This message is from: sini seppala <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Hi Saskia and all! I'm sorry this is a long post. However, we know that many people think about this kind of things and think they are worth discussing.
Are you planning to do some of the so called imprint training? You don't have to repeat every exercise 100 times like it's sometimes said - if the foal relaxes earlier which is quite possible. The only thing which is quite important to do 'by the book' is that you should wait until the foal relaxes before you let him go. (Will call the foal 'him' from now on.:) He WILL instinctively try and get up at some point even if the situation is quite nice. IF you let him get up, the foal will learn that unclear situations can be solved by force. But if you go on stroking until the foal relaxes and then let him go, hewill learn that unclear situations can be handled by calming down. It's also useful to let him get an idea of all kinds of things he's going to come across later on. It's good to let him learn by watching what mom does. For example our foals have understod the idea of driving by watching their dam pulling a cart. When we then start driving them they know right away that they are supposed to go forward although the human is now behind them and not by their side like when being led. Especially if the mare is calm she can teach her foal to face all kinds of situations and places with confidence (bikes, flying hens, ditches, barking dogs etc.). She will also teach her foal how to communicate with people - and that's why we think it's a good idea to make sure the mare has a chance to be a good role model: it'd be great if she didn't have to do anything which will make her protest because the foal will pick that up. If she has to do something uncomfortable it might be a good idea to find something for the foal to do in the meantime so that he won't see her dam having disagreements with people. When hesees mom being friendly and cooperative hewill start doing the same. Also if there are other horses around who sometimes for example test their limits, it might be best not to show those conflicts for the foal. Another thing which we've found useful and which is discussed by some vets over here, too, is to let the foal get used to various circumstances - hills, rocks, woods. Their tendons and muscles get much stronger and more flexible than on even fields and they learn to look after their feet - good for future jumpers (and all others). This also greatly reduces the risks for all kinds of injuries - that they are allowed to run in the woods when they are little. They do know how to do it from the very first day - and they will easily forget all about it if they are kept on fields only. You can also see quite clearly that their movement develops into what their capacity really is - which may not happen when they are mainly on even fields. It would be nice to hear everybody's thoughts about these things. Thank you in advance. Everybody have a wonderful year change and all the best in 2000! Sini in Finland. home page at http://www.saunalahti.fi/~partoy/Juhola6.html
