Hi Alicia,

PMU foals haven't had much done with them. Most of them have barely been touched. You'll have a lot to do just gentling it for the first few months. Pat is right on the money, you need to find someone who has experience to work with you and the foal. Have you considered buying an older well trained horse for your first mount? That would be the best way to go. There's an old horseman's saying, "green on green makes black and blue."

Stacy Rohan in Windsor, NY

-- Stacy Rohan (KincoraFarm@aol.com), March 28, 2001.

Thank you every one, boy this site is great i did not think i would get that many replies. I do have a 4h in my area and i will look into joining it. Im quite expierienced on ground work with a foal but im not so sure when it comes to training it properly to be a good mount. I do realise that some of the videos although good advice can be far from reality. I have had so many mixed opinions about this, some say draft foals are easier to be around (is this true?), and some say a filly is easier than a colt ( is this true?), some say pmu foals are wild but the organization i am going through only deals with registered foals either with an association or themselvs. i picked them since you can see the mother father and pedigrees.

I recently lost my 17 yr old Qh do to colic( he was paddock at a childrens summer camp we think a child wishing to give him a treat over fed him with grain). I have been to alot of farms that have excellent trainers to help you with riding and showing but when it comes to the ground work and basic knowlege of feeding the students are not taught. he was no childs horse and very peppy for his age. I just feel like i would like to further my expierince in the horse world. thanx =)

-- alicia (res0658t@gte.net), March 28, 2001.

Alica, see if you can work for a trainer [ cleaning stalls, grooming, ect]in exchange for help training your horse.If you buy a colt have it gelded.Training a horse is not easy, make sure you have some one with knowlege you can go to.

-- kathy h (ckhart55@earthlink.net), March 29, 2001.

O.K. Horse people, whats PMU? I have been around horses and mules for 30 years and have not heard this one before.

-- mitch hearn (moopups1@aol.com), March 29, 2001.

PMU: PreMarIn the drug of choice for hormone replacement in women. It comes from PREgnant MARe urINe. See how it got it's name?

-- LaDena Johnson (kjohnson@wcnet.net), March 29, 2001.

Alicia, Kathy's advice to get the colt gelded is absolutely right! And the sooner, the better. Even a yearling colt can be a real problem, and colts are now being gelded at pretty early ages (even 6 mo. or so) with no ill effects that I'm aware of. I forgot to mention the gelding issue in my earlier post, but it is very important. In addition to the fact that even a young stallion can be very dangerous, especially to a novice trainer, a colt is much more easily distracted and harder to train than a gelding. The ONLY reason I can see for letting a colt remain a stallion for several years is to evaluate his potential as a stallion prospect, which you certainly would not be doing. We routinely do this, but we are not novices, and the minute we make a decision that a colt is not what we are looking for as a stallion, to the vet he goes! Which, by the way, is the vast majority of them. Very few colts are truly good enough to use for breeding.

I'm guessing that the reason you were told draft horses are easier to work with is that they are considered "cold bloods", and are usually calmer and more docile than something like a Thoroughbred or Arab, which are "hot bloods". As always, there are exceptions to everything. :) One of the most obnoxious horses I ever worked with was a Clydesdale/Thoroughbred gelding, but again, there is that hot Thoroughbred blood. (Hot blood + cold blood doesn't necessarily make a warmblood - you can get a hot, cold or warm temperament.) I also worked with a draft team that were full brothers, Clydesdale/Morgan cross. One of the pair was lovely - calm, quiet and steady, but the other was a handful! So it really varies. If the colt you are getting is a draft/paint cross, chances are he will be relatively calm.

As to which is easier to work with, colts or fillies, we usually have 50-60 head of horses, and I honestly can't say we see much difference in the sexes regarding training (provided the colt is gelded). It's an individual thing. If you have the opportunity to pick from a number of choices, and not just one colt, I would try to learn their personalities as much as possible before you make a decision, and make your choice based on temperament over anything else. With the number of horses we raise, I can guarantee you that a lot of attitudes are INHERITED, and your training will only have minimal effect on the horse. You can teach a horse not to bite or kick, etc. but you cannot make him into a willing, cooperative learner if it is not his basic personality to begin with. We have horses that CANNOT be broke to ride, and others that with 30 minutes of ground work have been saddled and ridden with no objection. Same breed, some are even 1/2 siblings, they just have different personalities. So do yourself a favor and pick a nice gentle one.

-- Lenette (kigervixen@webtv.net), March 29, 2001.

Alicia,

Please also check with some experienced horseman on proper care and sand colic prevention. You may already know about this, if so you know what to do. I lived in south Florida for a couple years, did everything the vet advised and still lost my QH stallion to it. On training, The "Western Horseman" has some really good articles on colt breaking...also booklets on starting them. To me breed doesn't matter, they are all individuals. Good luck.

