At first, you have this adorable little foal, with his little-wittle nose, fuzzy-wuzzy coat and stubbly tail. You ooo and ahh over him, take tons of pictures, and show him off to your friends when they stop for a cup of coffee and a baby viewing. Mama feeds the foal, he's weaned, and then you feed him. Pretty soon he grows into what he is today, a frolicking, gangly and, likely, unruly yearling.
Now he's not so cute.
He needs some manners and a way to keep his brain busy. But it's still at least a year, maybe even two or three, before you can ride him. In the meantime, what are you going to do with him?
There's the temptation to sell him and let him become someone else's problem. Or, you could turn him out to pasture and forget about him until he's 2 or 3 years old. Or, you could do what amateur owner Keeley Gant did, and spend the next 12 months getting your yearling ready for the rest of his life.
1. Schedule a Gelding Appointment
Obviously, this only applies if your yearling is male. If your colt has made it to his first birthday still intact, now's a great time to make an appointment to have him castrated. A yearling gelding is much easier and enjoyable to handle and train than his stud-colt counterpart.
"It's the best thing I did," says Keeley, who adds that J.R.'s coltish attitude changed almost immediately after the surgery.
Young horses heal faster, too, making getting cut less stressful now than it would be later on in life.
2. Teach Leading Skills
At this point, you've probably already haltered the kid. And, maybe, he's learned to give to pressure and follow you around on the lead rope without too much protest. Just remember, these early leading lessons are laying the foundation for tying, ponying, bridling and, more generally, behaving. You might be able to wrestle your yearling now, but he will grow, and there will come a time when he's too big to make him do anything. So, instead of forcing him to follow you, teach him to lead properly.
"A big part of it is learning about space," Keeley says. "J.R. had to learn to get out of my way and not climb on me."
When you're working on leading, change directions a lot, stop, back and turn your yearling toward and away from you. Have set expectations, but also keep training sessions short and positive. Your yearling has a short attention span, and this is kindergarten, not college.
