Friend had a scary morning - gelding broke into her new foal's field.

[Ambers Echo]

Urgh something else to worry about. This big horse broke out of his field and jumped into hers and chased the week old foal who was screaming and terrified. Mare went nuts and defended her foal valiantly. Luckily both owners were there and got them separated quickly, Owner of the gelding is also upset with my friend because the gelding got a hefty kick to the shoulder and is lame which is very unfortunate. So awful. My friend is moving them both off asap. Horrible situaiton. There will be horses all around Amber and baby. The fencing is good quality but what can you do about a horse who jumps in! I would not want to run electric tape on the inside but maybe that is an option. To be fair I just can't see any of the horses on my yard doing that - the geldings are all very laid back cobs or small ponies - but they obviously did not anticipate this horse doing it either.

 

[Birker2020]

Urgh something else to worry about. This big horse broke out of his field and jumped into hers and chased the week old foal who was screaming and terrified. Mare went nuts and defended her foal valiantly. Luckily both owners were there and got them separated quickly, Owner of the gelding is now having a go at my friend because the gelding got a hefty kick to the shoulder and is lame. She also said 'he was only playing'! So awful. My friend is moving them both off asap. Horrible situaiton. There will be horses all around Amber and baby. The fencing is good quality but what can you do about a horse who jumps in! I would not want to run electric tape on the inside but maybe that is an option. To be fair I just can't see any of the horses on my yard doing that - the geldings are all very laid back cobs or small ponies - but they obviously did not anticipate this horse doing it either.

Oh my that could have ended so badly, glad the mare and foal are okay, poor little thing.

 

[CanteringCarrot]

That's not super common though, so not anything to worry so much about. It's a possibility, don't get me wrong. Some horses get a bit nutty when a foal shows up, this goes for mares and geldings. Generally though, in all my years at yards with foals (current yard breeds 3 or 4 every year, and the fencing isn't exactly strong in some spots) I've not encountered a horse jumping in with the mare and foal.

I'd just be around the first few times that everyone is out, but not much else you can do unless you want to get creative with fencing.


If my gelding did this, I couldn't imagine having a go at the mare owner if my horse got kicked! Mine can act a bit stallion-like in the spring, but that's died down with age, and did get in with some mares once that were "advertising" at the fence, but he didn't do anything (I think once he got in the field he wasn't sure of his exact "plan"), and if he got kicked, well, he shouldn't have been there and it would've just been one of those sh*tty things that happens with horses. I wouldn't say anything to the owner. It was partially the YO's fault for not tending to broken/weak fencing, if anything. I did not know the mares would be up there that day either.

 

[milliepops]

If my gelding did this, I couldn't imagine having a go at the mare owner if my horse got kicked!

nor me!
It's hardly the mare's fault for defending her baby against an invader, that's exactly what her life's purpose is at that moment!

sounds like a freak event that is unlikely to happen elsewhere but worth checking the fencing around your field. Your YO has experience with foals hasn't she? has she had them at that yard before?

 

[Ambers Echo]

This is on the neighbouring yard. My friend and I are not on livery together. Yes, my YO has bred several foals where we are. It's a sheep and diary farm, as well as a livery yard, so they have a lot of experience with calving, lambing and foaling and are very chilled about it all. I'm terrified though!

 

[Ambers Echo]

My friend is totally traumatised watching that unfold. She honestly thought her foal was going to be killed. Just horrible.

 

[milliepops]

i can imagine. it's bad enough watching them charging about having fun the first time mine wiped out skidding on wet grass i was convinced she would break! I was a nervous owner, haha!

 

[Pearlsasinger]

There should have been electric on the inside of the gelding's fence imho.

 

[Ambers Echo]

I’ll be checking ALL the fields not just Amber and Mini Amber’s.

 

[Birker2020]

I’ll be checking ALL the fields not just Amber and Mini Amber’s.

Does mini Amber have a name yet? Ruby would be nice

 

[Ambers Echo]

She/he has many!!

 

[smolmaus]

We just had a foal on our yard. The owners of mum and babby were nervous that when they were bringing them in and out, our lot (three mares and the token gelding) were crowding the single line of tape at the shared gateway entrance. They were just there out of pure curiosity and there was never any sign any of them would come over the tape but ours got moved to the other end of the field anyway just in case. Personally, I thought that was a little bit of overkill at the time but I'm reassessing that now tbh.

This mare is very protective as well, any of ours would have been lucky just to get one solid kick on the shoulder and not thoroughly murdered. Hope your friend's idiot boy heals up okay.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

Having bred a good few in the past, I'd say anything is possible.
A foal can get even the mildest mannered mare or gelding on full excitement. I always had at least a paddock between mums out with foals and any others, meaning at least 2 x decent permanent fences but also electric fence for 'others' on the inside of theirs as well as electric running on the top of mares paddock.

