How can i make this situation better for him?

I had many sleepless nights before my weanling came last year, part excitement and part worrying! He travelled for 11 hours in the end and arrived in the pitch dark, I put him in a stable for the night and turned him out with nanny pony the next day. Less than ideal circumstances but all was well, good luck with him he looks lovely :)
 
I wean at least 2 of mine together, but mine are used to a trailer, but i wont wean and send to new home straight away thats a bit harsh for me!!!! i usually put mare on, foal other side, walk mare off the front and stand there, next mare walks through, foal follows, front ramp up, rear ramp up and off we go!!! only a 20 min drive and foals go to were they know for at least a week before they leave home for good!!! first batch done 3 weeks ago and went last week, another 2 this week end!!
 
HBM1 said:
well, if they really can't change it, yes all you can do is make the absolute best of it. From when he arrives with you, ensure he has a very very soft exit from the lorry. Put down plenty of straw on the ground if necessary - make sure he has absolutely no opportunity to leap off the lorry from the top of the ramp, or fall off the side.....have plenty of burly help to guide him down safely.

Remove any and all objects from the stable that he may do himself harm on - as someone else said make sure the bars are not wide apart (this is actually a manic fear of mine)...no haynets, rubber skips only for feeding etc. Lovely warm welcoming bed and most of all, be there for him. Stay with him and just sit in the stable with him and make sure he knows he is not alone. Even if he has been physically weaned by his mare, there will always be an emotional attachment (and personally, breeders like this do not account for it in my view). Can you imagine having your baby, being with them for 6 months and then suddenly they are gone....the mare should have some consideration, not least baby...

Some babies love a jolly ball, or a spacehopper...remember they love to play - distract him with lovely things...a lick treat will be nice for him too. Hopefully he will make quick relations with those around him. Let us know how it goes and remind us what he looks like?
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I agree with all the above apart from sitting in the stable = recipe for disaster, yes stay with him but please the other side of a door.

Good luck he looks a lovely chap!
 
I think its asking for trouble personaly. Yes it may be done this way by some breeders but that does not mean its right. Not a start I would want for any one of mine.
 
Would just like to state again.. It's NOT ME who's choosing to do it this way. I can't change it and they can't do it any other way.

This post is ONLY for advice on making it nicer when he actually GETS TO ME.. Please don't have a go at me when I'm completely powerless.. (Will be paying for him when he's arrived safe and sound.)
 
I suppose one thing it does highlight Spotty, or two things...is that firstly, breeders should not be breeding if they cannot properly wean the baby - as someone else said, what on earth would they have done had he not sold...and secondly, as a buyer it is important to find out on the first phone call or visit, how they intend to wean. Then at least you can walk away before having any emotional ties to the youngster if their method isn't something that sits well.
 
Yes perhaps, however I suppose as some have said it may go absolutely ok and it is not un heard off.. Or though not thought well off with most, its the way they are doing it and it has worked for all the foals they have sold before (plenty of foals).. Just got to cross our fingers and hope it goes ok!
 
HBM1 said:
I suppose one thing it does highlight Spotty, or two things...is that firstly, breeders should not be breeding if they cannot properly wean the baby - as someone else said, what on earth would they have done had he not sold...and secondly, as a buyer it is important to find out on the first phone call or visit, how they intend to wean. Then at least you can walk away before having any emotional ties to the youngster if their method isn't something that sits well.
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THIS!
 
I should say my weanling had been weaned before he came, and handled and led, all of which came in useful at 1am in the pitch darkness having been on a lorry for 11 hours, leading him down a muddy track by torchlight! At 5 months old! All of which is testament to his previous good handling and his superb temperament :)

(He did jump a 5 foot hedge a couple of days later but that's another story..... :D )
 
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Thanks foxy:), yours sounds lovely! Do you have a pic? Trying to stay positive and look forward to it but now all I can think is I'm going to have a 3 legged foal come to me and that I've ruined his life.. Brilliant start:(.

