Foals imprint on their mothers and are guided by instinct. But over time, they get accustomed to humans and can be reared to become trusting, faithful playmates and companions. Establishing good behavior at the outset is fundamental to creating a well-adjusted adult horse. The reader is guided through the health, well-being, training, education, and attitude of the first three years of a horse's life, with a focus on building trust throughout.

Foals imprint on their mothers and are guided by instinct. But over time they get accustomed to humans and can be reared to become trusting, faithful playmates and companions. Therefore, establishing good behaviour at the outset is fundamental to creating a well-adjusted adult horse. The authors, using their extensive experience and personal stories, explain how to balance natural behaviour with training methods to develop a well-behaved horse. The approach is knowledgeable and patient and is based on mutual respect between horse and rider. Key exercises are explained in the text by a great variety of photos, and can also be used with older horses. Practical topics covered include vaccination, hoofcare, herd behaviour, feeding and housing. The reader is guided through the health, well-being, training, education and attitude of the first three years of a horse’s life, with a focus on building trust throughout. Foals and Young Horses is a good companion guide for horse owners, riders and especially breeders. It will also be of interest to equine science students and para-professionals. 5m Books

Do you have a foal on the way? Maybe you've got a weanling who's growing like a weed but in need of training and possibly getting dangerous?Do you know what training is essential for baby horses, how to approach the work - and how much is too much?You have years till you can ride your colt or filly - but there's a lot of training that needs to be done in the meantime. They need to cooperate for the farrier, to stand near you politely, to be lead around the barn, to respect your space - they need to become a cheerful member of your family. This is your step-by-step guide; it shows you exactly what to do, what to look for and in what order. Train your foal to be safer and:- to respect you and your space- to deal with fear- to lead and stand calmly- to begin "giving to pressure," the very foundation of all trainingIf you were the first person to someday ride your weanling, would you feel safer if the colt did - or did not - have a proper foundation?Based on the gentle and proven techniques of John Lyons, "Days" 1-5 teach your horse to respect your space, to deal with fear, to stand calmly and to begin "giving to pressure." Section II contains additional "how-to" you'll need at this stage in your young horse's life. ContentsSection I:- Day One: Look At Me - Build Body Control- Day Two: Sacking Out and Desensitizing- Day Three: Halter Training Your Foal- Day Four: Leading a Horse: Colt Basics- Day Five: Cleaning Horses: Bathing Your FoalSection II: Additional training- Teach Your Horse to Stand Tied- Horses That Bite- Picking Up Feet- Sidepassing to You On the Ground- Teach Your Horse to Come to YouI call the individual segments "days" but you'll take this work at a speed that's comfortable for both you and your foal. While you'll fly through some "days," others will necessarily require that you spend more time to really nail the material. You might want to split it up over days, weeks or months. It's completely up to you - after all, you've got years till he's big enough to carry that saddle or pull that cart!Each chapter gives you a plan, a goal, theory and homework. The whole thing might take you a week - and it might take you months. Every trainer's different, every foal is different. Regardless, when you arrive at the other side, you will have made significant progress in your foal's training and you'll be miles ahead when it comes time later to break him to saddle

A book chock-full of answers to horse-behavior questions that will change your horse's life for the better. Horses want partners they trust. Meeting their need for security makes them more tuned-in, calmer, and more reliable. In her engaging book, highly illustrated with professional color photographs, certified riding instructor Lynn Acton, MS, shows you how, with practical step-by-step instructions. You’ll see that progress can be surprisingly fast with methods that are gentle, time-tested, backed by science, and that make intuitive sense to your horse. Discover how to earn trust and make training more efficient by engaging horses’ innate intelligence, maintaining clear two-way communication, and considering their point of view. This leadership approach has been used successfully for centuries by people of all backgrounds and skill levels on horses at all levels of training. Acton refers to this relationship as Protector Leadership because you are the horse’s protector. In these pages, she combines extensive horse experience and an academic background in social dynamics with in-depth research. She interprets and cites the scientific findings that explain why Protector Leadership works, and offers valuable insights into equine psychology while exposing myths that are sources of problems. Plus, Acton includes “Things to Try” at the end of each chapter—fun and easy-to-implement exercises that help you engage your horse as a thinking partner Throughout, the narrative includes stories of Acton's progress with her own horses, including mistakes and hindsight, and especially the transformation of the book’s "cover girl" Brandy from a dangerous throwaway to a happy, reliable partner. Clear, detailed photographs show the subtle body language of horses and people, and illustrate critical interactions that make a real difference in our relationships, communication, and training. These are a few of the concrete skills you will learn: · Earn trust starting the moment you meet a horse. · Recognize “misbehavior” that actually means your horse is thinking like a partner. · Turn pressure into clear communication instead of stress. · Use Positive Reinforcement for better learning, behavior, and reliability. · Turn anxiety and spooks into confidence building situations. · Discourage unwanted behavior without punishment. · Allow your horse appropriate choices and freedom. As your bond strengthens, you can enjoy watching your horse’s true personality blossom. A thoughtful, progressive book for riders of all disciplines and students of the horse of all experience levels.

