Couple more things....

I meant to mention a couple of things you can do with the babies to help with training later. One is to use a fly mask as a yearling in the summer. It does help with the flies, but also helps later when starting to use a bridle, and even the blinkers for driving. That putting on and off of something on their head, and the vision change with the mask, is just one more thing to add to the daily life, and makes acceptance much easier as they get older. Hosing in the summer time with the babies (weanlings and up) is most important. It is a great desensitizing exercise with the water touching them everywhere, also they learn to stand while you are doing something. Also walks on the trails is most important. This gets them out of the pasture and into new environments, and away from the gang and with you. Pick a couple of outings, such as an expo and a local schooling event and let the youngsters just go and see what this is all about. We won't be going far this year with gas prices, but it is still a good idea to plan a few outings somewhere, again hiking in the local forests is always fun.