can anyone with experience, give me some advice on where to begin with our 4 week old colt, we, want to be able to begin new things when we are suppose to and not too soon, what should we be doing with him right now, and later. can anyone suggest a good book or web site that can help me from beginning to end with this issue. we would like to be sure that we are doing the littl tyke justice as well as ensuring a great horse while he is growing. like i have previosly said, we have had some horse experience, but are no experts by no means, and just want to do the right thing. any advice will greatly be appreciated.thanks,

LOL, I hope I don't seem like a thread hog!
Jack was that age when I bought him! First and foremost I wanted to make sure he was comfortable w/people. I touched him everywhere(including his daddy parts cuz you have to clean sheaths) ears, belly, in nostrils(strangles vax), everywhere! When he was comfortable w/that I started putting a halter on him, but only under supervision. Once he was ok w/wearing it, I started teaching him to lead. At first we just did a lot of circles. You can kinda push the hind end and lead the head so they get the idea. Or just put it on him and walk w/him and mom. Once they have leading down you can start teaching them to load, tie(when they're a few months old), bathe, give feet, etc... Just remember that they have very short attention spans and only work well for about 10 min at a time. I am not an expert, but I raised Jackson by myself so if my experience will help feel free to ask! One question though, when are you planning to wean him? Weaning too early can cause some issues, trust me, that happened w/Jack.

JeneJen is right- Do everything.
Groom/tie/load/clip/bath/trim/lead/blanket- any and everything you expect him to do when older.
What NOT to do- treat him like anything other than a horse. Although they are extremely cute. Don't be tempted to play or teach him cute habits. At anything over 100# its not cute anymore and will just become dangerous.

he wont be able to be weaned until september of this year. is it o.k. to take him away from mom while you work with him? or should she be right there?

got it, thanks for the advice.

As long as they can see each other it should be fine. Mom may freak out, or may not. Baby too. Just see how they react. It you can't, you could just tie her up it the stall, field, wherever you're working baby.

We are fortunate to have had ours since birth, although the only thing I did was dip her umbilical cord once it broke and made sure she nursed, and did the post foal check the next day by the vet. She wore her first halter at 3 days old, when we led her to the turn out. She wore her halter with the lead attatched and the rope figure 8 around her rump and we guided her but let her follow mom. This can be used on older foals also if needed. By 5 days old she was walking behind or beside mom on a lead. She was comfortable with wearing a fly mask. We make her teaching sessions short. Normally during feeding time while mom is eating. Each time picking a different subject so to speak.
Picking up her feet and setting them down before she pulls them away.
Rubbing her ALL over
Putting fly mask on
leaning over her (like giving her a big hug)
Fly sprays, water

She is now 2 months old and leads by herself, she picks up her feet, doesn't care where she is touched. I also (while supervised) will leave her halter and lead on and let her drag and step on the lead, teaching her how to give to pressure all by herself. She is learning to tie and will meet with the farrier her in the next couple of weeks. We now take her to the turnout by herself while mom is in the stall and then go back and get mom. They are within sight of each other and the time that it takes us to go get mom gets longer each time. She ran all over and cried the first time but it got less and less each time, now she just takes off running and chasing the goats.

Don't let them nibble on you, it teaches biting at an early age. Don't let them do anything that you wouldn't let your adult horses do.

It is all trial and error, My very first foal was full of mistakes but she turned out to be a great horse.

Each horse learns at their own pace, just make sure you work with mom and show her just as much attention as the foal. Foals learn also from watching how you handle mom.

Good luck have fun and be safe.

Clinton Anderson sells a dvd for colt starting it is really good go to equestrian-supply.net and it lists his dvd's or google downunderhorseman