Foals eating manes/tails -- nature or nurture?

[Dry Rot]

I have a mare who has had three foals by the same sire. (Obviously, in three consecutive years!). All three foals have chewed her mane and those of their field companions quite badly.

No other foals out of different mares but by the same sire have been chewers. Unfortunately, they are all outstanding foals or I would sell the mare! Yes, it is rather annoying when all the ponies I'd like to show end up with chunks missing out of their manes and with no tails!

My question is this, is this likely to be inherited behaviour or somehow initiated by the mare? Their management has been exactly the same as other foals which do not mane/tail chew. The only thing that seems to be different is that the mare was always quite protective of her foals and not "people friendly". She is becoming more confiding as she gets older (now seven years old) but still a bit stand offish. Her current yearling is still a chewer but not nearly as bad as he used to be so it seems they do grow out of it. (Says he, hopefully!).

Any suggestions? We've tried Cribox and that works for a while but her current foal is now 10 weeks old and making up for lost time! At the moment, I'm inclined to accept it as just one of those things, but I'd really like to know the reasons....and if there is a cure!

 

[iconique]

Dont know if there is a cure or if its inherited, but we had one that chewed badly. We tried everything (we think?) Chilli was a suggestion that cost us almost half the tail, she loves it! Dettol and vicks vapour rub were the only thing that worked, this foal, now 6 pulls up her rubber mats if bored and we have to use this or bedding soaked with wee to stop her!

Hope you find a solution, it appears that some have very adaptable taste buds, that include mustard, cribox and much more! Love to know what it doesn't chew?

 

[Blanche]

I have always had great success with washing up liquid on manes and tails ( and rugs , wood , doors etc ) . And its easy to wash off when not needed !
About why this mares foals chew - no idea .

 

[ashlingm]

I swear by Tail Gaitors/Bags to stop foals chewing and also to keep tails clean!

My mare always wears one because she's grey and had the dirtiest tail when I got her. The yellow stains just wouldn't shift so I resorted to one of these to grow out clean grey tail hair...and to stop it getting dirty.

I took it off for a while and one day I caught the foal with a chunk of hair in his mouth so back on it went! She wears it full time and it never bothers her. She uses it to swat away flies no bother! The foal has tried to chew on it a few times but seem's to have lost interest - especially when getting hit in the face with the tail bag is more of a shock then a nice soft tail!

It's definitely worth a go if you've run out of ideas. Id completely recommend them!

link - http://www.tailgator.co.uk/tg/pages/tailbagorder.html

 

[DabDab]

Don't know about the nature/nurture question, but I would be interested in responses. I have a 4yo who still chews tails, he's not as bad as when I bought him a year ago, but that could easily be because he has been kicked many times since then in his quest for a tail chomp.

 

[Dry Rot]

Just think I should stress that the foals seem to prefer mane chewing to tail chewing! This one's mum had a beautiful mane about 15" - 18" long. It is now about 9"! The stallion has an equally beautiful mane, now with a large gap about half way along! When we first put Cribox on the mare, she went nuts and we couldn't get near her for months. So I suspect the foals might pick up vibes from her and the chewing is like nail biting in kids (anxiety/redirected aggression?), but I really don't know.

 

[putasocinit]

If you have another mare with or without foal at foot put them all together, she will soon in a nice aunty way tell foaly this is not what you do. It can become a habit then you end up with a horse that can never be put with others for it chewing their tails, so try to stop it now, also try the tail mixes as suggested, not sure if they work.

 

[Auslander]

I don't know if you can still get it, but the only thing I've ever known work to dissuade chewers was fox oil. Vile stuff, but very effective

 

[Dry Rot]

If you have another mare with or without foal at foot put them all together, she will soon in a nice aunty way tell foaly this is not what you do. It can become a habit then you end up with a horse that can never be put with others for it chewing their tails, so try to stop it now, also try the tail mixes as suggested, not sure if they work.

The chewer is in with the stallion and three other mares, two with foals (one being the chewer). The third mare is without a foal but was happily standing while the chewer chewed so I'm afraid bang goes that theory. I did try a well aimed pebble -- but missed! The mares run with the stallion as I was wanted them to be covered at the foal heat, but he definitely missed the mother of the chewer, covering her on the second season. But as we both know, that is no guarantee of a foal so I have to let them run together just in case. I don't think they can distinguish between mutual grooming and someone eating a mane or tail!