Horse Welfare, Laterality, Hair Whorls, Cognitive Bias & Early Experience: Leading, Standing Tied, and Learning to Stand for a Farrier

Learning to lead and stand tied is done in the mare’s presence. If you don’t have the foal’s mother and have a weaned colt (like Bill in my last post), find a trusting surrogate (like Jim in my previous post). I also used Jim as a surrogate to teach Bill to lead, as discussed in part 6 of this series. Because Bill was a victim of the “??? ??????” before I purchased him, he took more time to lead and stand tied. First, I had to overcome his abusive”??? ??????” previous experience.

I teach the foal to stand tied by leading the mare and the colt to the hitching post, tying the mare, and draping the foal’s lead rope over the hitching rail. I drape the lead rope over the hitching rail but do not tie a knot. The foal learns the visual of the lead rope stretched out front from the halter, but if the foal becomes fearful and pulls away, don’t risk the experience of having the foal struggle by being tied up and unable to get away. With the mare tied (or a surrogate), the foal is not likely to go far. Remember the mantra of the”??? ??????” approach,”????? ??????????? ??? ???????? ?? ??????? ?????? ?????????.” In the beginning, staying close to the foal is essential. Secondary reinforcement (food rewards) used in the first experience is also helpful to speed habituation. A few minutes per week of standing (untied) alongside the mare are usually enough. With a food reinforcement at the hitching rail, the foal learns it’s a positive place to be and stays there of its own volition (they know to stay there on their own). I don’t need to tie my horses to the hitching rail. Wrapping the lead rope around the hitching rail is usually enough. I have often been distracted or forgotten something and needed to go to the barn and leave my horse(s) at the hitching rail, but they get bored and start looking for scraps of grain or hay on the ground at their feet and pull the lead rope loose from the hitching rail. They’re still there when I return, but the lead rope is on the floor. To help the foal accept standing tied alone, I move away—a short distance at first, then farther and farther away as time passes. Never expect a pre-weaned foal to stand alone for any extended periods.

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When teaching the foal to stand for a farrier, having a mother present who accepts her feet handled or a surrogate helps through ?????? ????????????. First, I pick up the mare’s feet and clean them as the foal beside me watches. When the foals turn comes, I start on the opposite side from the hair whorl. If the whorl is on the foal’s left side, I start on the right side. I start on the left if the whorl is on the right side. Doing this engages the “????????” side of the brain. ??????????? ?? ???? ????????? ???? ??????????. It’s not important how often you do it; the most important thing it’s doing it the same way every time.

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I start by standing parallel to the foal’s right (or left) front leg. If I start on the right front leg, I place my right hand on the foal’s right shoulder and slide the hand slowly but firmly down the leg to the cannon bone. If the foal does not flex the knee, I reach over with the left hand, grasp the pastern joint, and gently but firmly encourage the foal to flex the knee, allowing me to raise the leg in a flexed position. Once the leg flexes, I immediately let it down— ??? ????? ??????????. If the foal shows any fear and pulls away, I let it pull away. Fear is the motivation for pulling away, and trying to hold the foot confirms the fear and forms a fearful memory of this first experience. Letting the foal pull away is ???? ??? ???????? of the”??? ??????” approach that assumes that by allowing the foal to pull away, the foal learns it can, and you must show it that you’re the boss by holding on to the leg until the foal stops resisting. ?.?. Forcing the foal to hold up its leg when it resists violates the controllability principle. It causes fear and begins a pattern of resistance—??? ????? ?????????? can last a lifetime in the high whorl fearful foal.

Not forcing the foal during the first experience starts to build confidence when you allow the animal to have some control over this novel procedure. When and if the foal pulls away, I calmly return the foal to where we started (??????????????) and repeat the process by standing parallel to the front leg, running my hand from the shoulder down to the cannon bone precisely as before. If the foal pulls away again, I let it (???????????????), then start the process again. If you can get the leg flexed and held briefly during this first experience, that’s good enough.

For the hind leg, I place my right hand on the point of the hip joint, then run my left hand down the back of the right rear leg and try to pull the leg up towards the belly. If the foal stands firm and does not flex the hock joint, I gently but firmly push the hip joint with my right hand shifting the weight to the left rear leg, allowing me to pull the right leg up and toward the belly. As with the front leg, if the foals pull away, I let it (???????????????), then start again in precisely the same manner (??????????????) I can hold the rear leg up for a moment, then gently set it down—the first experience.

Horses have incredible memories when fear inhibition does not interfere with forming memories. There is an evolutionary advantage to learning and retaining what places and experiences are dangerous and what places have plentiful food resources and remembering both equally. A common misconception in modern horse training is that horses need repetition after repetition to learn and retain commands. Rapid learning and retention are normalized using the “??? ??????” approach, and the fear component is eliminated. Think of it this way, when ????? is used on a young colt or filly to stand for the farrier, how long do they retain it? Sometimes a lifetime in a fearful animal, whereas the low whorl/low fear horse may forget the experience over time or be too lazy to continue to fight.

Like everything done with a young foal, keep the lessons short and try not to cause any fearful reactions. Be more cautious when you move to the avoidance side (left side of a left whorl foal). If you have a different result on the first try, let it go until the next time. Better than causing a fear reaction by becoming impatient. As I discussed in an earlier post, the two sides of the brain TALK to each other through the corpus callosum, and the positive results will slowly integrate into the opposite side of the brain. The corpus callosum is a thick bundle of nerve fibers that connects the two cerebral hemispheres, allowing them to communicate. It is also involved in movement control, cognitive functions, and vision. The period of consolidation I wrote about earlier plays a part in learning. It’s the time the brain needs to strengthen neural connections.

In Part II, I advise how to train the colt or filly who had the unfortunate experience of forced handling and has already developed maladaptive behavior towards hoof handling. I divide the reactions to handling feet as acute or chronic and offer advice on both. Please follow my page.