a weaning question - im scared!!!

jessikaGinger

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My foal is coming up 6months and to be honest my mare is getting pretty sick of her

I need to wean soon as i dont want to do it whilst the weather is terrible

problem is, im terrified..
I have never had a foal, never wanted one ;) and don't know what to expect

i have
One stable (out of view of the fields)
Plenty of turnout (24/7)
No top door but i do have a weave grill
other horses visible from the stable & plenty to turn out with

What would you do? which would you have in?
how do you go about actually splitting them (drag one the the field??;))

Thanks :)
 

Enfys

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Does your stable have a pen/yard around it?

If so, I would put your mare into the stable, put the grill up and leave the foal and a companion/s loose in the yard. Stressfree weaning, if all you want to do is dry off the mare :) They can see and touch each other but not nurse.

Alternate mare in at night/day, foal and friend the other. I prefer to put the foals in at night because then I know where they are and not escaping or getting in a pickle etc. My mares usually dry up within 2 or 3 weeks, after that they all go back out together and the foal has usually forgotten about nursing by that time, if not the mares generally set them right on that point.
 

MrVelvet

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they need to be as far away as possible - out of sight and out or hearing :) The stud I used to work at used to take the foals for weaning and then send the mare home alone. If the foal is in a stable then the top door needs to be secure - grills aren't great as foaly legs can get stuck. Is there a group of youngsters he can go in with to help him? if he knows you very well, spend a lot of time with him running upto and during the weaning process - it will make it a bit easier on him :) good luck!!
 

forestfantasy

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The best thing IMO is to take the mare away completely, to another yard/field or at least out of earshot.
I bring them both in the remove the mare & leave the foals in the stables for a few days (make sure you have a top door/grill - the foal will get out otheriwse!)

Have another kind pony/youngster stabled next door to the foal for a couple of days then turn them out together for a few hours then back in together at night.

The first day will be traumatic but they soon calm down and forget about mum. Also i assume the foal is eating hard feed & hay by itself anyway?

I don't turn foals back out with mum, and if i have to its after a few months apart, better to socialise with other youngsters.
 

amy_b

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My mares usually dry up within 2 or 3 weeks, after that they all go back out together and the foal has usually forgotten about nursing by that time, if not the mares generally set them right on that point.

I don't turn foals back out with mum, and if i have to its after a few months apart, better to socialise with other youngsters.

we left ours three months. three months apart, put them back together, mum made it clear the milk bar was closed. brought them top the paddock outside the house for the farrier, stood drinking my cuppa one morning, gazed out of the window to see the milk bar well and truly open!! :mad::eek::mad:
 

Merry Crisis

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Put both mare and foal into the stable, remove the mare and shut the top door of the stable. Take the mare as far away as possible and put her into a field with others. You MUST have a top door to the stable, no grills. Get one put on and dont wean until it is inplace. Both will scream for a while but they always settle down in the end.
 

Spring Feather

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they need to be as far away as possible - out of sight and out or hearing :)
No they don't need to be as far away as possible. They can be if that's how you personally choose to wean but they certainly don't need to be for a successful weaning.

OP do you have tall post and rail fencing? I wean my mares and foals over a fenceline. The foals remain in the field they were raised in and the mares are moved to the adjoining field separated by post and rail fencing. Totally stressfree with no calling or concern from either foals or mares.
 

forestfantasy

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they need to be as far away as possible

Totally agree, why make it stressful by letting mum & baby scream for each other?
A friend of mine had theirs on the same yard but in different fields, baby jumped post & rail fence to get back to mum, luckily wasn't hurt.
Just not worth it in my opinion.
 

Merry Crisis

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No they don't need to be as far away as possible. They can be if that's how you personally choose to wean but they certainly don't need to be for a successful weaning.

OP do you have tall post and rail fencing? I wean my mares and foals over a fenceline. The foals remain in the field they were raised in and the mares are moved to the adjoining field separated by post and rail fencing. Totally stressfree with no calling or concern from either foals or mares.

As this is the first foal the OP has had, I doubt she is set up with tall post and rail fencing. Not many people are that lucky, so in that case the method I had suggested might be the best option.
 

Alexart

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I would take the mare far away too - I always wean in pairs, either another foal or a youngster/buddy of some sort that the foal gets on with, then I shut the pair in a stable with the top door shut, agree with advice re grills - they will climb and jump so do be careful!! I then take the mares back to their summer grazing which at weaning time is eaten right down to help the mares dry off, they are out of sight and earshot of each other and within 3 or 4 days they are fine and I can put the babies back out in a small paddock, the mares usually stop calling after a couple of hours and babies within a day or 2. I would ditto the others re not putting them back together for at least 3 preferably 4 months!:D
 

Spring Feather

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The first day will be traumatic but they soon calm down and forget about mum.

