After my driving horse
OYY Tippateena delivered her lovely dark palomino colt -- OYY Brave Ulysses - I worked with the two nearly everyday. I think I even posted a couple of times about him. he had the haltering, catching, standing tied. I know many disapprove of the standing tied for a baby -- but I am always there supporting the foal, calming the foal -- Mom always stands quietly.. so the foals never pull back or struggle. It's not long before they are standing by themselves quietly like an adult.
At any rate -- spring made an attempt to arrive -- in valiant spurts.. I got busy with farm stuff that was not necessarily related to horse handling. Tippy and Ulysses went into a big pasture greening up nicely.. and only saw me to throw hay and grain at them. Ulysses grew BIG !! so I brought the two up close to the barn to commence their working schedule once again. He was silly about being caught and haltered... so that was the first step - because I don't have time to waste chasing a foal around his Mom. He was stubborn about leading.. that won't do at all - as in a few weeks the two will be driving together. Lastly, he needed a trim !
Yesterday, Mom stood tied while I worked with Ulysses and by the end of the session - he was leading from both sides, standing quietly and had his first barefoot trim while standing in the middle of the round pen with ho lead !! He was fine with his hooves between my knees. Here is a photo of Ulysses and Mom with supper after the session was all done. You can see he is growing -- almost as big as Mom - who is 14.3 hands. She comes from a long line of superb horses -- most of them drive. OYY Finnegan - sire of Ulysses drives beautifully -- so this 'little' colt is destined to be a large driving horse with talent.
I enjoyed my hour with Ulysses - a quick learner ... even though most of it was a reminder. I am glad he has great manners now - as he will be a big boy someday ! A lot of that is genetic I think -- the foal handling early on enforces what is destined.
We never did really have a spring here -- it seems it is already a sweltering summer ~ accompanied by continued bizarre and severe weather which flashes in and out suddenly. Still loads of flooding -- not sure when the farmers will get on their fields to mow. By the way -- anyone looking for a nice drafty style handsome future ride/drive prospect -- this fellow is for sale :)
Enjoy ~
Betsy, Tippy and Ulysses in Vermont
Betsy, that little guy is sure cute, I have liked him since the first time you put pictures up of him on the blog. Babies are alot of fun and are so playful too. You put alot of extra work into them so they have a good basis as they get older. I am glad to see that you do that too, keep up that good work with those young ones!
ReplyDeleteBetsy, I've never raised a foal, but I would tend to think that the sooner you teach them, the easier it is and I would rather teach them when they're foal size than horse size! Patience is so important! Lovely pictures!
ReplyDeleteHe's so cute :) I agree with teaching foals things early on. I find it easier when they're smaller because you can control them more easily. How old is this colt? Sure big already.
ReplyDeleteWow he is getting big, and very beautifull! Great that he is learning his lessons allready in standing and leading. I also think it is easier for a hore to slowly start learning things when they are young instead of all of a sudden having to learn everything when they are 3 or 4.
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