Buying a horse that was a "rejected foal"

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Hi All, i am on the verge of buying a yearling who was rejected at birth and bottle fed by his breeder. Hes well grown and has been socialised but i have heard that there could be problems with behaviour later on.

Any advise please?
 
My friend owns a mare that she bought from breeder at 6 months, she was hand reared from 6 weeks as her mother died, she's well rounded and a nice tempered mare (now 5) but she hasn't made no-where near the height or build she should have done, no idea if that is related to the hand rearing though. good luck :-)
 
I worked with a hand reared horse who was very beautiful. He was too much for me though, I couldn't bear his "naughty little boy" attitude, but he got on famously with another lady. They loved each other, you could just see it.

Moral is... they are a problem to some and not to others. Suck it and see.
 
My 20 yr old was an orphaned foal as his mother died at birth. He was hand reared.

He is a bolshy git, and has a different attitude to humans to any other horse I've owned, known or worked with. I bought him as a 7yr old, and he was both nervous and aggressive, as the people I bought him from just didn't know how to handle him. He's remained a cheeky chap, but i wouldn't change him for the world!

Basically, in my experience, they have very little or no respect for humans, and try to treat you like a play mate if you are not careful. They don't seem to respond as you'd expect any other horse to in any sort of behavioural training, and mine has always struggled with relationships with other horses. I think they're genuinely confused as to who's who!

As I have already said though, I would never change him, and hope he has a long happy retirement with me!
 
I'd echo Montys Mum, mine guy was 6 when I bought him, he'd been rejected by his mother, and he was nervous / aggressive, but also very affectionate.

But he hadn't been well solcialised, and hadn't mixed with other foals, and was then left entire.

He was quirky (still is probably), he's cheeky and very loving, and I wouldn't be without him. He's 18 now.

The first year was challenging, but then again, it takes time to get to know a new horse and bond with them (especially as I had my older angelic horse who I could still spend time with).
 
As a yearling, you still have the opportunity to prevent some of this behaviour, maybe put him in a field with another similarly aged youngster and/or an older mare? Then let him learn to be a horse again?
 
Shadeyoak said:
As a yearling, you still have the opportunity to prevent some of this behaviour, maybe put him in a field with another similarly aged youngster and/or an older mare? Then let him learn to be a horse again?
Click to expand...

I agree with this ^^^ This would be ideal for him if you can do this! If I'd had mine younger i think this would definitely have helped him. I forgot to mention that mine wasn't gelded until 5yrs old too, which i think will definitely have some influence on his behaviour with other horses!

I also forgot to mention that he is the most affectionate gelding EVER! The bond I have with him is more like one you would have with a mare after that period of time (I feel I've had enough experience with both to judge).
 
It depends completely on who did the hand rearing and how they approached it. A professional experienced breeder would have (we hope) treated the foal firmly and given plenty of turnout with other horses therefore youngster should be ALMOST as well educated as a foal brought up by
mum. I do know of one crazy woman many years ago that bred a foal from her Mare who sadly died during foaling. She would play with foal like a dog and thought it hilarious that he would stand up and put forefeet on her shoulders. As a 16hh 2 year old he had to be put to sleep before he killed someone. He was still performing his party piece.
Many many orphan foals are reared well and go on to be well rounded horses, many do not.
Make sure you are confident that she has been hand reared sensibly, and don't just take sellers word for it. You should get
a good idea by her behaviour now. Any yearling can try it on a bit bit does she show respect for the rules, or make them up herself. Just be wary.
 
I've looked after a couple that have been hand reared, they don't seem to have any idea of personal space or respect on the ground, can be very bolshy and need very very firm handling.
 
I worked with one that had been taken from it's mother at a month old.

It hated to be told anything, had no respect for people and was dangerous to handle. Just leading it to the field required full safety gear and a bridle to stop it going mental. Maybe I'm being judgemental but I'd never buy one unless I REALLY knew what I was doing. Back in those days I didn't really know as much as I thought I did ;)
 
Depends on what's been done in addition to bottle feeding. My mare nannied an orphan foal. Foal was moved onto drinking from buckets asap, but as my mare did all the normal stuff there was no difference between her & a normal foal, human intervention was limited to feeding & usual minimal handling, it followed her around at foot.
 
Hi, I also had a rejected foal, had her from birth so I was the one who hand reared her. The mare just wouldn't feed her, loved her, but wouldn't stand. We had to sedate the mare to get colostrum (spelling?!) She was always a difficult mare, but like most replies, I wouldn't have changed her. She was also chestnut and thoroughbred! She did reach a decent height and weight and was backed at 3. However at 5 her trait of rearing just became too dangerous so I stopped riding her and she became my big pet for the rest of her days. She did produce two stunning foals and was a great mum, but sadly I lost them both at a young age (one at a day old, and the other at 20 months due to complications with surgery for a hernia). Indi was always a one person horse and I was gutted when I lost her a month ago at the ripe old age of 24 and a half years due to severe arthritis and suspected navicular. Behaviour wise she was fine unless you asked her to do something she didn't want to do, then you had no chance! Good luck with your new purchase, a challenge maybe, but rewarding - definately!
 
Have only had experience of one hand-reared foal, he was agressive, bolshy and just unpleasent to be around, in fact he was universally disliked by humans and horses alike!! He was very dangerous in the field and regularly attacked people who came in to catch their horses. Don't know what happened to him as he was thrown off the yard, but there was a collective sigh of relief when he went!! I'm sure they're not all like that though, just depends who brings them up.
 
My NF pony was hand reared and she has been the easiest pony ever, she was properly socialised with other ponies the same age so I'm sure that made a difference. But certainly very people orientated and willing to do whatever you asked her, she was a doddle to break and is now a fab childrens pony.
 
I have only met one horse who had been hand reared. He was the most bolshy, aggressive horse I had ever met. He had no idea what your personal space was and he was very difficult to train, but he was "babied" by humans. I think the best thing would be to turn them out in a herd...youngsters the same age with a few older mares, so they can play with other horses their age but also have the older mares to put them back in their place when they step out of line. I think many hand reared horses do not get this sort of invaluable interaction.
 
It depends entirely upon how he's been brought up - a lot of orphan foals are babied and allowed to get away with a lot and don't get turned out with other mares and youngsters.
Normally a foal would be taught manners by their mom so in a mother's absence either the humans must be strict and ensure the foal has manners, or ideally, ensure the youngster is turned out with other youngsters and with a mare who has raised foals before so she can teach manners.
In considering this yearling I would be talking to the breeders about how they've raised him and go from there.
 
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