-- Deborah (bearwaoman@Yahoo.com), March 29, 2001.

Alicia, I haven't had a horse since I was your age, (several centuries ago). But now that we're back in the country, I'm thinking about it again.

I've been reading a lot of the books by John Lyons, they come in a set called the John Lyons Library, and aren't cheap, but I think very worthwhile. They may be available through your public library. He covers all aspects of horse care and uses the gentle methods of 'breaking' and training horses from foals to any age. Try to find them, I think they'd be very helpful to you. Also anything by Pat Parelli and of course Monty Roberts are good. That and working with a good trainer who uses modern methods. Enjoy your horses and best of luck!

-- Jorja Hernandez (jorja@color-country.net), March 29, 2001.

Alicia, I have been there--done that. No experience, bought a baby (had another given to me at the same time), learned 'Both' needed rehab and set about raising and training them. I'm one of the doggone FEW who were successful. PLEASE get a trainer, join 4-H and put yourself under supervision.

One more suggestion. If you want people to believe you are ready for this level of responsibility, you need the ability to communicate clearly. (That includes proper spelling, capitalizing "I" and other appropriate words whenever you are writing.) It is NOT the thought that counts; it is the clear communication. If you cannot communicate your ideas clearly to a FELLOW HUMAN--then you cannot communicate clearly to a non-human and shouldn't even attempt training. Therefore my suggestion is: work on your communication skills for a few more years.

-- Boondocks (maboulden@gilanet.com), April 04, 2001.

thank you for your input, i respect your oppinion boondocks, but at the same time i resent them! no need to be so harsh ( mabye u need the lessons on how to communicate). if you tell others my age that type of advice you will just want to make them do it more.. but luckly i am smarter than that inquired about it first and made my own decision along with my family... we all have to start somewhere. if you thought it was a bad idea then put it like some of the others did truthful informative and kind, i dont need to be insulted to get the point thank you very much!

To the other very helpful people, I would liek to thank you, do to your advice i have joined 4H and looking forward to getting and training my foal (with help of course) =).

-- alicia (res0658t@gte.net), April 04, 2001.

Alicia, "kudo's" to you; you sound like a very mature and responsible young lady!! I have a yearling appaloosa filly, have had her since she was 5 months old. I have had so much experience over the years with adult horses, but nothing could really prepare me for raising this baby than actually doing it!! First, get out there and "just do it". Of course, always have someone one around, NEVER try to work with it when you're alone. That's my #1 rule, and I'm 33. If something were to happen to you or the horse, there needs to be someone there to help. Second, read, read, read. Educate yourself. Get all sorts of perspectives on all sorts of ideas!! Third,find a trainer that YOU feel comfortable with. A good one will help you with questions and hands-on training. Just make sure to use one that uses your involvment. Trainers that don't want the owner around at training should send red-flags off in your head!! Finally, trust YOUR instincts. You are welcome to e-mail me, and we can compare training stories!! GOOD-LUCK!!!

-- Leslie Cote (lesliecote@yahoo.com), April 05, 2001.

Hi Alicia: Lots of luck with your new endeavor.... We purchased a 2 year old Paint a couple of years ago. It was for my daughter who was 10 years old at the time. I would try to find out as much information as you can about the parentage of your horse. There are many types of Paint lines and heredity has alot to do with how your horse reacts. When we were shopping for a paint, we looked at alot of different bloodlines.

I would stay away from any Paint lines that are Racing bred. These are just not safe horses. Also, many of the halter lines, while they have great looking pretty horses, alot of them also have attitudes... makes the horse very showy in the ring, but they can be difficult to handle.

I would try to see if the Paint lines go back to some performance stuff. (Western pleasure, etc.) these are generally (not always) horses that take to training better. Our horse was part Halter bred, and part performance bred. While he was younger, my daughter had her hands full trying to train him, and since he was still young, we did not want alot of weight on him. Some of those times may not have been the safest, probably. We did put him with a trainer that she could work with....and the horse (now 4) has done some very nice winning, and she finally has the drean horse she always wanted.

As a baby, just spend time handling the baby, rubbing him all over, every time you feed or clean, try and run your hand up and down his leg and tell him whoa, try to rub his ears, and chin, etc. This will help him (or her) trust you better. From there work into ground and halter breaking, and then go from there.

My daughter is also in 4-H.... we are in WI. She helps the trainer by lounging his horses before he rides, and saddling them, etc and although she is not being paid for her work, she is gaining alot of training background. What may work for one type of horse, may not work for the other.

We are also looking at getting a PMU Paint baby. Any information you have would be appreciated.

P>S> My daughter's name is Steffany.

Debby her work

-- Debby Jahnke (stardansams@yahoo.com), September 27, 2001.