Mare Kicked Foal Accross Stable Cause I Put A Rug On Her

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devilwoman

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Really worried me put a little stable rug on filly for first time tonight, mum has had a rug on day and night for the last week as she is a chilly bean, foal took to "lifting it to drink" like a duck to water, but a different story when I put one on foal, mare put her ears flat back spun round and kicked her, not really hard but pretty hard, foal run round to front of mare for some assurance, she put her ears back again and bit her in the neck, at this point I swung in there and whipped rug off, I was too scared to leave it on.

What would you guys do, I thought about putting it on during the day tomorrow when i'm off work and can hang around and keep a close eye on them in the field rather than doing it for the first time when they are in the stable ?
 
Was the rug a new one or washed or had it been on another foal before. Just wondered in case it smelled of another foal and she maybe got confused.
 
I wouldnt rug the foal. She'll be fine without

If you're really determined then it's going to be a long and gradual process- leave the rug in the stable with them so the mare gets used to it for a bit. Then I would use it only when the mare is held and the foal is able to be a safe distance away initially, until all negative signs disappear. Then supervise very short periods of leaving them loose together until you're certain.
 
Thanks for the replies, its a brand new rug I took it out of the bag tonight.

Suppose she probably doesn't really need it but felt sorry for her tonight as its so cold, I have left the rug hanging on the rug string in the stable with the mares other rugs.

I will try the gradual process suggested, thanks Mule.
 
It is not cold that is the problem, their coats are designed to trap air. It is being out in the wind & rain, when the wind can open up the coat & let the rain in. There should be no need for a rug unless she is a late foal. But I would do as already suggested & get the rug smelling more like the foal & mare. Rub the rug over the mare & foal get it smelling of them then just lay it on the foal with you in attendance in case you have to wipe it back off.
 
Hi Magic, she is a late foal, she's only 10 weeks now and it is the day time i'm more concerned about, i,e, the rain, as they go out in the morning before work at about 9 a.m. and don't come in until 4 p.m. when I come home, they do have a field shelter and the foal does use it but there is times she's come in soaking already.
 
Honestly I wouldn't rug her if she is in at night, they are tough little creatures. Our weaners are out 24/7 (Thoroughbreds), no rugs just good hedges. Mum probably is confused by the smell of the new rug. We don't rug any of the broodies here either as they'll be at night from December and so have adequate time to dry off and get some good grub into them and they are all weedy TB's. Even when we have early foals, it works better for us just to turn them out for a bit and get them in before they get too cold, like this year when we had a February foaler born the week before the last load of snow.
 
I wouldn't rug her if she's got a field shelter to use, and is still on the mare so can fill up on warm milk any time she needs. The mare's confusion and possible malevolence is far more of a threat to her than getting a bit wet here and there imho.
 
I know someone who put powder on a foal because it was itching and the mare turned on it a really kicked it. I think the mare ceased to recognise it as her foal. I would not put a rug on your foal, it will be fine if it is fit and healthy. Much safer without one.
 
I had this last year with one of my mares and her filly, mum would just not let baby anywhere near and she spent ages trying to run away from her baby or chasing foal away. I just didn't bother in the end. Foal was fine in the terrible winter we had, in at night though and with a field shelter during the day which they didn't use that much. Foals got very wooley and never seemed cold. I weaned at 9 months and only then did foaly get a rain sheet.
 
Weve had this same problem with some of our mares - I dont generally rug foals but occasionally if the night before a show and they are clean but two of our mares have turned violently against their foal and ive had to take the rugs off.

Two other mares dont bother, however when I swapped a rug to another foals rug that caused a problem and it had to be swapped back, but it was was fortunate with one old mare who doesnt mind, as her foal had got frozen through in the cold rain and was very poorly with it, he had to be rugged to warm him through again. Even with good shelter and adlib hay and food twice daily, he had not coped with the weather and has to come in at night, he is weaned now and out daily with no rug so he can play freely with his friends but rugged at night when he comes back in.

However in general I agree most foals do not need rugs.
 
Strangely enough, I've had the opposite happen - my broodie doesn't give a hoot what the foal is wearing (and I do tend to rug them up when it rains, if only to get them used to it, rugging up & unrugging is good discipline and good training oportunity!) - but the filly 2 years ago was born in May during a really dry spell and when I tried to put a rain sheet on Mum when the weather turned she just didn't recognise that big blue horse and ran for her life. I had to bring them both in and let the foal smell the rug then put the rug on half way so that she could still see it was mum, and put in on and off until she realised... it was mum all along!
 
I am the same as the GW, i put a rug on my foal without really thinking about it to be honest! Did let mare see and smell the rug before i put it on but mare didn't seem to care less. Thankfully! My colt has been no bother since day one, thankfully as i was 5 months pregnant when he came along!! He must take after his dad ; ) mare has been no bother either apart from with other horses!! anyway no bother with rugs and has outdoor and stable rugs. sorry to hear your expereincing problems.
 
I'd rub a fair bit of smelly bedding over the foal's rug where it's staled or leave it on the floor to get smelly and mucky, then introduce the mare to the foal with it on making sure someone has hold of the mare and the foal incase you get the same reaction.
I certainly wouldn't leave it on the foal until I was positive the mare had stopped being an idiot.
I think I'd stick to the stable for introducing because at least they are in a controllable space, out in the field you've got no chance of helping the foal if it gets attacked.
 
Just a quick warning, don't leave anything hanging in the stable unless you are there, foals can easily hang themselves and for that reason stable walls and doors realy should be left bare.. (sorry to nag but better than you ending up with a dead foal..)
 
That's exactly what my mare did to her foal - I put a cover on and let him go - he was more than happy to wear it - mum took one look at him and flew at him - ears back, teeth bared, spun round and lashed out. His dear face looked mortified that his beloved mum had kicked him. Took rug off and mum recognised him straight away. I will admit that it was dusk and that she was eating her tea at the time so probably wasn't paying attention to what we were doing.
Next morning put the cover on the colt, mum could see him well and was more than happy to have him covered.

Interesting that shape & colour must also play a part in them recognising their foals not just the smell.

I do think that some foals do need covers depending on the weather, especially if raining and a cold wind. Little body loses a lot of heat & condition fast.
 
when we put a rug on Millie for the first time her mum acted like Millie was a stallion and was squealing and squirting at her.

we were just trying it on for size for after weaning so they were supervised at all times and mum was on a lunge line after we saw her initial reaction.

they settled fine and mum was fine after she realised it was her foal but i am glad we supervised them and did it in a field so Millie couldn't get trapped.
 
magic104 said:
It is not cold that is the problem, their coats are designed to trap air. It is being out in the wind & rain, when the wind can open up the coat & let the rain in. There should be no need for a rug unless she is a late foal. But I would do as already suggested & get the rug smelling more like the foal & mare. Rub the rug over the mare & foal get it smelling of them then just lay it on the foal with you in attendance in case you have to wipe it back off.
Click to expand...

I agree about wind and rain. My two foals are rugged, very wet and windy this morning and I am pleased they are covered up.
 
As others - I wouldn't rush to rug.

However, if you are unable to get her out of bad weather during the day (and have no one that can do it for you) you will probably need to reconsider.
 
I really want to rug our foster mare (she has a very thin coat and shivers when wet), but can't as Little S**t likes to climb on her and the risk of him catching in her rug is too great - so I went home at lunch and brought them all in - I did put a rug on her one day and Little S**t tried to jump out of the stable as his mother had turned bay.
 
If you are determined to rug it could be worth putting the little rug over the mares back with her own on top to hold it in place for a couple of hours if you are around to keep an eye. Might help it smell right.
 
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