Mare was doing what she should be doing in protecting her foal, interloper is fortunate that there wasn't even more damage done tbh.

 

[Sussexbythesea]

Years ago a friends mare and foal were being led to a new paddock when a gelding deliberately broke free to go and attack the foal. Fortunately they were able to fend it off and catch it and no harm was done but it was a terrifying experience. Conversely I’ve seen a bogof born on a large livery yard and no issues apart from general “ooh a baby” interest in the foal from all the horses.

 

[AmyMay]

Having bred a good few in the past, I'd say anything is possible.
A foal can get even the mildest mannered mare or gelding on full excitement. I always had at least a paddock between mums out with foals and any others, meaning at least 2 x decent permanent fences but also electric fence for 'others' on the inside of theirs as well as electric running on the top of mares paddock.

Mare was doing what she should be doing in protecting her foal, interloper is fortunate that there wasn't even more damage done tbh.

Yep, this. Hopefully as YO is experienced at breeding this will be the set up for you.

 

[Asha]

Having bred a good few in the past, I'd say anything is possible.
A foal can get even the mildest mannered mare or gelding on full excitement. I always had at least a paddock between mums out with foals and any others, meaning at least 2 x decent permanent fences but also electric fence for 'others' on the inside of theirs as well as electric running on the top of mares paddock.

Mare was doing what she should be doing in protecting her foal, interloper is fortunate that there wasn't even more damage done tbh.

This ^^^

we have post and rail, but i run an extra fence line ( electric) in the field where the others are so they cant get close to the post and rail.

I find the new mums just wont relax with an audience , in fact for the first few days i tend to bring all mine in, or move them to the other side of the yard. Its just not fair on the mum, she needs to spend time relaxing not worrying about the rest of them.

 

[AmyMay]

This ^^^

we have post and rail, but i run an extra fence line ( electric) in the field where the others are so they cant get close to the post and rail.

I find the new mums just wont relax with an audience , in fact for the first few days i tend to bring all mine in, or move them to the other side of the yard. Its just not fair on the mum, she needs to spend time relaxing not worrying about the rest of them.

Again, this.

 

[maya2008]

You can’t use normal electric tape near a foal for safety reasons, but you can use the Fieldguard wide tape and posts. It’s designed not to be able to shred baby legs and our little filly has even tested it out by attempting to climb through one day when the neighbouring barbed wire fence had been blown over and was shorting ours out. She arrived safely on the other side of the partition, no harm done! We used 3 lines around the ‘nursery’ paddock (and then had to add a fourth when baby learned to jump!).

Interestingly, our gelding was the only one of my herd who was funny with the foal. I had to keep him away from her until she was weaned (so bigger and able to get away/kick if he had a go) and then introduce them with big boss mare present to kick some sense into him if needed. She laid the law down quite firmly and has ensured his good behaviour since. If Amber is surrounded by mares I would be slightly less worried than I would be by geldings.

 

[Ambers Echo]

When I say ‘surrounded’ I mean they are on the same yard. Nothing will share a fence line with the nursery field. But this gelding isn’t next to foal either - he saw them being led past to their field.

My friend has found a new yard specialising in youngstock livery which is a relief. Gelding owner is still being arsey about the kick so the atmosphere on the yard isn’t great anyway. Of course I’d be heartbroken if my horse was injured but I’d also recognise that the mare is 100 not to blame. And I’d be mortified that my horse put a foal at risk and be apologising and immediately trying to ensure it couldn’t happen again. Not complaining about my horse’s injury. I’d count myself lucky it wasn’t a lot worse!

I’ll check out that tape too. Thanks.

 

[foxy1]

A few years ago now, my sister's gelding jumped his field gate and then tried to jump in with her mare and foal and completely flattened a section of post and rail in the process, but did get in to the field. The mare fought valiantly to protect her foal but the foal was caught in the cross-fire and was killed.
The gelding was a field away, not next door.

 

[Ambers Echo]

Oh that's horrific. I do have the option of being completely away from all other horses a few minutes further down the lane which is reassuring.

 

[palo1]

I am sure everyone reading this would be horrified but one of our mares foaled in the field, with the rest of the herd including my gelding. They were all brilliant about it and the mare was a fab mum; protective enough but not upset at all. When we went to take mum and baby to the yard for a vet check however my gelding lost the plot and flattened 2 fences in his attempt to go with his bestie and baby. I hadn't considered that possibility! After that any babies moved required everyone moving. It isn't something we have had to worry about for a while though. The thought of a horse breaking into a mare and foal paddock sounds like a horrible but freak accident.

