foal for a first horse?

Question

My friend wants a horse. he wants a cheap foal for his first horse so that he can raise it and train it like i did with my horse, but i had several older horses before her and had experience with them. I'm trying to tell him not to get a foal for a first horse and he needs an older horse first, so he can learn from it and gain experience with horses. he works with his grandpas horses sometimes during the summer, but i believe he needs to own one and care for it 24/7 all the time to really understand and be able to train a foal for the first time. should he get a foal for a first horse, or listen to me and get an older one to have for a year to learn from before trying it with a foal?

Answer 1

Oh my! You're absolutely 100% - no 1000% correct. He should get a well-trained, experienced horse to learn from - just as you suggest.

It's a lot different caring for a horse in foul winter weather than spending a week or two - even a summer - at Grandpa's farm. At Grandpa's, horse care is a novelty - in foul weather - it's a chore.

And your horse needs care - every day - whether the cold spring rains prevent you from riding it or not. Or when you'd rather be sporting a new girlfriend out to the prom - you have to get home early enough to do your horse chores. And every spare nickle you earn has to go towards caring for Dobbin.

And we're not talking about the 3-5 years you need to spend just training your foal before you can enjoy riding it. Racing aside, I've seen way, way too many fine yearlings and two-year olds ruined because someone decided they could be ridden too soon. shesh.

Yes, you're absolutely right. Friend needs to learn what it's like to have a horse - period - before attempting to train a foal.

Answer 2

A foal wouldnt be the best choice for a first horse, not saying ur friend is inexperienced but yea hes inexperienced at owning or getting the whole training thing down. A foal, being young, he would be up to training it all by himself. However he can hire a professional trainer, but that would be so much money and it is more fun training it by yourself. Especially since it's his first horse, i say go with a green broke horse or an older horse that knows the ropes well so he can do some of the training, but wont have to put up with all of the stressful training with the foal.

Answer 3

It sounds like you have given good advice already. Having raised foals, and also gotten fully grown/partly trained horses, people do not realize the amount of time it takes to properly train a horse.

What I recommend for first time prospective horse buyers is to first take lessons, possibly lease a horse so they get to know what taking care of a horse entails.

Also, getting a foal, remind him that it will be a good 3 years before he can safely ride the horse for any longer period of time. Depending on the breed of horse, most don't fully mature until they are AT LEAST 3 years old.....many even later. If you friend has any intentions of doing a lot of riding, this is something to be aware of. You do not want to break down a horse in its' prime.

Answer 4

Here's a little story about a lady I once knew- you can use this to judge if getting a foal for a first timer is a good idea.

This lady was not only a first time horse owner- but also a first time horse rider! Never had been on a horse before at all in her entire life. Her horsey (whose intelligence level I will leave it up to you to decide) friend convinced her that she should get a PMU foal - it would be doing a good deed, and she could have a baby to raise and teach as her own.

So, home came the cute little pinto PMU blue eyed weanling. And they started training him - like a dog. To follow on the leash, and run and play along side the owner. How great it would be to have a horsey to teach and the kids to grow up with.

By the time the baby was a yearling, it was so spoiled and improperly handled that it was absolutely a monster to work with for real. This thing was just a pony, he matured out to be 14.3 h.

By the time he was 18 months, he had learned that if he bit his owners hard enough, he'd get a treat, and pat, and if he kicked the stalls down, he'd get food or get to go outside. And since walking on the "leash" was fun, so was running away and dragging your handler.
He had broken her hand, arm, wrist, leg, and injured another person all by the time he was 2. No vet could touch him to get a vaccine into him, no farrier could work on his hooves to trim them, he would run you down when you opened the stall because he knew he was going outside.
The animal was nothing more than a violent monster totally created by the improper handling that its novice owners gave him. They tried to ride him and never were able.

Hopefully by now, he's been sent to a trainer who is capable of working with the awful creation he became.

Answer 5

No not a foal for a first horse. Make sure he has PLENTY of experience before going and training a foal. If you make a mistake training a horse it will take a lot more work to correct it so no. Do NOT get a foal for a first horse. Keep telling him that!

Answer 6

Definately go with an older, broke horse. Foals are hard work and definately not as fun, especially for a young person (after the newness wears off) You can lead it, brush it, teach it some things etc. Your friend, I bet when his friends, like yourself are off riding he'd wish he'd have something to hop on and head down the trails with you!

So many people want to start off with a "baby", there's a huge misconception about it and I am not sure why. They are unpredictable, those little hooves can fire quick and they are very agile. Really, they can be very dangerous to be around, especially for "green" handlers. Most of the time they end up spoiled, and difficult to handle as they get older and the owners end up not happy with the behavior of the horse and they do not understand what happened because they loved it soo much. They are horses, not cats or dogs and need a lot more than love to become a respectful, cooperative adult horse.

If he's worried about getting a good bond, horses bond to owners very quickly. If he finds the right match, he could have so much fun and learn so much, as you said. I hope our answers here help him make the right choice!

Answer 7

We do not know enough about this boy to say anything.
I have seen people that have had horses for years. But still can not ride. Oh plus they give riding lesson just because they have been riding for years.
I have put kids on horses. That in just a little time are riding like they have riden for years.
So this is what I would ask this boy. Can you wait to be able to ride this horse. Or after only one year want a horse that can go on long trail rides.
And I am a book person. How much has he read on horses.
I am old and I still read and trying new things.
The key words are LEARN LEARN LEARN
And what is cheap. Cheap to me is a $1,000 what is cheap to you.
Make sure that foal can do want you want.
And sometime they still wont do it. Were a train horse. You know what it can do.

If you tell someone not to do something. They get mad and do it anyway.

Answer 8

I can't count the number of times I've seen disasters occur when inexperienced people take on young or inexperienced horses.
The horses always turn out ill mannered, and the owners often end up disillusioned.
There is no such thing as a cheap horse. They all cost the same to keep. The purchase price is immaterial.
When my youngster is a fully mature five year old, he will have cost around 8000 pounds to produce, in terms of time, equipment and keep bills. He will probably have a market value of half that, but I bought him for myself and have no intention of selling him. In 25 years in the horse industry, I have many years of training all sorts of horses behind me. I've have backed lots of youngsters, all of them have gone on to be great horses, but each horse brings new challenges. Even with my wealth of knowledge and experience, I still ask questions of those more experienced than myself whenever I come across a problem. Even one year with an older horse will not equip your friend to the challenges of a youngster.
I do hope you can convince your friend to use common sense.

A real horse lover wants the best for the horse.
If he loves horses, he should know his limitations...

Answer 9

Definitly an older horse. New horse owners and foals aren't usually a good mix. They just don't know what to do with them. Lot's of times the new owner will treat it like a big puppy which doesn't bode well when the horse is 1000 lbs. or more and still acts like it's owner is just it's play buddy. Plus an older horse will teach him what he needs to learn.

Answer 10

I think you should get one that deffinitely isnt very old but not too young. It's very hard work training a horse. I would settle for one that already knows the basics and he can then move on to the more complicated things. And make sure that if he wants a "cheap" horse, make sure he finds a good one. Not just one that's really really cheap. It's hard to find a good, cheap horse. But no matter how much you pay, a horse is always worth it (not really.)