I should add, my girl was weaned at 16 weeks (horrendous owners) and weaned this way and she is an absolute star now.. Drags you into the box, doesn't mind being on her own or having company - no hang ups at all.. But I know, every horse is different.

Perhaps I should just change my mind and not have him. Such a shame I'm feeling so negative :( hopefully the excitement will creep back in again.
 
I have only weaned once before, and I was lucky enough at the time to have a pony herd to wean into, pony mare and her foal came to me for a couple of months to make friends with my mare and foal, then all 4 went back to the larger pony herd; then another month later we quietly removed the mares back to my yard - although to follow this approach I had to let my sports horse mare and her foal live out during autumn and beginning of winter which wouldn't have been my first choice (the ponies were natives who never live in). The actual weaning was stress and problem free, although my foal did then get kicked by one of the ponies a month later unfortunately resulting in an operation, stay in hospital and then convalescent yard although luckily he is ok now and happily back at home with mum and this year's foal. So there can be unforeseen problems however well prepared you try and make it.

When you're not a big stud or a breeder with extensive facilities and land (quite a number of us) you don't always have all the options for a perfect approach and you have done a great job trying to seek advice and find out how you can best deal with the situation you have been presented with.

Try not to get disheartened and just do as much as you can with the constraints you are under - I think you are clearly doing this. The company of the yearling should be a big benefit.

Good luck and all the best he's an absolutely lovely looking foal :)
 
This is my boy at about 4 1/2 months

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And him in May this year at 1 year old- they grow quick!

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SpottyTB said:
Thanks foxy:), yours sounds lovely! Do you have a pic? Trying to stay positive and look forward to it but now all I can think is I'm going to have a 3 legged foal come to me and that I've ruined his life.. Brilliant start:(.

I should add, my girl was weaned at 16 weeks (horrendous owners) and weaned this way and she is an absolute star now.. Drags you into the box, doesn't mind being on her own or having company - no hang ups at all.. But I know, every horse is different.

Perhaps I should just change my mind and not have him. Such a shame I'm feeling so negative :( hopefully the excitement will creep back in again.
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Spotty, it isn't your fault this is how he is being weaned. As you say, you can only make the best for him once he is with you. He will soon get over it as long as life becomes happy and he makes a friend, feels safe with you and well cared for.
 
HBM1 said:
Spotty, it isn't your fault this is how he is being weaned. As you say, you can only make the best for him once he is with you. He will soon get over it as long as life becomes happy and he makes a friend, feels safe with you and well cared for.
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100 % agree, get excited!! They are great fun, but terrible timewasters, I used to spend hours watching mine in the field getting up to mischief with his friends (still do!)
 
Thank you all for making me feel better, I'm only 18 and the money I have bought him with was money i was left from my grandad (who died in july), he raised me from four years old - so a bit of an emotional one! This boy means a lot already!

I will definitely keep you all posted, he comes a week Friday :) so not long!
 
About unloading at the other end - be prepared for him not to want to come off! Wolf travelled like a lamb all the way home and then we spent an hour trying to get him off the wagon. Ended up having to reverse him off slowly with three of us, step by step.

They don't have a very long attention span at the best of times at that age and if he's had a long stressful day he may well be very tired when you get home. Your aims in the first instance will be to keep him safe, keep him calm, and let him rest. If you're going to leave a slip on him overnight, make sure it's one that will release if he gets caught on something.

Has he had much handling?

As to whether the weaning approach will cause any problems, I think that depends on the personality of the horse. It was suggested that my youngster was weaned the same way (the logic being that you get all the stress over in one go) but we managed to negotiate a week's gap. That may have been me being a bit neurotic but I felt happier doing it that way. Out of the two it was the moving house that was most stressful for him not the weaning, but then he was a bit of a latch key kid anyway and wasn't bothered about mum. Personally I prefer to wean in large herds so that they're with their mates, but plenty of horses get weaned in ways that aren't ideal and they cope.

Good luck and have fun with him xxxxx They grow up so quick so cherish every moment. I rode Wolf for the first time last week and I can't believe how quickly time has flown.
 
rolsterlady said:
I think you mean horizontal lovely ;)
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Hahahaha oh god.. haha i'm chuckling away now.. my bad, i'll put it down to having 6 kids screaming around me whilst i wrote that!

