Page 202 - Equine Chronicle August Select 2020

FOAL PRESCHOOL • EARLY EDUCATION FOR SHOW BABIES
every step. “We never want to scare one of the babies. So if we’re doing something too quickly, and it becomes alarming to them, we will stop, take our time, and ease up to it.”
Mares and foals get their own 100 x 100 paddock to start with. Ken describes, “After about five or six weeks, moms and babies are turned out in small groups in larger pastures. They have a solid foundation at that point, and we continue to handle them as neces- sary.” That includes learning to have their feet trimmed.
Foals are weaned with divided pastures where they are put together on one side and the mares are on the other. Masterson details the process saying, “We put the feeders in the middle of the large pasture for the mares, and we also feed the foals in the middle of their smaller pasture. We’ve found that’s the best way to wean, because it’s less stressful for both mares and foals. They can still see each other, and they can even hang out together. Then, the mares will move some distance away to feed, but they’re very relaxed about it.”
Once the foals become yearlings, the youngsters on Masterson Farms get their routine worming, shots and trimming, but otherwise they’re pretty much free to be horses. Masterson explains, “We like them to have that eight or nine months to be in their herd, move around plenty, and adapt to a pecking order.” He believes this time is vital for building socialization
skills, physical strength and mental attitude.
The Mastersons’ philosophy
is that as long as the foundation
is good, their horses don’t lose
their enthusiasm for being han-
dled even after months of run-
ning wild with their yearling
mob. Masterson says, “If you
walk out into any one of our
pastures full of yearlings,
they’ re all over you immedi-
ately. That always reassures me
we are doing things right. They
like people. They’ve never been
something they don’t want to go through again. While some peo- ple might consider it excessive, the time we spend on the front end pays off big dividends with the older horse when we move on to training and showing.”
Limelite Show Horses - Brian Henry and John Zeldenthuis
Brian Henry and John Zeldenthuis guide numerous young Paints and Quarter Horses to successful all-around show careers. Their operation, Limelite Show Horses, is located on the western slope of the Rockies in Colorado where their future champions grow up more like members of a ranch herd.
“We actually do it a little differently than a lot of places,” ex- plains John Zeldenthuis. “Once they stand and nurse, we are very
hands off. We go in and dip their navel three times a day for the first five days to prevent infection, but that’s about all the handling they get. We have them in a stall for the first two weeks, and then they go out into the pasture with the other mares and foals. I don’t touch my babies until they’re weaned. I don’t halter them. I don’t do anything with them until they are about six months old.”
Even once they’re weaned, preschool is pretty minimal. Zeldent- huis says, “I’ll bring them in, put a halter on them, and give them a few lessons on leading, picking up their feet, and such. Then, they go back out.” He continues to bring them in for short periods about once a month to trim their feet, mess with them a little, and tie them to the wall.
Zeldenthuis explains how they have developed their approach over the years. He says, “I realized about 10 years ago that the more I worked with them the more rotten they became. They were in your pocket. They were biting you. They were pesters. All the time they were just on top of you. I didn’t really love that. I figured they’re going to be a show horse the rest of their lives. Let’s give them time off to grow, find their feet, and be happy horses. Once I started that, we have been very successful with them.”
All the mares and foals are turned out together in vast pastures all summer long. At weaning, the mares stay out on pasture and the babies are brought into a pen where they are handled a lit-
tle bit, then they go back out. Zeldenthuis insists, “They’re very friendly. When we go out into the pasture, the mares come to us and all the ba- bies are curious. They just want to be around us. They are so- cialized by the herd, and they get their manners from other
babies and the mares.”
He believes his method
builds a stronger young horse. He emphasizes, “We breed Hunt Seat horses and they get big fast. I think many people mess up by putting them in a stall, locking them up, and feeding, feeding, feed- ing. If Hunt Seat horses grow too fast, you can have OCD (Osteo- chondritis dissecans) and you have all these joint issues. When they’re out on pasture, they get exactly what they need.” They also get a tremendous amount of exercise roaming the hundreds of acres of waist high grass they call home.
Zeldenthuis says he doesn’t touch his yearlings until they are 13 or 14 months old. They have won seven yearling World Champion titles, so his method certainly has merit. When the yearlings start to work, the school day is short. Zeldenthuis says, “I don’t pound on my yearlings. They will go out all day long in the turn-out and come in at night. I want them to be happy babies. I’ll go out and sit in the pasture with them and socialize out there. I don’t like to put
Mare & Foal at Limelite Show Horses
scared. They’ve not experienced
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