Totally agree, why make it stressful by letting mum & baby scream for each other?
Traumatic sounds like stressful to me. I'm sorry, I often agree with what you say but in this case I don't. There is not one traumatic moment the way I wean. No mares find it traumatic and neither do the foals. This may be your chosen way to wean and that's fine if that's what you prefer to do however not everyone chooses to wean like this. If your friends foal jumped the fence then she obviously did not plan her weaning very well. I've weaned over fencelines forever and there's never been so much as a bleat out of anyone and weaning like this is a perfectly valid option for the OP providing her post and rail is sensible post and rail and not sticks!
 

forestfantasy

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SF - I don't disagree that your method works, i was just stating how we go about weaning and how i prefer to do it. It was more Blitzenfys comment that i was referring to.

When the OP replies we'll have more to go on to see what method is best.

Also - my friend had solid, professionally fenced paddocks - the foal cleared the fence!
 

Lark

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We wean with mare and foal in two seperate stables beside each other with grills. They can see and nuzzle each other through the grills and gradually we move them further away within the same barn/area. We haven't had an issue yet touch wood.
 

Polotash

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The ideal is to put the baby out with a group of other babies and take the mare away.. however, not everyone is set up for that!

I had a similar ish set up to you so I did the following - it does help by the way if the mare and foal are quiet independant already, mine were and it was the easiet weaning I've ever done. Foal was 7 months too, as she was a late foal (July) so I decided to leave her on the mare for the worst of the winter (weaned in late Feb).

- While mare and foal were still together i introduced the foals new companion-to-be. It was a quiet old pony gelding as that was all I had "spare" and I knew he wouldn't kick.
- I brought the mare and foal in, put the mare in a stable with her evening feed, shut the top door (solid, not grill) and turned the foal back out with her boyfriend.
- Queue mare tucking into her dinner (she stayed in over night with her new friends) and foal gambolling in field with her mate (she wintered out with her boyfriend)
- Note the mare then went in my bottom fields and the foal and her friend went in the top fields so they couldn't see each other, but were within ear shot - that was the best separation I could do with my 15 acres.

I chose to leave the mare in because i knew the foal would be more relaxed about it all than the mare, being an independent little madam! If you think your foal will be more upset I'd do the opposite.

Weaning day is horrid, prepare yourself for the worst and hope it goes smoothly. I've had mares flinging themselves at stable doors and all sorts :0(
 
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La Fiaba

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I'm really interested in this post as I am in a similar situation to you OP - surprise foal and not ideal weaning conditions. I have been advised by my vet to seperate for 2-3 weeks then they can go back out together if we want (although she did say to make sure milk bar is dried up first!). We dont have any p&r fencing, only electric and no possibility to put up p&r any time soon. Also nowhere to send mare to.

I was thinking foal out in the day with a friend, in of a night (as per current routine with mum), mum in of a day out in the night (as with our other horses). Foal is already respectful of the electric fence. Does this sound ok to anyone? Sorry to hijack OP!
 

youngfarmer

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Just to let you know OP, as I've read it a lot in here and it sounds like some people have had awful experiences, 90% of mares and foals weaned at the RIGHT time (i.e when they are getting sick of each other and foal is independent of mum, can graze and eat on its own, has company which is has built up some form of relationship with and both are well handled) they don't tend to scream or throw themselves around. Foals may fence walk (if done in a field) for about 10 minutes, give a bit of a call and then think "oh well, food time" and most mares (especially experience broodmares) happily walk away and think "thank god for that" without so much of a sound out of them.

Saying that, there are some mares and foals (and even experience broodmares) who will throw a tantrum and act out of character. I recently had to lead 1 who was built like a tank and she spun with me and put me into a fence. Could of been the stallion she had to walk past who was screaming at the top of his lungs, but as soon as she was corrected she walked on the end of the lead rope like a dope and didn't call once.

Make sure however it is done that you have experienced and trustworthy (and being bold always helps too) people stay with the foal and also someone experienced and confident in handling horses who are unpredictable and can reprimand a horse for acting naughty or dangerously.

