[Maggie Mae]

Well my horse is about three months away from faoling and she is big but im kinda scared about weaning the foal like how far away from the mare does the faol have to be? I have heard that there only has to be a fence in between the two but idk someone give me advice. This is the first time i've done this so any advice would be good and then i heard that your supposed to leave your horse alone when she is foaling but what if something goes wrong and you left her alone and then what because you can not be in our barn with out the horse seeing you so please help Thanx

Live to Ride, Ride to Live

[mtroika]

You should probably go buy some books on foaling and mares in foal to start. Talk to your vet and if you have a trainer get tips from her/him to. Find info on the net about it to.

When I wean Porsha (my foal) at 6months I will bring her mom to my friends house and leave Porsha at my place so she is more comfy at home and mom will be far away so she cant see or hear her. I am going to let her in with a couple other foals her age. I wouldnt leave mom and baby close enough that they could hear each other cry, but thats me, I know some people do it differently.

I would plan to try and be around when you think your mare is going to foal, anything can go wrong and have your vet on call incase of emergency. Leave your mare alone "yes" by the way of staying out of her way and staying out of the stall unless she needs help, try and be around just not in the way.

heres a site you can look at:

http://foxtrotters.tripod.com/foalcare.htm

[SyntheticTrust]

They should be where they hear or see each other. When the baby calls for momma, Momma should not be able to hear to respond.

[Sandra-A1]

RE: WEANING.....
Here is the method we use and it works very well for us!:
It's Weaning Time!

And here is an article that you might find helpful:
Stress-Free Weaning Article

[AnnaBelle02]

My mare was clearly ready to be weaned from her very large and demanding foal (she foaled June 28 2004 and it was my first foal as well). We had talked about sending either of them away but when it boiled down to it come the 5th month of nursing she was losing patience with him and putting him on one side of a strong log fence and her on the other worked fine for me (and it was a method the vet suggest I try first before sending either away).
Research as much as you can and go with your gut when the time comes. I knew that my mare wasn't going to instigate him jumping a fence or anything and I knew my foal was confident enough spending time away from mom that as long as I was monitoring them for the first 48 hours or so they would be fine - and they are!

[ignorethesmoke]

Have very strong feelings about this. Definitely, definitely, don't do the complete separation thing. If possible, for both the emotional and nutritional needs of the foal, let the mare wean the foal herself (helps if you have other horses in with them, as close to a real herd situation as possible), however if it gets very pushy and the mare has had enough, or you need to wean at a certain time, adjoining paddocks work very well. To start with, I have a fence that the mare can come beside when she decides to let the foal drink, which means she won't end up with a sore udder. This is especially good in a case where the foal is very demanding and pushy but still needs the nutrients from the milk. Later, progress to a fence the foal can't drink through, then with a paddock between them, then further distances if neccessary.

This can all be done very gradually, the time it takes depends on how independant the individual foal is. The mare's distress levels also need to be taken into consideration. I should add that at no time does there need to be ANY pacing or calling at all; if that happens then go 'down a level', even if it means putting them back together at night, when they're more likely to get upset. This does not teach them (as some people will try to tell you) that "if they carry on they'll get what they want", it is a very real fear and the last thing going through that foal's head is putting on an act or tricking humans.

[Top Dun]

Personally since ths mare has NOT even had the foal yet. Your first worries SHOULD be focused on making sure she delivers a safe and healthy foal. And making sure that the foal acutally SURVIVES long enough to be weaned. Quit stressing over weaning when there are more important things at stake like delivering a live health foal.

As for delivery of the foal, you can purchase a foaling predictor kit that helps predict the actually time of foaling.

Other things to be aware of.
1. Is this the MAREs first foal? if so then the mare needs to work and handeling. like how is she with you messing with her udders? You need to be able to handle and clean her udder in case you need to milk her out or so that she is ok with the baby nursing.

2. Foal watch, have a KNOWLEDGABLE foaling person availabe AND the vet on stand by for emergencies. Keep extra towels or drying cloths on hand to help clean up the baby just in case. Get either some strong iodine or nolvosan solution to dip the umbillical cord in after the foal gets up and the umbilical cord breaks. if the umbillical cord does not break, DO NOT pull on it, you may have to cut it so have a pair of scissors on hand. (Cutting the umbillical cord is very rare and a last resort. DO not immediately cut the umbillical cord)

3. Most mares DO NOT need help, but you should be in the area supervising for those JUST IN CASE situations. Leaving the horse alone is different than not being in the same area. Leaving the horse alone is basically staying out of her way, out of her space (the stall) and not assisting with the deliver (unless needed). You WILL need to get the foals naval dipped in an antiseptic AS soon as possible to help prevent infections and you will need to monitor the mare and the foal in case the mare has post labor contractions that may cause her to roll over on the foal. you will need to monitor that the foal stands and nurses and eliminates body wastes for the first time. Just stand outside the stall and let nature take it's course and ONLY interfere if needed.

[Blistering Winds]

What Top Dun said......

As leaving the horse alone, just hush up, stand back, stay out of the way, and KEEP QUIET! More mares end up having complications because the barn becomes noisy when tons of people start showing up, talking, ooing and awwwwing, etc. A mare can QUIT HER LABOR! Literally stop everything. At that time, most known complications occur. So if you catch her in the act, just stand quietly outside, and watch. If she pins her ears at you in any way during this process, get out of site! A mare can actually refuse her foal if too much commotion is going on.


After the foal has dropped, STAY OUT!!! The mare and foal will lay quietly for a while, and then the afterbirth will come out. Mares usually stand up first, then teh foal. DO NOT HELP THE FOAL IN ANY WAY! THe struggling process of standing is essential for proper muscle communication. Less you help, the better off your foal will be.

Eventually, the foal's umbilical cord will tear off....at this time, enter the stall and administer a FOAL TINCTURE of iodine. Make sure your vet either gives you teh proper dilution or you dilute it properly as not to burn the foal's skin. After that, LEAVE! Wait till after the first nursing before beginning imprinting. At least that is what I advise. Reason being, mares can refuse a foal if too much of another's smell is on it. So if you begin rubbing it down, the mare can actually turn on the foal. Once the foal has nursed, the chances of the mare refusing the foal drop dramatically. You'll find conflicting sides of this part of imprinting. But I've never seen any issues with starting after the first nursing as compared to while it is lying down. I hear less complications with the mare accepting if you just wait. Nature will endure!

[Maggie Mae]

thank you all for the help it was great advice do but i have another question is is nessecary for the mare to have all the nutients like ive looked at alot of site and they say mares should have special nutients but is it bad if they dont get them? And how do you knowif your mare has had a foal before? The mare i have the original owner that we got her from resuced her so she had the vet estimate that she is 7 or 8 and is there really any way to know if they have foaled before?

[Blistering Winds]

Only an ultrasound can tell you if she's had another foal. Or f she is registered and the foal was registered.....

As far as nutrients, she should be eating 3 times more than what she was eating before she got pregnant. That is why people move up to the higher protein mixes, so you don't have to feed as Much. But then again, you still don't get enough nutrients that they need.

What is she eating (in pounds) per feeding/day? What kind? Protein %?

How much hay? What Kind?