Hand Rearing A Foal

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Mosh

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On my old yard someone was hand rearing a 3 month old foal.
Now i am not slating her as I have no idea if this is correct or not but the foal she is hand rearing is having no milk at all, seems to be on hard feed as well constantly (although i am aware that they will eat hard food when their mum is fed....well thats what the shetland pony did!) and obviously hay and water.
I was just wondering, surely if the foalie is only 3 months old she should be on some sort of milk?
i could be wrong though. Just wondering that was all
 
thats the thing, the foal isn't on any milk, her owner told me and several others.
And the reason shes hand rearing is because the mum rejected the foal.
I am not saying this is true but apparently the owner was interfering with the foal too much at birth and didn't let them ( mum and baby) bond properly.
I know the mare is alive though, so looks like the baby was rejected.
 
i would be inclined to re post this in breeding ... good luck..
i think that wee little foal needs its mum for all the good things it needs...
it defo needs the mother milk!
has anyone tried telling this person? difficult i know but that foal needs its mothers milk. if the mare is rejecting it then it needs a surrogate mare asap .
 
I handreared a foal after her mother died. She was fed mare's milk replacer from a bucket and was eventually weaned off it when she was 7 months old. Alongside the milk, she was fed Simple System's feed. I suggest you get this person to find some professional advice quickly - the foal should definitely be having milk.
 
We had reared our foal at 3months wen it lost it's mum to colic. It took us ages to get her to eat thoe, we fed her milk pellets which she wasn't too keen on and abit of socked barley to make the milk pellets softer.

we then turned her out with a litle pony every day so he had the chance to learn how to eat grass. she's now a healthy nearly yearling
 
As long as the foal has free access to water then the lack of milk will not be too much of a problem for it at that age even though it is an alien concept to us! It must also be having the right food of course.

TBH, it is such a vast subject with so many answers that unless the owner is willing to take advice,( preferably from experienced and knowledgeable nutritionists from the feed firms and stud managers who have all been through it themselves) you're beating your head against a brick wall.

At least she is giving the foal a fighting chance, it is a huge commitment and learning curve to hand rear a foal, she should be given credit for that at the very least instead of jumping on her because her methods don't conform to yours.
I'm not saying that what she is doing is right as a lot of what you said is heresay, we don't know the full story and even if we did, it is no business of ours, but who are we to say it is wrong in her case; each case is different and should be taken on its merits not just because you say a foal MUST have milk; while it helps it is not a necessity as long as it has the right foods, free access to water and companionship of some form or another.
Having reared two foals from 2 weeks old this year myself, I take my hat off to her, she deserves a medal!
 
Sorry but don't rear it, it will be bulshy and have no respect for humans. I have done one and in the end he had to go.
 
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Sorry but don't rear it, it will be bulshy and have no respect for humans. I have done one and in the end he had to go.

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B*ll*cks!
We have the most wonderful orphaned mare at my place - she doens't know the meaning of the world bolshy.
 
Yes that is B*ll*cks, if you hand rear a foal correcctly then you will be fine. We lost a mare with a week old foal at food. The foal was hand reared and 'adopted' by my 4yo gelding. The foal is now 3 and will be coming back to be to back this autumn. He's an enormaus beast and certainly full of himself but no more than any other 3yo youngster
 
A foal is only as bolshy as you allow it to be. They should be treated like a horse in miniature - the same quick admonishment when they do wrong, the same quick praise when they do right. It's inevitable that they will screw up more at first because they aren't born knowing the rules, their attention span is shorter and they are full of beans, but there is no reason why a hand-reared foal should be any less respectful of humans than a normally reared one unless it hasn't been taught ground manners in the same thorough way and has instead been treated as a large pet dog.
 
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He's an enormaus beast and certainly full of himself but no more than any other 3yo youngster

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Yes, and the mare I refer to is a 17hh ID mare!
 
okay was just wondering.
I wasn't slating this woman, just simply curious
and i do agree that she is very brave to take her on and at least give the foal a chance.
 
Rubbish, we have done two now and both are fine. the secretis to keep them with another small or young one and then integrate the two of them in with other horses as they would be with their dam.
Isabella was completely hand reared but shared a stable with her sister. Now aged three she comes up to humans to say hello but soon loses interest and walks back to the herd.
Going back to your question re the milk, unless you have actually reared a foal you have no idea what hard work it is. Whether it was the owner's fault or not, she has done the right thing and is trying her best. It would be easier on milk on it's digestive system but if it's eating and drinking it should be ok.
good job we don't all think like gypsycob!
 
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Sorry but don't rear it, it will be bulshy and have no respect for humans. I have done one and in the end he had to go.

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agree total bollocks

I hand reared a foal from 2 months, and due to circumstances was kept on her own for 2 years, she is now 8 years old, and is the most respectfull mare i have ever known, even if she still thinks i'm her mum which is not a problem because she is with me for life.
 
its nice to hear you've had all good experiences with hand rearing foals...well most of you anyway.
I do think her owner is brave and is doing a good job.
 
This foal i saw today is really really skinny. and is cooped up in the stable 24/7. surely this is not right for the foal! now the owner has a broodmare surely she could try put the foal with it? as it has never seen grass i dont think.

i think ppl have tried to ask the owner if they could have the foal but no luck she wont.
 
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