The way we tend to do it is have them in pairs or small groups, take a mare out at a time (any where from 15 minutes to 2/3 weeks) and make sure the foals have feed to distract them and are being fed AWAY from the mares. Mares then go inside, go home or go into a field which is a fair distance away (maybe 5/10 minute walk). However, we have put mares into fields on the opposite side of paths before and it's worked just as well.
 

Potato!

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we left ours three months. three months apart, put them back together, mum made it clear the milk bar was closed. brought them top the paddock outside the house for the farrier, stood drinking my cuppa one morning, gazed out of the window to see the milk bar well and truly open!! :mad::eek::mad:

That happened with my mare and foal too
 

dotty1

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I didn't wean mine til she was 15 months old. She was used to being left in a stable with a friend whilst mum went for a ride from about 6 months. To wean I put her in the next field with an aunty. She stayed by the fence for a couple of days but soon gave up. After about 3 months they all went in together again and hasn't been a problem at all.
Ideally foaly needs a mate to buddy up with and mum needs to go on a holiday.
 

Enfys

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:) Interesting, and food for thought for the OP.

This thread just proves that no one way is right, or wrong, and what works for one person and their set up may not necessarily work for others and their facilities. I find mares and foals screeching for each other under my bedroom window extremely irritating - and sad.

I notice that no-one has yet recommended the partial separation method where the foal is still permitted to nurse a couple of times a day, that one sometimes comes up.

Forestfantasy, I am assuming it was the part where I said that I turned back out with the herd that you were commenting on? :)

As above, it works for me, but I always appreciate that my way isn't everyone elses preferred method. I don't always do it that way, depends on the horses themselves.
 
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Abbeygale

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I gradually separated my mare and foal - just a couple of hours to start with building up to all day over about 14 days. Mare in the stable, foal in the pen outside, so she could still touch and stand with the mare but not feed. At that point she would stay with the mare over night. Then I split them overnight too - over post &rail fence, so again they could still touch but not feed. They had been like this for about 2 weeks and the mare then went away for a couple of months. Foal didn't even notice when she left - didn't even pick her head up from grazing! When the mare came back foal was fine with her, and never looked for the milk bar - but then my mare wasn't having any of that at any rate!

This was my first foal. She was planned but I'm not in the ideal set up for mare & foal, and foal had always been very out going and confident since day 1, which I think did make weaning much easier. On top of this the foal had taken to spending much of the day with m other horse during the day anyway from about 3 weeks old, so she was never really all that dependant on my mare.

This worked for me - but I do think my foal being a confident sort did make this much easier to do.
 

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I have just weaned my mare and foal in a kind of botch job way that Spring Feather does. I dont have post and rail fencing, I have electric rope and posts, which everyone respects. Seren has been getting rather fed up for a couple of weeks (and had a nasty virus) and Maisie is very independent, so they were split on Monday.
There was a bit of dancing and squeaking from the foal, but Seren is thrilled!
I think if you do it at the right time for both of them, then you can wean by separating with fencing, and its a kinder way of doing it, but its not for everyone. One thing you have to make sure about is that everything is secure and as safe as possible, if you have any doubt about that, then send your baby off to a stud or to an experienced friend.
If your mare is already kicking foalie off, and her bag is reducing, would it be an option to just let her auto wean? My last mare&foal were left together till the colt was 9 months, by which time he was independent (and gelded!) and she had shut the milk bar of her own accord....(with time away from eachother etc)
 

BonneMaman

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If you don't want the foal why don't you just sell it and wean at point of sale? That's what I did. Mare was far more attached to foal than round the other way so it was the mare I moved to a new yard first then sold the foal a couple of weeks later.
 

kerilli

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i weaned my foal a few weeks ago, and for the first time ever (because she was on precautionary box rest) i gave the foal a little sedalin half an hour before taking mare away (okayed by vet first). i'll never do it without again. she didn't try to climb the walls, didn't shriek at all, didn't get upset. i took the mare away (left someone with foal to keep an eye on her) and when i came back 1/2 hour later the foal was totally calm. she had a little whinny here and there but stayed quiet.
the mare really does need to be out of earshot, otherwise some foals will go over, under or through any fencing that's in their way... not worth the risk of injury to foal imho. good luck, it really doesn't have to be traumatic!
 

Merry Crisis

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If you don't want the foal why don't you just sell it and wean at point of sale? That's what I did. Mare was far more attached to foal than round the other way so it was the mare I moved to a new yard first then sold the foal a couple of weeks later.

I always thought you talked a load of bollox, now you have just confirmed it!
 

