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Training and Care
At Cheval Farm when a foal is first born we begin
a six-month commitment. Starting after approximately
four to eight hours after foaling we start handling
our new ward. We submit each foal to as much as possible
over the first few days. It needs to experience all
of the different things that it will encounter in
day-to-day life around people. This is so essential
for a newborn; the sooner this little one realizes
that we have no intentions of harming it our job begins
to get easier. The foal will start to come to you
for attention and affection. If you wait to start
handling your new foal, like so many people do, until
the foal is several hundred pounds, guess what? You
will lose more often than you will win! That is a
bad thing, if you win every time (when the foal is
so new to the world) the foal will learn to respect
and even view you as the Alpha element of their world.
This new little life needs a routine, with different
people doing the same things every day. For an example;
after about a week while mom is eating we start introducing
some oats to our foal, and at first the foal will
just play by nosing around in the container. After
a while it will begin to ingest some of the oats and
that will get them started on accepting other foods
along with mom's milk. We do not replace mom's milk
but in the untimely event that something should happen
to mom over the next six months it will help nourish
our new foal and make feeding time much more pleasant.
In the first three months we will work on accomplishing
the following things:
Vet checks:
We do not do things the old "Cowboy" way,
where "mother-nature" just takes its course.
We will have our vet come out and check all of our
foals out within the first 24 hours. At that time
they will draw blood to check and see if the foal
has gotten the proper antibodies from the mother.
 Touch every inch
of their body:
At first we catch the foal and begin light caressing,
touch the body, tail, face, ears, mouth, legs, stomach,
hips, etc.
Put on and off halter:
This is the first thing that we introduce to the foal
that is a foreign object that the foal will wear on
its body. It is best to start within the first day
or two. This can be a shock to the foal and it will
usually react negatively at first and takes a lot
of patience.
Fly spray:
We start out by spraying mom's legs and just letting
the foal get use to the sound of the spray bottle,
and eventually allowing just a small amount of the
mist to reach the foals back and then we move onto
the legs.
Baths:
 When the weather is warm enough we will start introducing
the foal to the water hose. With in a couple of weeks
of having water gently sprayed on the legs and body
they actually start to enjoy bath time.
Pick up feet:
Our farrier starts with these little guys right away,
he will pick up their feet, and just do a little light
filing on the hoofs, just to get it ready for a real
trimming.
Have it follow Mother
on and off the horse trailer:
We leave a horse trailer in the same area that the
horses are in so that they see it everyday, when working
with a new foal we will even leave the door open and
put just a little hay on the inside so that the foal
will approach the trailer and start seeing how its
mother and other horses react to it. The hay is just
a little enticement to get mom to stand at the door
with baby in tow. It is a good idea to have the trailer
connected to the truck so that the weight of the mother
getting on and off does not cause the trailer to tip.
Put on and off fly
mask:
Flies and other insects carry diseases and the health
of our foals eyes are very important and getting them
accustomed to having fly masks put over their ears,
eyes, and on their noses at a young age is a must.
For the last three months before a foal leaves us,
we will practice all of the items on a regular basis.
We do our best to ensure that each and every foal
gets the best possible start in life. We want our
animals to leave Cheval Farm with a personality and
disposition that anyone would want in a horse.
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