FARM NEWS (Continued from page 13)
a run-in where they would have pasture and shelter without us having to handle them. I was very worried the colt would be wild an unmanageable by the time he could be weaned. Twice in the past I knew of foals born and handled very little, with negative consequences. One situation was when I had a large boarding stable, and a couple bought a mare at an auction without knowing she was pregnant. Since they couldn’t use her for riding right away, they boarded her at my farm until the foal was born and old enough to be weaned. They came out to see the filly when she was born, but that was all I saw of them until the Two-week old Morab colt, filly was three months Windmere Flash Force with his old. I had a set-up Morab dam. where I could lead the mare to a paddock and let the filly run along since there was a perimeter fence all around and I knew she couldn’t run off. The filly was finally sold and the new owners brought a large stock trailer to take her home. The mare was loaded easily enough but the filly wanted nothing to do with going in the trailer. Finally, after getting them both back in the stall it took four men to wrestle the youngster into the trailer. Since the buyer was the provider of our shavings, I would see him every couple months. He told me they were never able to get the young horse trained, and she was auctioned – probably for meat. The other situation involved my brother and sister-in-law. They bought a mare, had her bred and thought they would have so much fun raising a foal. A beautiful colt was born outside, since they had only a run-in with no stall. The mare was gentle enough, but the colt was skittish and they were never able to handle him much. He ended up being sold back to the seller of the mare and after lots of work finally became a useable horse. Naturally, I was worried about our colt and how he would finally turn out. I added the mare’s dam, Glory, to the group and hoped Flash would also come to trust us, because she did. That helped, but it was still a big project just to catch him long enough to loosen his halter as his head grew. Finally he was 3-1/2 months and was eating on his own enough to be weaned, so I moved Fancy to another paddock (by then she was relaxing in her attitude toward us). Flash was moved to the box stall next to Glory for feedings and was turned out with her during the day. Then we started working with him and were amazed that within a week we could lead him, touch him all over and even pick up his feet. He seemed to enjoy the attention and very soon I saw no difference in his attitude and that of foals I had spent lots of time with. I must say, I was pleasantly sur-
prised considering my past experiences. I can only come to the conclusion that while early training is very important and should be done as much as possible, disposition is really bred in. I’m quite sure many Morab breeders reading this can agree that when it comes to personality and disposition, it’s just in there!
Windmere Flash Force, at four months-old with Joel.
Morab Breeders Trust Fund 2009 Nominated Stallions
JCW Rev’s Cajun Sundancer Morgan Palomino, 15 HH Jericho’s Mr. Sterling Morab Grey, 15HH Jericho’s Royal Stormhawk Morab Buckskin, 14.3 HH Mary Mel’s Mystery Morgan Flaxen/Chestnut 15.2 HH Montego’s Thunder Morab Bay, 15.3 HH Sir RAF Royale Morab Palomino, 15 HH WWA Kurafi Arabian Grey, 15.3HH THI Cherokee Morgan Black/Chestnut 14.3 HH For the most current list of stallions visit: www.morab.com/mbtf_stallions.htm
Morab Perspective 2009 Foals & Events Page 14