Reprimanding / correcting a very young foal?

I would never - ever - ignore kicking behaviour, nor would I pinch a foal or tap on the nose for kicking, by the time you get to the front end it would be to late!

Mares allowing a foal to get away with things like kicking and generally ignoring their bad behaviour make it difficult for the foal to learn the boundaries.

A mare will, if the foal is annoying her, kick it. Not with her foot but with the length of the cannon. Yes, they will nip but only if the foal is at the front of her or within range.

All foals at one point or another will kick. I watch them carefully and will set them up to have a go at me. I am very fast to punish this kick before it has reached much more than a lift of the hind leg.

I had a colt that was becoming bossy towards me. He was eating a small feed from one manger and his mother, hers. I noticed as I walked past his door (they have a chain across rather than the door closed) he was looking at me and swung his body to block the doorway. I was carrying a pitchfork, skip and bucket of water. Without stopping I turned the prong around so the handle was in front, sure enough he lifted his leg to poke one at me. As he lifted his leg so I prodded him with the handle. He ran and hid behind his dam. I filled their water, skipped out and left him to go back to his feed. A minute or so later I went back in and as soon as I approached the door so he politely moved over to give me room.

When you turn your foal out be sure that you turn him back to face the gate before letting him go and I would carry a dressage whip so that if he turns fast and lashes out you can give him a hard crack across his butt. He has to learn and learn fast that kicking is a no no.

Some years ago my vet received a nasty kick from a 4 day old foal, it broke his leg badly and he was 14 months before he was able to walk on it.

I can see why you would want to correct this behaviour!

Whilst some people advocate tapping the foal on the muzzle. There are two steps I would take;

1) completely ignore the behaviour - if he behaves like this just turn away. This way the behaviour is not being reinforced or encouraged with attention, also in turning away you protect yourself somewhat!

2) Pinching. This may seem odd, but it's often how the foal is disciplined by his mother! It's a more natural alternative to hitting, mimicking the biting of an older horse. The important thing here is to give a brief pinch ONLY when the behaviour is being displayed... It's important for him to learn it is this 'dude -ish' behaviour is triggering the negative response, nothing else!

Hope this helps!

I worked at a large TB nursery for many years. We always had 2 people for each mare/foal unit. Always 2 people, when they were led in and out. One person leads the mare the other the foal...but not in the normal way of leading. the foal had a halter and we used a soft cotton rop to attach to it. the foal was cradeled by the person "leading" it. one arm around the chest and one hand holding the base of the tail or around the rump. basically we just followed the mare in and out. by cradeling the foal...you'll have to be strong to this..it will prevent the foal from kicking out at any moving target. The foal may try to spring forward put you can restrain it with the arm going across the chest. do not let the person leading the mare get more than a step or two ahead of you. when you turn them out...the person with the mare turns to face the gate they just came through....release the foal first ...step out of the way and then release the mare. you can not discipline a spunky , healthy 5 day old foal. they all act squirrely at that age. when you bring them in the stall it will be the same thing in reverse. turn and face them both to the door, release the foal and then the mare. we also took their temps...before going out and when coming in every day for the first 4 months. the constant handeling and cradeling kept them safe and the handlers too. by the time they are 2 - months old they should be leading without being cradeled.

When mom gets tired of it, she will correct it. As for kicking/bucking when turned out, you're right, that's not good, especially when he gets older. I'm sure part of it is just baby energy and feeling good, but the sooner the habit is stopped, the better. I'd start maybe skirtching him as he is turned loose. Then once you find a really good spot, stop & walk away. He will be wanting more and won't be in such a hurry to move away. As he gets older, the skirtches can change to a bite of carrot, or apple. Something to keep his attention on you until you are safely behind a gate.

If you have even been kicked in the belly on a hot summer day and had to lay in the sun for a long time before you could regain your feet you would promptly put a stop to that action.

I would think you should carry a crop with you and if you have a halter on him and can control him, you should quickly paddle his hinder if he kicks at you. He should learn not to kick at people.