Last week I got a new filly, she turned 8 months today. I've been grooming her, tying her in the roundpen(with a rubber lead), and walking her around the arena. What else can I work on with her? She lets me pick up her front feet and pick them out and I can rub my hands over most of her body. She is pretty good about standing tied and will follow me around while being led in the arena. I would just like to do some other things with her to add something different into our routine.

Thanks!

Treat her as you would an older horse. The more you can expose her to know the easier it'll be for you down the road. Get her to walk over things, have her wear saddle pads, get her used to clippers if you have them, ect.

I agree with Spragueandme..think of all the things that a big horse encouters and introdce her to it now. Whatever you ahev lying around will work..and use those strange things that she still may never encouter..teaches them that they don't have to be scared if something unexpected happens.

Also you mentioned that she was was good with her front feet but no mention of hind feet. Work on that. Also maybe get her to trot in hand..learning voice commands for when she's old enough to longe. Streches and giving to pressure are great as well. Look inside her mouth and be able to worm without trouble (using a clean wormer tube and appleasuce) There is a great article in Horse Illustrated I think that introduced how to get a horse used to injections and how to keep it's head down instead of throwing it up in the air. The sky is pretty much the limit. I even put a saddle on my 11 month old. It was only a pony saddle so she didn't have much weight on her back. Oh and you could get her used to fly spray and clippers too.

Use your imagination - the sky is the limit
Just start out slowly & get her desensitized to as much as possible.
There have been loads of posts on different things to use for desensitizing - the most recent is "Your fav desensitizing tool' (I think that's the title).

An important thing to remember though is that a youngster has a shorter attention span than an older horse - so be sure to keep your 'training' sessions short, give lots of praise when she does what you want/epect, and end on a positive note.

And have fun !!
I've been having a wonderful time with my Talea (she'll be 2 this Sunday)

I got my now three year old when she was 8 months old. In addition to what you are doing, I worked with her in a round pen teaching her to move according to my body language ie going forward when I was toward her rear, stopping when I moved forward of her shoulder, and stopping when I went into her space. I also worked for respect--not invading my space and turning toward me to await other cues. I did some basic halter class exercises as well. Like someone else said, their attention span is short so variety is the key.

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Also you mentioned that she was was good with her front feet but no mention of hind feet.

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I actually was going to ask this, but what is the best approach to picking up her back feet? I tried to pick them up the other day and she kept kicking at me, so I was a little weary of picking them up. Also, her one back leg has a sore on it, so she won't let me near that leg. (I am able to medicate it with a spray on medication)

I'd wait to even try the back legs until that one is healed..if you hurt her she'll equate it to that and you'll have twice the trouble later.

When starting I always got really close to her leg..the closer you are the less the kick hurts if it connects
Then get her used to you touching and rubbing all over her leg. Once she stands fine for that then pick up the foot and put it right back down..don't in worry about getting it turned up so you can see the bottom..just pick it up off the ground. It also helps to start using a command or word for her to pick it up..I use Foot Lily or Lily Foot.

Once she's comfortable with that then start keeping her foot longer and longer unitl you are able to do the same with both front and back..tapping on it to simulate the farrier, picking it out etc. If you own a rasp this would be a great time to introduce it as well.

This is how I've done it..others may have other ideas for ya.

We do lots of stuff w/the rescue horses on the ground to get them really comfortable with humans, cues and handling. I imagine you could do the same with your weanling. (I think this one is a Parelli term):
*changing eyes* - put the lead rope over his head so your holding the end, then slide the rope down over his neck, back, and over his rump. He will then feel the rope tug from the opposite side of his face and turn around to face you. then walk back a few steps so he follows you. then halt, and he should halt in front of you. (this is difficult to explain) It's called "changing eyes" because he initially sees you out of his left eye, but then changes to his right eye. Does this make any sense?

Expose her to as much as possible:
Tarps, bags, clippers, loading in the horse trailer, saddle pad- not saddle quite yet , like said earlier, the sky is the limit! The more she is exposed to, the better in the long run!

Several things that have been great for me are Downunder Horsemanship Handling Foals, Weanlings and Yearlings DVD, The 100% horse by Michael Peace and Clinton andersons book on basic groundwork (cant remember what it is called). I am not saying you have to get clintons stuff, The dvd is pretty pricey but those are what I feel helped me and Pheonix.
It sounds like you are already making progres with her.

I made a lot of progress with her today! My BO was able to pick up both of her hind legs today. He explained to me that she wasn't trying to kick at me, she just wasn't sure what I was trying to do to her. He also showed me the best way to stand next to her so that if she does kick at me I won't get hurt. The next big thing I want to work on her with is while leading when I stop and say whoa, she stops right next to me and doesn't move until I say it is ok to move.

Congrats on the new baby! Got pictures posted anywhere?

Teaching her to ground tie would be a good thing to do. In case you don't know how, I'll give directions... It's pretty simple. Main tool you need for training this is patience. Lots and lots of patience. Don't even try this on a bad day. LOLOL! Just put a halter on her and a lead rope, give her a cue (I like to gently tug twice straight downwards on the lead rope), drop the lead rope and wait 'til she moves. When she does, move her right back to the exact spot (or as close as you can get to it). Back her up if you have to, pull her sideways if you have to, but move her in the exact opposite way she just moved ~ she went three steps forward, you move her three steps backward ~ she went two steps to the right, you move her two steps to the left ~ right back where she was. Keep this up, over and over and over and over and OVER again, and eventually that lightbulb will go on for her and she'll stand still.

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...what is the best approach to picking up her back feet?

