Working with our Rocky Mountain Horse foals video

I have posted a video on YouTube showing the daily routine and in-stall ground work with our three week old Rocky Mountain Horse foals. Moms and babies are led into the barn from the pasture every morning. Moms are given grain and minerals and while they are eating we work with the foals as shown on the video. We use a soft rope "hoop" placed around the base of their neck for control rather than using the halter right away. This avoids potential injury to the foal until they learn to "give" to the pressure of the halter. Once they learn, we no longer use the "hoop" and will attach a short lead rope to the halter and continue the in-stall ground work. After they have learned the "whoa", "go forward", left and right cues in the stall we will lead them beside mom both in from and out to the pasture. Note in the video that mom is OK with us working with the foal as long as the foal is calm (you can see that I am standing against mom's backside) but when excited as when I introduced the clippers, mom immediately came to investigate and was right there to observe. The foal calmed down very quickly with mom's presence and attention. This in-stall work with the foals while mom is there has been very successful for us and allows us to work with them at a very early age. All of the exercises that we do act as building blocks for their future training, both on the ground and under saddle. Note on the video as I rub on the foal I also rub around the sides of the foal and under her barrel where the cinch will eventually be placed. At the end of the video notice the licking of the lips by the foal as a sign of acceptance of her lesson for the day.