EstherYoung - He's been led out of the field a handful of times and had his toes rounded off.. that's about all the handling he's had. I shall be borrowing a stable mat from my other yard for un loading him (great tip thank you). From what i've seen of him, he's pretty laid back, the first time i saw him his breeder grabbed hold of his tail and got a comb out and started combing his tail out - Hugo stood like a statue with his top lip going whilst he was combing away. He's pretty chilled out, the other foals will leg it up and around the field and Hugo will do a little trot to catch up.. doesn't hoon around. So fingers crossed his laid backness will shine out through the weaning process :cool::cool: I shall be cherishing every single moment with him, i am just so excited :) he's so gorgeous! xx

Koeffee- Ah he's gorgeous and what nice breeding! His sister looks pretty talented too :) very nice!
 
Please dont worry too much, things can go wrong whatever method you choose, normally totally out of your control and i have sold and recieved youngsters many times this way, and is actually fairly kind to mare and foal as they cannot hear each other calling and settle fairly quickly. I wouldnt turn him out for a good few days tho until he is familiar with you and his companion, catching him could be fun! Lovely colt btw! Dont let him loose too much condition at this time of year when he is weaned so good adlib hay, stud mix/balancer etc, start low and increase to his needs as you see fit, i tend to rug mine too but personal choice, hope that helps, sure all will be fine,
 
djhope120 said:
Please dont worry too much, things can go wrong whatever method you choose, normally totally out of your control and i have sold and recieved youngsters many times this way, and is actually fairly kind to mare and foal as they cannot hear each other calling and settle fairly quickly. I wouldnt turn him out for a good few days tho until he is familiar with you and his companion, catching him could be fun! Lovely colt btw! Dont let him loose too much condition at this time of year when he is weaned so good adlib hay, stud mix/balancer etc, start low and increase to his needs as you see fit, i tend to rug mine too but personal choice, hope that helps, sure all will be fine,
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Thanks djhope120 - I shall play it by ear with the turning out, I have planned to try on the saturday but also have sorted company (So yearling can stretch his legs) in case it's longer then 24 hours he needs in the stable. I won't be turning him out and leaving him until several days after his arrival.. i want to try 2/3 hourly turn out session's - so i can sit and watch - just in case.

I have bought some mix for the first week to wean him gradually onto the gro n win - which i'll be feeding on it's own until he needs more, and then i will look into adding a chaff i suppose :confused:? I have got plenty of rugs for him, but haven't planned to rug him up unless he's wet and cold - so would need it as i read/was told that foals should grow the coat they need in the winter because if they don't it affect their future coats? (i have got him stable rugs for when he's in though :P )

Thanks for your advice :)
 
Hi SpottyTB, Just wanted to post a positive story for you! - I think I have read a couple of your threads for ideas about my weanling! He was weaned prior to picking him up, though mum was calling from another barn as he was loading and he had a good week of trying to suckle his field mate (colt) so not quite sure how long he had been weaned for :rolleyes:
I've had him for about a month now, and like you was so very worried about those first few days. I started a thread on here about how to travel him home and by the end of it I was convinced that I would be collecting a wild hooligan of a colt, that would fight to try and climb out or over anything that was put in front of him! In the end I spoke to the breeder and did pretty much the opposite of all my research, but exactly as she told me. He travelled home a dream and after having a good look around came off the trailer with no problems (we did bank straw bales up to stop him jumping off the sides of the ramp).
He was in a stable overnight with another colt the same age, so slightly different to your situation, but dispite not knowing each other they were calm and happy to munch lots of hay. As they were so settled they were turned out the next day. I slowly took the headcollar off him, fully expecting not to catch him for a week! He stayed next to me grazing, and to this day I've only seen him canter twice, both times to come and say hello to me (or possibly the food bucket ;)) .
He is a wb too, I've been amazed at how well he has settled, so sometimes it does all work out ok :)
 
