What is the best method of leading a young foal?

  • Foals easily learn to lead when they are young.
  • The basic process of following their mother helps a great deal in teaching foals to go forward with someone beside them.
  • After the foal is accustomed to a head collar, leading lessons can begin.
  • For young foals, only a soft cotton lead rope is necessary.
  • A chain lead should never be used in foals.
  • Initially, in the very beginning, a lead rope is not necessary. Simply hold the foal with one arm around the chest and the other around his rump and walk with the foal just behind the mother as she is being led.
  • The foal quickly becomes used to the idea of having someone being with it while walking forward and having someone guiding its movements.
  • It is best to begin this while the foal is one to two weeks old, i.e. before it gets too big.
  • When the foal is comfortable with someone “holding” it while walking, then a lead rope can be used.
  • ?A long rope can be used to create a large loop that goes over the foal’s rump.
  • The loop comes together at the foal’s withers, with enough slack being present from the withers to the halter so you do not pull on the foal’s head.
  • This loop is used not only to guide the foal’s movements, but also to begin the process of encouraging the foal to walk forward on its own, not just when following the mother.
  • This technique especially is useful when having to lead the foal away from the mother.
  • The technique as described above, is much more effective for teaching foals to lead than just pulling on them.
  • In many cases, when an untrained foal’s halter or lead is pulled by the handler, the foal does not know what it is required to do. So the natural response is to resist the pull - at first pulling back, then often by rearing. If one continues to pull while the foal is rearing, it may tend to fight even harder, with the dangerous result of flipping over backwards.
  • When a foal decides to rear, it is important to give the animal some slack on the lead rope, but it is equally as important not to let go of the lead rope and to stop the pulling to allow the foal to settle down on all fours.

    • What is the most commonly used method of restraint for loading a foal onto a trailer/horse box?

  • Foals have to travel in a trailer with their dams for various reasons, such as for re-breeding of the mare, transport to a different farm, or transport to a veterinary clinic for the mare or the foal.
  • Transporting horses has many potential problems and where there is a young foal added, the potential for trouble increases.
  • No restraint should be used for the foal during transport other than when the foal is being led into or out of the horse box.
  • The easiest way to load both mare and foal is to use one or two people to hold the foal as already described for restraining, and guide it into the trailer.
  • It is usually best to load the foal before the mare, or alternatively, along sides the mare.
  • If the foal is loose, it should be kept on the inner side of the mare if possible.
  • The mare usually will eagerly follow her foal into the trailer, but is unlikely to load into the trailer without the foal.
  • After the mare is tied in the trailer, the foal can then be released by the handler.
  • Never tie the mare until the foal is safely inside, in the horse box.

    • What is the best method of loading where the foal is loose?

  • As already mentioned, it is best to keep the foal on the inner side of the mare and load them together.
  • Having the horse box or trailer appropriately positioned in the yard is important.
  • Ideally a purpose built loading area would be the obvious area of choice for loading but this is not usually in place in most yards. This is usually in a confined area of space with a wall on both sides of the ramp, i.e. the loading ramp is flanked on both sides. But on a general basis this type of loading set up is not available so alternatives have to be carefully chosen.
  • An example of a good alternative would be by placing the ramp of the trailer/horse box in the entrance to a shed; this is especially effective where there are sliding doors on the shed entrance. Effectively, this closes over any exit for the foal.
  • The mare will then happily load along with her foal, as they are both leaving the shed and have no other exit outwards other than the ramp of the horsebox.
  • Even the most reluctant horses will load well using this method of loading.

    • What other method can be used if there is no suitable shed to use for loading?

  • Positioning the box or trailer where there will be a wall on your right hand side.
  • As the person leading the mare is always on the left, then the foal should be kept on her inside, i.e. on her right. So the foal is between the mare and the wall when loading.
  • There should always be a person behind the mare and foal to encourage them into the box/trailer.
  • This person should preferably be experienced and be aware of the potential accident/injury possibilities under these circumstances - to both the animals and the handlers.
  • The person leading the mare should always be aware that if the foal bolts suddenly away from the trailer, he/she may have to quickly bring the mare into sight of the foal. This will usually pre-empt the foal taking off/galloping blindly causing itself injuries.