Intended for people who work with horses and for owners who want to learn more, Equine Behaviour in Mind provides ideas for practical ways that changes can be incorporated into daily interactions with horses. This book advocates a mindful approach to working with horses, encouraging the reader to think in a horse-centric way. Academic behavioural research is used to underpin understanding of horse behaviour and changes that can be made to positively improve horses' lives. The aim is to provide both the theory behind behaviour-minded horse management and the practical application to enable impactful changes to be made. Real world examples and case studies are provided to highlight these points. Horse behaviour is discussed in a range of contexts, including breeding, training and competing. A behaviourally minded approach to teaching riding, to medical and dental check-ups, to rehabilitation and rescue, and to driving change for horse welfare in both developed and developing countries is also covered. Equine Behaviour in Mind will enable readers to think critically in an objective way about how they manage and work with their horses. 5m Books

Give your young horse the best start by building a solidfoundation with this essential training guide, from newborn foal to adulthorse. Dip in and out of the four distinct sections to solvespecific problems, regardless of your horse's age. Tackle new experiencescalmly and with confidence by following the step-by-step sequences withexplanatory captions and practical tips. Richard begins the book with Making the Decision, coveringall the general areas that you should know when buying or breeding a youngster.Richard explores what has changed with working with horses and why over theyears, from using round pens and join-up, focusing on owners as well as horses,to creating a training pyramid plan to follow an organized training regime witha logical progression to help you and your horse achieve your goals. Richardasks the important questions you need to answer before committing to owning ayoungster and runs through the 10 training principles. He highlights theimportance of repetition, establishing a clear means of communication betweenyou and your horse, and understanding how the horse's brain works, from theright side to the left side. There are also areas of special mention: orphanfoals and keeping entires. The second chapter runs through training your horse from 0-6months. Maxwell encourages you to develop your foal's brain from the verybeginning. From imprinting and halter training to leading and weaning, thesection covers all of the basic techniques for training for your foul at thisinfluential time. The third part of the book looks at preparing your horse fora working life at 6 months-3 years. Maxwell teaches you further haltertechniques, tying up, desensitization, techniques for avoiding the challengingyear when the horse turns two, tips on preparing for the farrier, bathing,clipping, injections and preparing for loading with a comprehensivestep-by-step guide to loading. He also covers preparing for a bridle andcircling work. Part 4, Backing and Riding On, focuses on horses aged 3years+. The chapter explains how to: introduce the first saddle, the firstbridle, to teach your young horse to accept the bit, to introduce long-lining,to introduce a rider using a dummy, to back your youngster, and to desensitizeon the move. Maxwell goes on to show a day-by-day guide to riding from day one,concluding with an interesting selection of real-life case studies that demonstratethe effectiveness of Maxwell's methods for molding a young horse into a safe,rewarding ride. With valuable checklists, step-by-step instructions, anduseful question and answer sections at the end of each chapter, Richard Maxwellreally does provide all the essential information you will need to effectivelytrain your young horse.

Own a young horse? Thinking of purchasing your first foal or do you feel like you may have missed some training steps in the past? Foals With Goals is a guidebook to help put the foundation blocks in place to pave a path for you and your foal to be successful. From haltering, to trailer loading and even putting on that first saddle you will find all the information here with step-by-step instructions and full-color pictures. As always Horseplay and Harmony teaches safe and responsible horsemanship with no-force methods to help form a lasting relationship between you and your foal!