Does anyone know if little Dolly has travelled OK?

I said this on the last thread, and tried to put it as simply as possible. I will say it again, even more simply.

Some people disagree with the age Dolly was weaned.
Some people don't.

Is there REALLY that much of a big deal?! Honestly?!

I am baffled as to why people seem to think that by thinking foals should stay with their mums longer is 'nasty' to TB?
 
Elliesmemory1 said:
Not the same as being with mum, im afraid.
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Look, the filly is FINE. She is a huge, mature foal, in a herd of weanlings, on a stud farm. What, exactly, do you think is going to go wrong by her being weaned a few weeks before YOU think she should have been? I've run a large commercial stud farm, foaling down 20+ foals a year for decades. I've had everything from day old orphans to bottle feed to 18 month old colts still suckling on (their mothers in for covering). The ideal age for weaning is around 6 months; some mares will wean their own foals at two months, I think about weaning at around 4 - 6 months, sometimes earlier if the mare is poor or the foals are huge: everything does OK in the end as long as there is a herd around to take care of the social bit and adequate nutrition. Please, stop arguing about theoretical "right" stuff and let people do the best in the circumstances (which are as varied as may be).
 
Cortez said:
Look, the filly is FINE. She is a huge, mature foal, in a herd of weanlings, on a stud farm. What, exactly, do you think is going to go wrong by her being weaned a few weeks before YOU think she should have been? I've run a large commercial stud farm, foaling down 20+ foals a year for decades. I've had everything from day old orphans to bottle feed to 18 month old colts still suckling on (their mothers in for covering). The ideal age for weaning is around 6 months; some mares will wean their own foals at two months, I think about weaning at around 4 - 6 months, sometimes earlier if the mare is poor or the foals are huge: everything does OK in the end as long as there is a herd around to take care of the social bit and adequate nutrition. Please, stop arguing about theoretical "right" stuff and let people do the best in the circumstances (which are as varied as may be).
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Whatever you say, its fine, you are completly and utterly right. After all a forum is not the place for sensible discusion and views to be aired is it?
 
Sensible discussion does not include people ignoring actual, practical experience over many, many foalings/weanings and instead proffering woolly ideas such as "what has so-and-so missed from mummy". Well, what has happened, in your experience?
 
I have already said you are completly right. No harm can possibly come from weaning a 3 and a half month old can it? Maybe it will now be the thing to do after all its what happens in the wild is it not?
 
Ok in my experience with my own weanling, being taken from his dam early caused him a lot of stress, diarrhoea and to lose weight.

Also there are experienced breeders on here who have said they would never wean so early. what makes you right?
 
Elliesmemory1 said:
Ok in my experience with my own weanling, being taken from his dam early caused him a lot of stress, diarrhoea and to lose weight.
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Which in this case has plainly not happened, so yes it is a consideration, easily managed and causing no long term damage, but surely not enough to cause acres of negative comment. If you don't want to wean early, then don't.
 
So, you are in charge of the forum are you? Didnt know that, maybe everyone should stop posting then. After all thats not what forums are for is it?
 
Elliesmemory1 said:
Whatever you say, its fine, you are completly and utterly right. After all a forum is not the place for sensible discusion and views to be aired is it?
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The problem is, is that we have to do the best with what we have. If it was perfect the stallion would be running with his mares and the weaning would be done by the whole group, including the stallion. Even that isn't perfect because in a perfect world because they'd have ample food and water (which isn't the case always). So they are brought into our world and we make the decisions for them based on our experience and what is in front of us and usually in this scenario the mare and foal has better nutrition supplied by us. So it might seem that Dolly was weaned too early just because of her age but there are other factors to consider. I don't have the experience of Cortez, but I have bred 4 foals and was lucky enough to have a family group (including stallion) - it was pretty amazing to watch the interaction between them - yes they were weaned differently to Dolly, but Dolly's life was totally different to theirs and so Abbie based her decision on what was in front of her and what she was advised by professionals.

I do look forward to Dolly updates, but in all honesty - if she wasn't H&H famous I'm not sure there would have been this amount of fuss :)
 
Elliesmemory1 said:
I have already said you are completly right. No harm can possibly come from weaning a 3 and a half month old can it? Maybe it will now be the thing to do after all its what happens in the wild is it not?
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No but in the wild they aren't stabled, fed, ridden, shoes on, clipped, rugs on, vaccinated, penned into fields, taught to not use their flight instincts, ut in metal boxes to travel or have their nuts chopped off. So personally I think tessybear has done the right thing given the situation, dolly is looking happy, tests seems to be looking content and both horses are having the time and attention they need right now
 
If this had been a new poster not Abbey, EVERYONE would have been saying that Dolly was far too young, But because Abbey has friends on here, NO ONE is allowed to have an opinion that UNDER 4 months is too young to wean
 
zigzag said:
If this had been a new poster not Abbey, EVERYONE would have been saying that Dolly was fat too young, But because Abbey has friends on here, NO ONE is allowed to have an opinion that UNDER 4 months is too young to wean
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I have to say I am a little inclined to agree there. :-(
 
Elliesmemory1 said:
So, you are in charge of the forum are you? Didnt know that, maybe everyone should stop posting then. After all thats not what forums are for is it?
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Forums are for reasoned debate, which your reply is plainly not. There seems to be a lot of slightly hysterical, emotive guff on this topic: I have a lot of experience of weaning and thought that perhaps it might be useful for those of you who were worrying yourselves unnecessarily on behalf of the OP to know that early weaning rarely has a bad outcome when foals are well grown, sensibly managed and placed in social units after separation from the mare. If you don't agree, then don't do it. Simple.
 
zigzag said:
NO ONE is allowed to have an opinion that UNDER 4 months is too young to wean
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Oh I certainly do have an opinion about weaning a foal under 4 months old for no good reason ... however as I said in the other thread, it's totally pointless going on and on with opinions as the deed had already been done.
 
Elliesmemory1 said:
No, nor mine at you, Dont worry:D

Just bored of it now.
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As the main instigator of the ridiculous 'poor baby' missing 'mummy' drivel if you're bored imagie how the rest of us feel.

It is young, no one disagrees , you woudn'nt do it - again fine, banging on and using emotive language like 'poor baby' when the op had already weaned helps no one and is inflamatoy.

So if you wanted to just have a reasoned debate stick with grown up language, you will get a better response.
 
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