During the preweaning, or suckling, phase of the foal's life, the foal is growing rapidly. It is not uncommon for a suckling foal to gain 2.5 to 3 pounds daily under good management conditions. Also throughout this period, the foal increases its interactions with the environment and gains independence from its dam. This publication outlines management steps a horse owner can take during the preweaning phase of the foal's life to ensure optimum health and future productivity of the foal.
Younger foals are smaller and easier to control.
The mare can be used to block the foal in a corner of a stall or pasture so that the foal can be easily caught, and most foals learn to follow halter pressure quickly if led alongside their dam. Gentling the foal before weaning should lessen trauma and decrease the possibilities of injury to the foal at weaning, and several university studies have suggested that handling during the preweaning period increases the foal's manageability and learning ability. There are several different methods for gentling and halter breaking foals. In general, all successful methods work on the basic principle of rewarding the foal for submitting to human touch and for yielding to halter pressure. A good basic gentling practice is to start when the foal is a few days old.