Foxhunter49

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I wean as Spring Feather does, it is less traumatic for all.
There is no telling the reaction from the mare or foal!
One mare I have here who is a selfish mother, refuses to share her feed with her foal and will leave her foal for food yet when it comes to weaning then she is the one who makes all the fuss!

As said not everyone is set up to wean within touch but it is a good idea to have something quiet turned out with the mare and foal weeks before weaning and then leaving that horse with the foal. I always like to have an older wiser horse with the foals to act as a Nanny,

I miss my old mare this year. I had to have her put down earlier this year. She was worth her weight in gold as she would go out with the mares and foals and within a couple of days all the foals would be with her, using their mothers as mobile milk bars!
When I fed in the fields the foals would all go stand by the old mare who would wait until the last feed, then she would go to it and stand watching whilst the foals ate. She would occasionally take a mouthful but mainly she would just watch over the foals. If the other mares finished they never went near her, yet I never saw her kick or chase off another horse but she could just with 'that look' make them change their mind about tying to get greedy.

On the opposite side of a mare coming back ito milk after three months post weaning, I had one mare who after a day of having her foal away from her, refused to let him feed! Easiest weaning ever.
 

Merry Crisis

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I wean as Spring Feather does, it is less traumatic for all.
There is no telling the reaction from the mare or foal!
One mare I have here who is a selfish mother, refuses to share her feed with her foal and will leave her foal for food yet when it comes to weaning then she is the one who makes all the fuss!

As said not everyone is set up to wean within touch but it is a good idea to have something quiet turned out with the mare and foal weeks before weaning and then leaving that horse with the foal. I always like to have an older wiser horse with the foals to act as a Nanny,

I miss my old mare this year. I had to have her put down earlier this year. She was worth her weight in gold as she would go out with the mares and foals and within a couple of days all the foals would be with her, using their mothers as mobile milk bars!
When I fed in the fields the foals would all go stand by the old mare who would wait until the last feed, then she would go to it and stand watching whilst the foals ate. She would occasionally take a mouthful but mainly she would just watch over the foals. If the other mares finished they never went near her, yet I never saw her kick or chase off another horse but she could just with 'that look' make them change their mind about tying to get greedy.

On the opposite side of a mare coming back ito milk after three months post weaning, I had one mare who after a day of having her foal away from her, refused to let him feed! Easiest weaning ever.

Such a sensible reply.
 

juliette

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The set up we had when my friend needed to wean her foal was that mare and foal were in a field, but could touch noses with the rest of the herd over the fence. Mum was taken away (to field across road) and "replaced" with my gentle gelding. There was little upset as she regarded him as a friend. He was very patient with her, as she did cling to him a bit to start with, but within a couple of weeks she was being quite independant and only really clung to him if anything unexpected happened. She coped if I took him away for an hour to ride. She is now a very confident and independant 3 year old.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

I do know of a mare who was weaned from her foal, but when turned out with another mare and foal the 2nd foal started feeding from her too! Eventually she was feeding the foal when the mum had long given up! So I'd be careful about reintroducing them for quite a while.
 

jessikaGinger

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Thankyou so much for all the replies i really appreciate them

There is a little 12.2 mare that my foal has taken a shine to and ideally i would like to leave them two out together, however the mare is prone to lami so she's not out for long, then theres a 15hh mare that my foal bullies which is out 24/7

Our fencing is quite high and it is post and rail but it has electric tape around the top does this matter?

The foal eats on her own and is quite bold

i think ive read too many horror stories and made it worse!!

oh also the foal is very clingy with me apparantly she kicks the door and whinnies for around ten minutes after i've left the yard:rolleyes:
 

Ladylina83

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Totally agree, why make it stressful by letting mum & baby scream for each other?
A friend of mine had theirs on the same yard but in different fields, baby jumped post & rail fence to get back to mum, luckily wasn't hurt.
Just not worth it in my opinion.

Mine certainly didn't scream for each other!! they were in next door boxes and could see each other over the 5ft wall. I had his top door closed after a week of being in on his own I was happy that I could leave the top door open

I had to wean as it was when we had all the snow and they were trapped in - the box was just too small for 24/7 and in trying to kick him my mare kicked me in the shoulder - I'm 5'9" so she meant it - I was in my dinner break so I gingerly lead him next door following a feed bucket with bambi on ice legs then they went out in fields next door to each other both with mates and they were both happy as larry !

After 4 months and him being gelded they went back in together. but now they are on different farms as I need lights to ride her after work and he lives out with a 3 year old Dartmoor dobbing about !

Some people TO in the day together and seperate at night for a while then split the fields

Good luck how ever you decide to do it
 
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