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IMHO, the best approach bar none is to use a thick, soft lead looped behind her pastern, just passed behind it not completely around, and with you holding both ends in your hands, pick her foot up with it. Only let it down when she stops struggling to get it loose. If you let it down while she's still trying to pull it loose, it'll just teach her that if she struggles, you let it loose.

I think this is plain and simply the BEST way to teach a horse to lift their feet. It keeps your head out of firing range of those hooves (that's the BIGGIE!!), it's easier to hold that wiggling foot up without falling over yourself, and you have better control of the horse ~ you can keep ahold of her lead rope instead of having to tie her. Tying a horse while teaching them to lift their back feet is just dangerous imho ~ not tying her lessens the chance of disaster if she spooks and pulls back really badly while still a bit unbalanced from her foot being up off the ground. And if you're lifting her foot with your bare hands and she falls over, there's a not-small chance that she'll land on top of you! ACK! Plus, using a rope to lift means you don't have to lean on her, and if she leans on you it's easier to step away from her to break her of that.

Also, if you haven't already, make sure that you've desensitized her to touching her legs all over before you do this. Pay attention to the insides of both back lets, too, as you're getting her used to touch everywhere. That'll make the rope around her pastern lots easier for her to take without freaking.

I'd like to suggest you hobble train her as well. This is a REALLY handy and potentially life-saving thing to teach a horse since once they learn it, they'll stand still if caught in a fence instead of spooking and struggling and ending up with tendons cut so badly the horse has to be euthanized. This is a lot easier and safer to teach a foal than an adult, so it's perfect timing for you.

It's really quite simple, but first a note about equipment. Using a set of "store bought" hobbles with a lead rope snapped to one of them for this would be good, but they're not must-haves. You can use a simple thick rope, so long as it's thick enough to not dig into her flesh if it tightens. It's best and safest if you use one of those thick, three-strand cotton lead ropes, the longer the better (twenty feet if you can find one, but a twelve footer will do). Back-braiding an eyelet into one end of one of those will give you a nice piece of equipment for this type of training. Go here for directions on how to do that eye splice: Three Strand Eye Splice or Three Strand Eye Splice 2

Loop it around her pastern just like you did when you lifted her foot, but this time run the plain end through the eyelet on the other end and snug it up just under her fetlock. Walk her around with this until she gets used to it, making sure that you hold the rope out of her way without pulling on it ~ just let her get used to it being there. Get someone else to lead her while you control that rope on her leg. (BTW, doing this in a round pen or other small closed pen is wise so she can't run off too far and get herself in trouble with that rope around her foot.)

Once she's used to the rope on her foot, start teaching her to stop when she feels it pull. To do this, slowly pull on the rope around her foot and have the person leading her slowly bring her to a stop when you tell them to. Communication between you and the person leading her is essential in this since timing is everything ~ make sure she slows down as soon as you start pulling on that rope, and stops as soon as you pull harder on it. Be consistent with your pressure on the foot rope and cues to your helper to slow/stop her and she'll catch on a lot quicker. Once she's learned to stop on her own when you pull on that back rope, I mean all on her own with no cues from your helper, move on to the other feet and do the same things.

Now you need hobbles if you want to finish this off, but you can make some out of a few feet of that thick cotton rope (make sure it's atleast one inch thick ~ the BIG stuff that won't cut into her at all if it gets way tight). Just splice an eyelet in both ends of a piece a few feet long, but this time splice that eyelet around the body of the rope so that you end up with two big loops with a short straight piece of rope between, and you've got it. Make sure there's enough ease in that middle straight piece to get the loops around her hooves, but not too much that she'll get tangled. Also, make sure that your eyelets are big enough that you can slide them along the rope, but small enough that it won't slip on it's own and will stay snug. You don't want things all sloppy and floppy down there. This is hard to explain in type, but if you can't understand what I'm talking about, let me know and I'll try to make a new pair of hobbles next week (gave my last ones away to a friend who needed them) and get some pictures to post for you.

Finishing the hobble training with real hobbles on both feet needs to be done in a soft area, away from anything she could fall on and hurt herself should she struggle (but if you've gotten her good and used to stopping with that foot rope, she shouldn't even bat en eye at the regular double hobbles). Just like with the foot rope, once you've got her used to the front feet, do her back feet.

I'm sure you'll be VERY careful, but I have to say it anyway ~ be OH-SO VERY careful about putting those hobbles on and MAKE SURE, ABSOLUTELY SURE that she's stopping VERY well on her own when you pull on that single rope around a single foot before you try tying two feet together! It'd be wise to stop her with a foot rope again a few times on each foot immediately before you put those hobbles on, just to make sure and remind her of what's going on. And I'm sure you know this, but do not EVER leave a horse alone when hobbled for the first dozen or so times. Just bring a chair, a beer and a good book and plan to hang around a while.

Good luck! You're going to have so much fun with her!

I'd wait till the leg is healed but... when you do start take a nice thick lead rope and put it around the pasturen and pick it up w the lead rather than the hand, thats what I've been told anyway, and start just real low to the ground and work your way up to where you can pick it ect, AND when you get to that point add on to tap w/ the handle of the hoof pick to simulate putting on a shoe, it'll help later.

And I would expose her to ANYTHING you can... my hubby and I would toss sticks (small ones) over top of Cosmo! Saddle pads, blankets, plastic bags, paper, tarps, Road cone ROFL I make Cosmo sport a orange cone on his back like a saddle LOL! Saddles, splint boots, walk over logs, in puddles, creek anything! Definetly start spraying w/ water bottle (saves wasted fly spray or conditioner) I just hung a water bottle on the stall every time I went in I'd spray a bit and tell him GOOD BOY! Also CLIP AWAY! You don't want a horse who you can't trim the bridle path!