kinskycookie said:
Hi SpottyTB, Just wanted to post a positive story for you! - I think I have read a couple of your threads for ideas about my weanling! He was weaned prior to picking him up, though mum was calling from another barn as he was loading and he had a good week of trying to suckle his field mate (colt) so not quite sure how long he had been weaned for :rolleyes:
I've had him for about a month now, and like you was so very worried about those first few days. I started a thread on here about how to travel him home and by the end of it I was convinced that I would be collecting a wild hooligan of a colt, that would fight to try and climb out or over anything that was put in front of him! In the end I spoke to the breeder and did pretty much the opposite of all my research, but exactly as she told me. He travelled home a dream and after having a good look around came off the trailer with no problems (we did bank straw bales up to stop him jumping off the sides of the ramp).
He was in a stable overnight with another colt the same age, so slightly different to your situation, but dispite not knowing each other they were calm and happy to munch lots of hay. As they were so settled they were turned out the next day. I slowly took the headcollar off him, fully expecting not to catch him for a week! He stayed next to me grazing, and to this day I've only seen him canter twice, both times to come and say hello to me (or possibly the food bucket ;)) .
He is a wb too, I've been amazed at how well he has settled, so sometimes it does all work out ok :)
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Ah thank you thank you thank you for a positive story - and one that is similar to what will happen to me/Hugo next week! yours sounds lovely :D a very chillaxed young man (do you have a picture? i'm enjoying seeing all of these gorgeous babies!)

I really hope that it goes as well as your has :) just out of interest, what are you feeding yours? I'm terrified about the OCD risk, so have gone with a balencer.. MIL/FIL cannot understand why i havent bulked it out with chaff/mix/oats/bran - all of which they fed to there baby... they cannot understand my sheer terror of OCD :confused::( :o

STB :)
 
I'm also terrorised by the fear of OCD!
I have gone for the saracen level grow as the reseach seems to point to the fact that a low GI food reduces the risk and it seems to be tailored for that. The protein level isn't too high and I liked the fact that you can add their Stamm30 balancer (which is included in the level grow in small amounts) if they start to loose condition.

I'm no feed expert but it seemed to tick all the boxes and provide what I had researched that he would need! I do put a little chaff with it- primarily as there are two of them in the field one has a little more to slow him down and stop him pinching mine! We use an unmollassed hi fi which could be used as a hay replacer so no extra sugar etc.

Planning on getting a field lick too so they can help themselves if they need extra vit/mins and ought to add that they are on really good grass so dont give a huge amount of hard feed :)
 
Oo i shall research the two you've suggested, i'm in a bit of a quandary (sp), the grazing has much to be desired really, we're resting half for another month and in the mean time, they are not on a great deal of grass.. (they have a field shelter that we put two slices of hay in twice a day)... so not sure whether to top up the balancer with some alfa oil or something? just so he gets the quantity he needs... :confused: ah so difficult!!!!

Thanks for replying :)
STB
 
It is a complete minefield isnt it? When I got him the breeder said any youngstock mix and a high oil chaff would be fine. I will use a high oil one if he starts to loose condition at all.

He is living out with his new little friend 24/7 but does have masses of grass and good shelter so I guess its not quite as much as an issue for me as i'm hoping grass will provided the majority of his feed - for now anyway!

I rang some feed companies too that was helpful. :)
 
good luck and let us know how you get on Spotty. Dont worry about the weaning, had a few where it was done this way. One Highland foal we bought was led into the trailer with his mum, she was taken out and he was tied with a rope at either side and travelled 2 hours down the road, not ideal but did him no lasting harm. Also had one who was split from her mum at a sale, she wasnt even 4 months old, now that did pee me off.
I got my new foal last night, she hasnt had any handling but seems quite happy and lets you touch and scratch her. She has her headcollar and grab rope on in the stable. Will be a week or 2 til she goes out, we have another 2 foals we bought recently, they are now going out together. Its an exciting time getting a foaly and watching them progress and growing.
Look forward to him arriving, be excited and enjoy! (Im nearly 50 and I still get that feeling lol)
 
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