Editor's note. This is the second installment of Kate's series on the introduction and training of her new draft horse Charlie. You will find the first installment here.
Just under a month ago, we brought Charlie, our new Suffolk Punch colt, home to our farm. The adventure in raising another colt and training him to harness has begun in earnest.
We have introduced several new horses to our farm in the five years we've been here, and it's always been exciting, fascinating, and a little scary. But I've never brought such a young horse to the mix and it was more difficult that I had expected.
The first challenge was to trailer Charlie home. We don't have a trailer of our own so we hired Linda, a woman with a small horse trailer and well maintained truck, to do the trucking. Linda and I arrived at Fair Winds Farm in Brattleboro, Vermont in the late morning on a cloudy, raw day with heavy rain in the forecast. We found Charlie standing quietly in his stall beside his stall mate, munching a bit of hay. This was only the second time I'd met Charlie. Again, I was struck by his quiet, calm demeanor and intelligent eye.
After the business formalities, Jay Bailey of Fair Winds Farm, led Charlie to the trailer. Charlie had never been on a trailer and because it did not have a ramp, he would have to step up onto the bed of the trailer. This would be a new experience for Charlie and Jay was gentle and patient. Jay talked quietly and encouraged Charlie who calmly took in the unfamiliar sight and smell of the trailer. A trailer can look like a dangerous dark cave to a horse, not a place they would naturally walk into of their free will. Five or ten minutes passed, and after several false starts Charlie stepped up onto the trailer floor and walked quietly beside Jay into the front of the trailer where we closed the divider to keep him safely confined. The ease with which Charlie loaded impressed me. He demonstrated trust in Jay and a calm consideration of what was asked of him - an excellent beginning.
We arrived at our farm almost three hours later. Charlie had weathered the trip well. On the return trip we stopped once to check on him and found Charlie calm and alert. He showed no signs of distress or fear. We have two Suffolk Punch geldings, ages four and five, a Belgian in his 20's, and two female donkeys. These were to be Charlie's new family, and they were all waiting at the fence, very aware of a new equine presence on the farm.
In the past when we've introduced new horses, we've set up fence between them so that they could meet over the fence before actually having contact, and found that we could quickly put them together without mishap. I made the mistake of thinking that because Charlie was so young (five months) he wouldn't pose a threat to the adult horses and thus we hadn't set up a temporary dividing fence. I brought Charlie through the gate, took off his halter, and watched the meeting with my heart in my throat. The geldings immediately surrounded Charlie and they all moved off at a trot.
Charlie seemed most interested in checking out his new surroundings, but the geldings were right on his heels, checking him out. He almost constantly made the submissive "lick and chew" gestures and showed no interest in making any challenges. Ned and Jake, the geldings, kept him moving around the area, often with threatening body language with ears flat and necks stretched out. True to their natures, the donkeys hung back and watched the games with quiet interest. Toby the old Belgian was clearly interested in Charlie but did not show any aggressiveness. I began to get worried when Ned and Jake did not let up on their aggressive behaviour. When they kicked and bit at Charlie with clear intent it became obvious it was more than just a threat. I'd made a grave mistake by putting Charlie in with the adults without a chance to safely meet over a fence. So I quickly separated Jake and Ned from the others and everything settled down quickly. Later, we set up a more permanent dividing fence for the two groups, so that everyone could share the shelter and be safely near each other, and life amongst the horses and donkeys has settled back into peaceful coexistence. We learned an important lesson from this potentially disastrous situation and are grateful that no one suffered any harm.
Over the next several weeks, we've given Charlie time to settle into his new home and adjust to the unfamiliar animals on the farm, including chickens and cows. It took him a little time to get used to the braying of the donkeys too, especially at close quarters. I've paid close attention to his reaction to new situations and things that could be potentially frightening to a horse, particularly a young colt. Chickens popping up into the feeder as he eats his hay, our dog racing up behind him in the dark, mysterious noises in the woods next to his pasture at night, even just stepping over a log in the laneway. Charlie has shown himself to be very alert and aware of his environment. He has consistently remained calm despite all of the new experiences and chosen to look at the stimulus rather than bolt from it. Charlie is friendly to people and will often quietly appear by our side for some petting when we are working in his area.
My first steps in the actual training have to begin with the basics of getting acquainted and establishing trust and respect between us. Good manners in the horses are very important on our farm, and Charlie's got a good foundation to start from. He stands beautifully when I walk up to him to halter him and accepts the halter without any problem.
The only issue that I've discovered that can present a challenge for him is that his skin is itchy from hundreds of small hard bumps on his body and ears, possibly caused by "rain rot" from the wet fall. He can be somewhat irritable about the itching, and I've had to work on pulling the halter off his ears without his throwing his head around. It was a help to discover the skin problem in terms of understanding why he was irritable with the halter in the first couple days.
I brush Charlie almost every day, which is a good opportunity to ask him to stand quietly and get used to having his whole body touched and handled. I've also begun working with Charlie to pick up his feet - he's still reluctant to yield his hoof and wants to pull it away quickly but gentle persistence has shown good results. I've started working on lateral flexion to teach him to yield to pressure and to develop a soft, supple neck and response to the bit.
One area that I feel needs to be addressed quickly is that Charlie lags behind when led and will pull back on his halter when asked to step up. I think I'd like to work with the butt rope to teach him to move forward and to move away from pressure rather than pulling on the halter. Another issue that I'm working on is teaching Charlie to stand quietly while I take off his halter and not to take off when it's off his head when he's brought out to pasture. For years I've led our horses to pasture without any halters, but I've begun leading our old Belgian, Toby, with a halter and lead rope together with Charlie. This helps teach Charlie to lead quietly and respectfully. And when we arrive at the pasture, I remove Charlie's halter first with Toby standing beside him and then take Toby's halter off. This has made an amazing difference in training Charlie to wait quietly for his halter to be taken off and not to run off with a boisterous kick, which can be a dangerous situation for the person standing there.
Our first month with Charlie has taught us a lot - both about Charlie and about beginning a relationship with a new, young horse. I'm excited about at prospect of this relationship. Charlie has shown himself to be friendly, willing, and a quick learner. There are many challenges ahead, and I need to keep a patient mind in dealing with this youngster, but the relationship looks promising.