Sometimes when you purchase a horse, he may come with a few bad habits that need correcting. You can blame the previous owners or he may have learned some of these things as a young foal.

Foals learn quickly from their environment and they are curious and inquisitive and unfortunately can learn bad habits just as fast as they can learn positive habits.

A foal that is left in a stall too much of the time because their owners either lack the time or knowledge to let them out can lead to stress and stress will cause the foal who grows into a 1,200LB horse to act out in less than desirable ways including head butting, biting and kicking.

Now and then, bad behavior is unintentionally reinforced. If you have a nervous foal that likes to nip, you might give him a treat of some sweet grass or hay to keep him busy. You just rewarded him for biting and this reinforces bad behavior.

Sometimes a foal will have a shy personality and shy horses need to be treated a little differently than a more extroverted horse. Some young foals are naturally aggressive and this aggressiveness will carry into adulthood. A spirited horse or a shy horse can be a equally good companion if you take the time to understand the horse's basic personality and train them with kindness according to their special needs.

Much like human children, foals need to be taught boundaries of good behavior so they can grow into well behaved adult horses and great companions.