Bringing Home Baby!
Crazy things happen in the horse world. I think I should study the why, but right now I want my long journey be a shortcut for you. So if you go nuts and find a lovely 3 year unbroke baby horse to bring home because it's so darn cute and the gaits are so floaty and lovely, then at least you'll be thinking through what the baby needs to learn.
In my instance Baby J went basically from most of his life at the breeder farm to my farm and now has to learn how to interact with the humans in his life. There was a great amount of imprinting done by the breeders and about a month of beginning horse and human training but for those of you who know – that's just the tip of the iceberg.
The best things about Baby J are that he haltered well, stood for the farrier and vet, and was looking for positive love and attention from his humans. He was turned out with two other 3 yr olds, so the three amigos were so happy being outside in the pasture and just being horse dudes.
When he got to my farm he was put in a pasture by himself next to some friends, but there wasn't a bunch of youngsters with him. Our farm has a lot of old dudes and dudettes who weren't too interested in continuing to teach Baby J the ropes. And as you know with any first introduction you want to take it slow and see which horses get along and who could become a possible turn out buddy.
This made Baby J sad. He would be out in his pasture, but he was clearly lonely. He even invited himself into a few pastures with my older fragile retired Grand Prix horse, Tony, so we decided to pair him up instead with our sturdy pony.
Together they look like the NBA basketball player and the high school kid, but the tall baby follows around the pony without question. Baby got super excited now when he went out for turn out because his buddy was with him. I swear he was dancing!
They take turns watching each other roll. And then they take turns watching each other lie down and take a nap. It was a great move for Baby J. They spend a lot of time nibbling necks and nicker for each other. It's heart warming to see Baby happy.
I'm also certain after the neck rubs and I walk away all warm-and-fuzzy feeling, the whistle blows and the hide-the-fly-mask games begin! Here's a little picture give you a warm and fuzzy!
Stay tuned for next week’s Two-minute Training Tip! If you need help building a training plan you can always email me questions at revelationfarm1911@gmail.com or check out revelationfarm.com for upcoming events. Like us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RevelationFm!