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I have a 7 mo old PMU filly. I got her when she was 4 months old and it took a long time for me to just get her to let me near her.

I have been trying to get her to accept me and now she does and I think she doesn't respect me. While trying to bond with her, I spent a lot of time grooming her while she was loose in her stall and now I want to groom her while she is tied to a ring outside of her stall and she is very dancy about it. I can't get her to stand still!!!! She is so bust sniffing at me and trying to get into everything else in the barn. She needs to get her feet done soon and while I can pick up her feet, she won't let me hold them for very long and she pulls all of her weight back from the ties. Cross ties are not an option as our barn is not set up for it and I would like to able to just work with her tethered to the ring anyways. How can I teach her some patience and respect?

Patience and respect are two separate lessons. Here I will try to help you with the patience. If you want her to stand tied then you must leave her tied up. Do not expect her to stand still when initially tied up. Over time she should learn that is a lot less work to just stand still. Many trainers have a "patience post" that they will leave a horse tied to. Tie her high and short, tie her with a halter and lead rope that will not break to something that she will not pull over and let her stand. Do not leave her unattended but let her pull and paw and dance about. She will learn to stand as long as she does not break free. You will be nearby to help her if she really throws a wreck. Do not help her unless she is really in danger. Pulling back a little will only teach her that it is not comfortable to do so. Do this a few minutes at a time increasing the time each day. I strongly suggest doing this when she is still young and not really strong enough to break halters. Do your barn chores while she stands tied. You could feed her a small amount of grain while she is tied. That way she will feel she is being rewarded rather than punished. Do NOT give her grain if she gets annoyed and dances around. Wait until she has settled down before she gets fed. As for handling her feet (see Training Young Horses - Picking Up Feet In the article section TMS)

Will Clinging 2004 (c)

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