One of the most difficult tasks is fitting a foal to show that has just been traumatized by weaning. Its whole world has changed drastically and it is up to you to make the transition into a new way of life, as painless as possible.  Don't be in a hurry and be consistent.  Work the foal in a straight line to reduce injury to joints.  Pony the foal off its mother if she is broke to ride or use a golf cart and have someone sit on the rear seat and hold the lead shank, in case the foal pulls back. 

Start out with a 10 minute walk for the first week then walk 5 minutes and jog 5 minutes the next week, then jog 10 minutes and cool down 5 minutes at a walk thereafter.  Increase the workout gradually.  Don't overdue it, and have a cooling down period. At the end of our "forward movements" we quietly back the foal up for a minute or two.  We tie our foals to chains hung in their stalls for 1 to 3 hours afterwards, so they don't eat a rope and colic.  This teaches them to stand quietly and gives sweat-wraps time to work.  After a week has passed, we introduce the chin chain to the foal. 

A showmanship chain is the correct size.  Don't use a small chain.  It is too thin and can hurt them if they pull back and fight.  The foal must learn to "work" off this chain if you are going to be successful later on with halter or showmanship.  Some of the worst accidents we see at shows could be prevented if owners would have their foals trained to work off a chain before going into a show ring.  Foals must submit to the chain and be willing to move forward or backward with gentle pressure so this phase of their training is very important.  Never jerk the lead or they will be afraid and you'll defeat the whole purpose of the exercise.  You must follow them if they start to run backwards so they won't flip over. 

Young horses quickly learn that when the chain is added to the halter, they are expected to behave and go to work.  We never pat our young horses while they have the chain on except to say well done after they've accomplished the lesson.  The chain must signify "work" time.  When the chain is not present, they learn that this is "play" time, and you can scratch and pet them as much as you want to after "work" time.    They must know how to stand quietly while their feet are being moved. 

Improperly trained foals that are not restrained properly with a chin chain create havoc at a horse show.  Long chains are dangerous, and don't look professional.  Only 2 or 3 inches should be loose.  We gently pull forward and push backwards and sideways, increasing the time spent doing this exercise every day, until the foal is comfortable with it.    Eventually we "pony" the foals with the chin chain so they become used to the fact that when the chain is under their jaw, they are expected to behave and go to work. 

The most important thing I can teach you here it to make a real effort to differentiate between  work and play time, so the horse knows what it is expected to do and doesn't get confused.  Most errors in the show ring are handler errors from improper or incomplete training.  At the same time, we are concentrating on touching and moving all four feet.  Once the foal is more physically fit, you can work it in a little deeper sand, which will build muscle as any good "progressive resistance " program will do. 

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