Training Tips

QUESTION: I am currently enrolled in equestrian management courses at a college in Virginia. I am planning to adopt 2 Premarin foals. I was wondering if you have noted any conformation faults or behavioral issues specific to these foals or any of the mentioned that is more prevalent in these foals. I am 43 and it has been quite a few years since I have been around horses but this is something that I am very passionate about doing. I decided to complete these studies prior to bringing the foals into our life and wanted an expert opinion. Our local veterinarian told me that he has not heard that the foals are any different than others. Please give me your input. Thank you for your time and information.

REPLY: No, I haven't noted anything particularly different about premarin (PMU) foals EXCEPT...often they come quite wild. Meaning: many have had very little contact with humans so those you have to approach knowing it's very much like getting a wild horse, not your usual domesticated foal who has had regular handling from the get go. Those are the ones I tend to get called in to get gentled. It's not hard, but definitely a job probably best handled by a professional much of the time. Just "being nice/kind" to them isn't enough. They're scared, they're wild and a good qualified gentler has to know intimately natural horsemanship gentling techniques to get them off to a good start. The other thing to know is: so many of these premarin foals are Belgian foals. So they come quite big, bigger than you picture a baby horse being, some the size of a full grown domestic horse! So...potentially you're getting a big, wild horse with the mind of a frightened, immature baby. Not something a beginner can usually handle all by themselves at first.

You can read a little more here from a client's firsthand point of view of what it was like having a PMU foal arrive that I was called in to gentle: CLICK HERE

So...know that much going into it. You can arm yourself with training information, however, and if you want to do that yourself, I'd suggest a couple of things:

My Whispering Way Round Pen Leadership DVD also teaches the art of natural horsemanship round penning visually. To learn more about and order that video: CLICK HERE

That's a good way to start, so, that would mean having access (or purchasing) a round pen which is the best training classroom there is.

Also, maybe think about getting my DVD set, the Whispering Way 12-Step Total Training System, and you can order that here: CLICK HERE

In that DVD set, I teach my natural horsemanship training system which works with every horse. I also teach in depth horse/prey animal psychology. But if you can't get a hand on the wilder horse to begin to apply the methods, then you need to apply round penning (at liberty) psychology first as I teach there in the above link or DVD, to get them to choose to allow touch.

And incidentally...my Whispering Way Complete Training Package contains all my videos and training tools that you need to train or retrain your horse yourself the natural horsemanship Whispering Way. You can check out/order the Whispering Way Complete Training Package on my web site here: CLICK HERE

The truth is, a premarin foal is a big project, but if you know precisely what you're getting yourself into and if you're committed to the mission with all your heart, you'll find the journey is the reward and you'll get there. Just don't have any illusions about them. I see that so much out there in these trenches. People picture they're getting a cute cuddly foal they can hug all over but when the premarin foal arrives much the opposite, and wild to boot, it sometimes shocks people and cognitive dissonance sets in. And that's when I get the calls. So many of these PMU foals are indeed quite wild horses, but with the right approach, they settle in very quickly and you can get them progressing nicely and they are very sweet. But they don't get sweet and tractable all on their own. They have to be shown the way there with proper and enlightened training techniques. The more information and tools you arm yourself with ahead of time, the quicker your success will be there.

The more you arm yourself with training education there yourself, just as you're taking the equestrian management courses, the shorter your learning curve will be once the foals arrive. The truth is, every horse owner is their horse's primary trainer, whether they realize it or not. Every time we are with our horse, the horse is learning something. We just want to make sure they are learning what we want them to learn, not what we don't want them to learn. So, the above is what I'd advise to self-empower yourself there ahead of time, and that will greatly arm you for the tasks ahead.