Following Foster Mare Needed - How Does It Work

[devilwoman]

May be a numpty question but how does the process of getting mare/foal acquainted work and are only some mares good for fostering, my mare tried to kick her own foal round the stable when I first put a rug on her last winter so wonder if some just wouldn't be suitable ?

 

[Revena]

The foaling bank recommends skinning the foal that the mare has lost and then putting this on the orphan foal.
A mare is known to accept a foal once her milk has passed through the foal, I assume that she can then smell herself on its skin.
I have also heard that strapping a blanket onto the mare for a while so that it smells of her then putting it on the foal will help.
The foaling bank also recommend a partition so the mare can smell the foal but not much else. I think you can generally tell if a mare is going to accept a foal by body language.

 

[crellow4]

2 years ago we lost a foal at birth and used the national Foaling Bank to arrange a foster foal. It took almost 3 days and in that time the mare was hand milked every couple of hours. She was left with her foal which we moved around the stable to keep her interested. Once a foster foal was found the dead foal was skinned - following meticulous instructions from Johanna Vardon and the skin was tied around a paper bag of straw, the mare was extremely distressed to be parted from her baby while this was done. She than followed her 'baby' into the wagon and travelled to the foster foal. The skin was placed over the foster foal and tied in place - I also sent some of her milk which was splashed over the foal. Fortunately my mare accepted the foal without question and the following morning the skin was removed. Beth remained with her new foal for 6 months and the owners arranged for her to be put in foal by way of thanks.