The single biggest mistake new families make is skipping the basics to get straight to the "real" stuff. Before you run any protocol, before you think about halter breaking or leg work, your animal needs three things: feed, water, and hay — and it needs to find all three on its own.

These animals just got weaned, transported, and dropped into a new pen with new dirt, new smells, and no familiar faces. That stress load is real, and Logan makes the point that it's probably the starting point for most of the problems that show up in week one. An animal that's eating and drinking is already ahead of one that isn't, no matter what else you do.