Three months ago, we brought Charlie, a Suffolk Punch colt, home to our farm. He is now 8 1/2 months old and growing beautifully. He is a particularly handsome colt, and friends and family visiting our farm have often commented on his beauty. The other very noticeable thing about Charlie is his remarkable calmness and quiet friendliness, even despite his youth and the fact he is still a little stud. Charlie was weaned at three months, so I plan on giving him up to a year of growth before I geld him. The testosterone is good for bone growth and will help give him a solid physical foundation for strength and robust health.
In my last article, I described the adjustments Charlie was making to his new home and animal companions. He has continued to settle in well and seems to be completely at ease. He is no longer bothered by the sudden noises from the chickens on the other side of the shelter wall nor does he get alarmed by our dog running up behind him from nowhere. This kind of unplanned "spooky training" is very helpful in getting a sense of a horse's personality and level of fear tolerance. I can think up all kinds of scenarios for developing Charlie's calm response to scary situations or objects, but it¹s great to get a spontaneous snapshot.
Other situations that have given me a sense of Charlie's amazingly peaceful attitude are when the wheelbarrow bumps into him from behind, when we accidentally hit his leg with the pitchfork when mucking around him, or when a chicken just feet away from him erupts into hysterics when surprised by our dog. Charlie generally takes these stimuli in stride. If he lifts his hoof when he's touched by an object in a kicking response, he has never followed through and almost immediately puts his hoof down. I can then work on "pressure and release" by touching his leg repeatedly until he has no response to the pressure and is not bothered by it. My strong sense of Charlie is that he is a quick and willing learner and that he finds getting bothered by things usually more trouble than it's worth.
My focus in these early months with Charlie is to work on building good manners, which I hope will give him a strong base for future training. This is also building trust and respect between us and helps him to learn that I am his friend, will not hurt him, and will keep him safe.
In the first month, Charlie was learning to accept the halter going over his ears when the halter was put on and taken off his head without throwing his head around. He has learned this well and now stands quietly and patiently while I halter him. The itching that was bothering his ears and skin seems to have abated, and he holds his head still when I pet and rub his ears.
Charlie was in the habit of bolting from me when I took off his halter in the pasture when he first arrived. The horses are no longer on pasture so I am focusing on teaching him to flex his neck to the side for a moment every time I take off his halter. I hope to keep his attention focused on me and to wait until I have walked away before running off. Horses often kick up their heels in excitement when first let out on grass, and this can be very dangerous for the person left standing there.
I have continued to work on picking up Charlie's feet and cleaning out his hooves. When I first started working on this, Charlie was very reluctant to pick up his feet, and when he finally let me lift his hoof he would quickly try to pull it away. With persistent work asking him to lift his hoof and gradually increasing the amount of time I hold it, he now calmly lifts his hoof when I gently squeeze his fetlock. He rarely pulls his hoof away, and I am careful to set his foot down gently. This work will be invaluable for training Charlie to be a well mannered horse for the farrier. My husband particularly appreciates this since he's the one who trims our horses' hooves!
Another training tool I am working on with Charlie is to ask him to come to me when I call him and make a "kissing" sound. It's important to ask the horse to move for you rather than for you to move around the horse. In horse language, the one who can make you move is the boss. After training my other geldings, I can call them in from the pasture or wherever they are at a long distance by calling them. This is a big time saver and constantly reinforces their respect for me. I have started by being only a few feet or yards from Charlie and will work on increasing the distance over time. Charlie is responding well to this training, and the time he takes to respond to the pressure is growing shorter.
I try to be very consistent in asking for good manners in my horses any time I am with them. I'm working on teaching Charlie to step to the side when I use voice command and/or light pressure with my fingers, to back up, not to crowd me and to wait quietly while I put hay in the box and walk away, to stand still when I groom him, and countless other details as time goes on. I'll continue to build on what I ask of Charlie as he learns each step. My hope and plan is to give him a solid start toward a long and productive working life in partnership with his future teammate and with me. Charlie promises to be an exceptional horse with a sweet personality, great beauty and smart, willing attitude -- proven attributes of the Suffolk Punch breed.