 

[Caol Ila]

I am sure everyone reading this would be horrified but one of our mares foaled in the field, with the rest of the herd including my gelding. They were all brilliant about it and the mare was a fab mum; protective enough but not upset at all. When we went to take mum and baby to the yard for a vet check however my gelding lost the plot and flattened 2 fences in his attempt to go with his bestie and baby. I hadn't considered that possibility! After that any babies moved required everyone moving. It isn't something we have had to worry about for a while though. The thought of a horse breaking into a mare and foal paddock sounds like a horrible but freak accident.

Yeah, herds and foals don't always go (that) wrong. I can say this now -- I wasn't going to post about it at the time because you guys would have ripped me to pieces -- but my mare and her BOGOF foal were turned out into the herd when he was around six weeks old. I was advised on here not to let that happen, but I didn't have much of a choice unless I moved my horses, and it wasn't like livery yards were lining up at the door to take a semi-unhandled three-year old mare with a foal at foot. And like f*ck was I sending her back to her breeder's yard. YO seemed to think that the herd in question would handle it, and I had to believe her. Anyway, the herd -- about six mares and one gelding -- accepted the foal and his mum beautifully. They embraced their jobs as aunties and uncle. The only cause of drama was a mare who decided she needed to protect them from us, which made bringing them in and out of the field interesting. For about two weeks, you had to round up someone to catch that mare and hold her while you extricated Hermosa and Caso from the field, then they had to hold her when you put them back because trying to unhalter your horses while another horse ignores shouting, swearing, whips, helicopter lead ropes, etc. and tries to chase them away from you isn't as much fun as it sounds. However, the mare got over herself; after that, we had no bother.

It was very interesting, however, when a new mare was introduced to the herd. Everyone surrounded the foal, and each horse took a turn to run out of the group and chase the newbie. Once the newbie accepted her place and that she was not to mess with the foal, all was well. She became good pals with Hermosa.

This probably falls under the classification of 'don't try this at home.' It wasn't the ideal way to manage a mare with a foal at foot and undoubtedly risky, but the foal ended up with fantastic social skills from a young age, and he had other horses to annoy who weren't his mother. He was a handful, and Hermosa wasn't the best at discipline, so he probably benefited from the other adults teaching him manners.

 

[palo1]

Yeah, herds and foals don't always go (that) wrong. I can say this now -- I wasn't going to post about it at the time because you guys would have ripped me to pieces -- but my mare and her BOGOF foal were turned out into the herd when he was around six weeks old. I was advised on here not to let that happen, but I didn't have much of a choice unless I moved my horses, and it wasn't like livery yards were lining up at the door to take a semi-unhandled three-year old mare with a foal at foot. And like f*ck was I sending her back to her breeder's yard. YO seemed to think that the herd in question would handle it, and I had to believe her. Anyway, the herd -- about six mares and one gelding -- accepted the foal and his mum beautifully. They embraced their jobs as aunties and uncle. The only cause of drama was a mare who decided she needed to protect them from us, which made bringing them in and out of the field interesting. For about two weeks, you had to round up someone to catch that mare and hold her while you extricated Hermosa and Caso from the field, then they had to hold her when you put them back because trying to unhalter your horses while another horse ignores shouting, swearing, whips, helicopter lead ropes, etc. and tries to chase them away from you isn't as much fun as it sounds. However, the mare got over herself; after that, we had no bother.

It was very interesting, however, when a new mare was introduced to the herd. Everyone surrounded the foal, and each horse took a turn to run out of the group and chase the newbie. Once the newbie accepted her place and that she was not to mess with the foal, all was well. She became good pals with Hermosa.

This probably falls under the classification of 'don't try this at home.' It wasn't the ideal way to manage a mare with a foal at foot and undoubtedly risky, but the foal ended up with fantastic social skills from a young age, and he had other horses to annoy who weren't his mother. He was a handful, and Hermosa wasn't the best at discipline, so he probably benefited from the other adults teaching him manners.

Yeah, well we sometimes forget, in our anxiety to keep individuals safe, that horses are herd animals. We were not quite ready for our mare to foal but in all honesty the herd was really stable, she was the boss anyway and we really didn't think we would have an issue. Like you we didn't have other more appealing options either!! That foal (now a 16'3 adult) has brilliant social skills and we never had any trouble other than my gelding believing it was his mission in life to protect his best friend and her baby wherever they went. I found it very thought provoking tbh. One of our neighbours has really top dollar horses foaling together/in the field as a matter of course and there are generations of expertise that have got them there. There is never just 1 right way.

 

[Rokele55]

When foal watching the local feral herds I have noticed the mares go off on their own to foal then introduce their foal to the herd when they are ready. One more and foal got 'nicked' by the gelding gang and they were very aggressive about keeping her and her foal despite her best efforts to escape. My neighbour had a mare covered and on her return to the yard turned her out with her gelding companion of many years and he tried to kill her, no one saw it coming