How to Teach a Foal to Lead

Last Updated: April 8, 2021

Teaching a foal to lead is easy if you know how to do it. Foals are at the age where they will soak up anything you teach them, good or bad. So it is best to be careful and know that everything you do is going to mean something to this young horse.

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Get your foal used to a halter

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Introduce the halter to your foal when he is anywhere from three days old to a week.
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Make sure that you buy a halter that will fit well. It is a good idea to buy one that can be let out quite a bit as your foal will grow very fast. Your foal should be very friendly and should trust you fully. If not, you should gain his trust before you try to teach him to lead, or he could get scared and loose any trust that he had with you before.

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Learn the first haltering lessons. They are around five minutes long each.
- Walk up to your foal and show him the halter.
- Let him sniff it and bite it and get totally comfortable with it. Then have someone hold the foal gently while you quickly slip the halter on. You want to do this fast, before the foal learns that he can pull away.
- When the halter is secure, let him loose and let him run around with it on for a few minutes, keeping him in sight.
- After about five minutes, walk up to him and have your helper hold the foal while you quickly take it off.
- Do this every day, increasing the time that he has the halter on, until he will let you take it on and off with no problems.

Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Attach the lead rope

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Once your foal is very comfortable with you taking the halter on and off without any help, snap a lead rope to the halter and hold it while he walks around.
- Do not let go and let it drag, because he will step on it and get scared as his head is jerked back.
- Make sure his first experiences are always good, or he will refrain from it the second time.
- Follow him around, holding the lead rope in your hands.
- Do this every day until he doesn't seem to notice it. Then you can move on.

Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Master first leading lessons

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Have a helper stand behind the foal as you snap on the lead rope.
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Stand next to the foal's shoulder, so his front legs and your legs line up.
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Have your helper give the foal a tap on the rump with their hand, or a small riding crop, and give a small tug on the lead while giving whatever command you want your foal to know means, 'go', such as a kiss, or the simple words, 'walk on'.
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Do not make one continuous pull, or your foal will immediately resist. Instead, always use short tugs.
- If your foal does not move forward, give the command again and a short tug. Usually the foal will get the idea.
- Once the foal is moving, walk around the pen with your helper right behind the foal, to give him a tap if he stops. When pulling his head to the side to turn, do not give one continuous pull; remember, always short tugs, and stop immediately when he obeys.
- After around ten minutes of leading, stop and take the halter off and praise your foal. Only stop on a good note, not if your foal has just stopped on his own, or if he had just resisted and pulled against you.
- If he does this, correct him by giving him a tug and the command to keep going. It is best to give your foal two lessons a day, ten minutes long each.
- Make sure to stop before your foal starts to get bored, so he doesn't act up. Foals are young, and have very short attention spans. A bored foal will resist to whatever you want to teach him, and he might react by nipping, pulling against you, or kicking.
- Keep lessons at 10 minutes or less to keep this from happening. Many short lessons are way better then one long lesson.
- After your foal will easily lead without having a helper behind to encourage him, and when he will listen to your commands immediately, you have successfully trained your foal to lead!
- Remember to have lots of patience, and most of all, enjoy your foal!