprinted I just start from ground zero and work on giving to pressure and accepting being touched. If they act aggressive toward me I will smack them hard enough that they know what they did was a big no no. Then I go right back to was I was asking them to do in the first place. and yes even at a week old. |
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 You get what you give
Posts: 13030
Location: Texas | I don't imprint but I handle them from day one. I don't spoil and they definitely know boundaries, and if they do not know, they learn from our discipline. They only get bigger.
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1150
Location: LaCygne, KS | equussynergy - 2014-04-21 9:21 PM I always imprint my foals and then build on that. I train in respect and softness from day one. A colt doesn't have to be scared to be respectful. If they are in your pocket and walking all over you it means you missed the part about teaching them to respect your space. If you can going to do imprinting I highly recommend watching and reading all of Dr. Millers information. Lots of people don't follow the procedure properly and cause more problems.
If I get a colt that hasn't been imprinted I just start from ground zero and work on giving to pressure and accepting being touched. If they act aggressive toward me I will smack them hard enough that they know what they did was a big no no. Then I go right back to was I was asking them to do in the first place. and yes even at a week old.
This says it all. By the time this spring's foaling is over, I will have imprinted probably 80 head. Imprinting must be studied and taken seriously. An hour spent very soon after birth can have a foal yielding feet, accepting handling all over , yielding to the slightest pressure, accepting clippers, spray bottles, plastic bags bags and slickers and more. If this is reinforced 2 or 3 times, the foal and mare can go to the big pasture and not be handled for months and will retain this early training. |
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 I'm Cooler Offline
Posts: 6387
Location: Pacific Northwest | Not the same thing but I have a horse that I bought as an unhalterbroke yearling. She was pretty shy and it took awhile for me to be able to touch her but one day I was brushing her - and this was maybe only the 3rd day I had finally been able to get a halter on her and she let me touch her all over - and she bit me and I smacked her the same way I would any other horse. It spooked her but I just went back to doing what I was doing and she's now 10 years old and has never so much as pinned her ears at a human and it didn't traumatize her for life. |
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 Champ
Posts: 19623
Location: Peg-Leg Julia Grimm | If they bite or kick, push on you...don't respect your space just discipline them the way you would any age horse. I don't imprint and my kids turn out just fine. |
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Expert
Posts: 3300
| i didnt imprint mine and she is like a puppy dog,,,, i didnt want her like that so i didnt imprint her  |
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BHW's Simon Cowell
Location: The Saudia Arabia of Wind Energy, Western Oklahoma | I know a really good rope horse trainer that hates colts that have been imprinted. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 464
| I'm not much on imprinting. I would rather they never had a hand laid on them, till breaking. |
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 More bootie than waist!
Posts: 18425
Location: Riding Crackhead. | casualdust07 - 2014-04-21 9:22 PM I don't imprint but I handle them from day one. I don't spoil and they definitely know boundaries, and if they do not know, they learn from our discipline. They only get bigger.
Same here |
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 Guys Just Wanna Have Fun
Posts: 5530
Location: OH | Not real big on imprinting--we had done it in the past and didn't like the results once we went to riding the colts. We have had a couple over the years that could be "tough" and one was a striker. Nailed Mrs Mighty Broke in the head so he got layed down and held there till he relaxed and gave in to who was the boss and never had any problems with him after that. Much better to deal with it now than later, right now it hurts when they get you, later it can be downright dangerous. |
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Veteran
Posts: 111
| Those who don't like imprinted foals have probably never been around foals that were properly imprinted. Dr Robert Miller and then Clinton Anderson - both are excellent resources for starting foals with respect and kindness. My babies are half broke by the time I sell them as weanlings and easy to take on from there. They have respect for people yet are loving and curious. The early relationship I establish with them is similar to their relationship with their mama - love with discipline.  |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 631
Location: Somewhere in N.C. | I know the correct way to imprint and has always gotten great results and never any trouble breaking my horses or training. This time, I decided not to imprint just to see if there was a difference. Well, so far, I regret it. I've already been kicked, reared on and struck at. Needless to say, we are having to work twice as hard on displine already than I ever had to before. I just pray, I can stay on top of this. Much easier to imprint a newborn, than to displine a strong, hardheaded foal. lol
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 Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | So much will also depend on the disposition of the parents that raise the foal. I don't imprint. Mine are generally untouched until they are 5 months old. Some will walk up to me out of curiosity in pasture and I can run their nose, scratch their butt or shoulder, but that is about all I do with them. When I do halter break, I am usually rubbing them all over their face and neck within 15 minutes and their whole body in a day or so. Another short time of playing with them and they are haltered, leading some and picking up feet. These are all in 20 minute or less sessions. Good dispositions will play a huge part in how your foal will react to his/her surroundings and the people too.
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 631
Location: Somewhere in N.C. | My mare has a great laid back disposition and I've had 3 foals out of the stallion and never any trouble. Yesterday, while I was hanging out in the stall, the foal pinned his ears, showed his teeth and was vicious. I couldn't believe it. He doesn't want you touching him anytime, anywhere. I've tried finding some scratchy spots, but he doesn't want any part of it. Aboslutely doesn't want his neck or head touched. I have never seen anything like it.
Should I just leave him alone completely for a while? |
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Expert
Posts: 4766
Location: Bandera, TX | I have a foal that we did imprint, she's a B*(^& with attitude. I threw her like a calf several times to get her down and rub all over till she was relaxed. She's from a head strong mare. She's done every bad thing a foal could do but is now coming around since she likes her grain and I sit and pet while she eats. Yesterday I had friends come over and that stand off foal walked to the fence and let the two yr old girl pet all over her.
I'm taking all my foals to the stall barn and they will go in stalls with their momma's tied in the breeze way. It's halter/lead time. I want them standing with a loose wrap nose to nose with mom.
The more you mess with them the better off you are on the head strong foals. This particular foal is great about loading and letting me mess with her on the trailer, the closed space seems to help her. (She's had three trailer trips in her 6 weeks.)
I bet your foal is pushy with your others? They seem to be born with the attitude. Putting them with mares that will put them in their place helps, but, you take the risk of injury.
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