Natural weaning??

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mojito

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Just wondering what peoples experiences and views are of letting foals wean themselves naturally? Has it worked well for you? What happens when the next foal is born does the mare just ignore last years foal?
 
I allow natural weaning if the mare has not been rebred. I prefer to naturally wean however I also take into account the condition of the mare as some foals will not take the hint to lay off mum a bit so providing mare and foal are doing well and heading in the right direction of natural weaning then I am happy with doing it this way. If the mare is in foal again then I encourage a bit of natural weaning prior to actually weaning the foals. When I forcefully wean I put the mares in adjoining fields so they still have physical contact with their weanlings and this works very well for them with no stress.
 
Also a big fan of natural weaning. Last foal more or less weaned himself at 8/9 months old. This year's foal will be probably be earlier I think as his mother is already sick of his antics at 7 weeks old. Plus she doesn't immediately panic if she can't see him. He's allowed to wander loose along the row of 4 stables (naturally only under our supervision) while his mother eats in peace. He doesn't go any further (when he does attempt to, his wandering days will be over) but at the moment he's making friends with the 2 ponies that are stabled next to us. I will be watching the 2 of them carefully and will be able to see when it is time to separate them. They will be in stables next to each other with nose contact so it shouldn't be distressing.
What we do now is walk them away out of sight from each other for a few minutes at a time and are gradually increasing the length of time. This will also eventually help with the weaning process.
 
I had hoped this would happen with my mare and filly. Filly is now 13 months old and still suckles, and mare is more than happy to let her. Mare is not in foal again and will not be worked again so there was no reason to wean earlier. I have over the past fortnight been seperating them by day(12 hours at a time) without any stress to either of them. As of next week i will seperate 24 hours a day, again seperated by electric fencing, otherwise i think mare would feed her forever!!! I never wanted to wean early, and am happy with how it's worked out. Good luck!
 
chevs said:
I had hoped this would happen with my mare and filly. Filly is now 13 months old and still suckles, and mare is more than happy to let her. Mare is not in foal again and will not be worked again so there was no reason to wean earlier. I have over the past fortnight been seperating them by day(12 hours at a time) without any stress to either of them. As of next week i will seperate 24 hours a day, again seperated by electric fencing, otherwise i think mare would feed her forever!!! I never wanted to wean early, and am happy with how it's worked out. Good luck!
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Yes, I know a mare whose 2 year old filly still suckles... though it obviously wouldn't have happened if the mare had been rebred. Chevs's weaning method is also the one I use and very efficient and stress free, provided the foal isn't too young - anytime between 9 and 12 months (when the next foal would naturally come along), depending on how the mare copes.
 
On occasion we have left mares and foals to work it out for themselves and find nine months seems to be when colts are happy to go solo. Like a previous poster I am a great believer in allowing the foal some independence and from around three to four months, I feed mare and foal separately with mare's door open and foal on yard or killing two birds with one stone, foal eating inside open trailer. The foals also go walk about introducing themselves to the other horses in the yard and get hissed at, greeted warmly or seen off by the various residents - good socialisation for them.

Quite often we separate for a couple of hours in adjacent stables for a few days and this year weaned two fillies without their mums going off the yard and had no trouble at all, mares dried up, the two fillies shared a stable and the mares and fillies now are a herd together with no suckling at all. I know it takes time, but I really favour the gradual weaning approach. Would love to try the completely natural approach.

I had one mare who was such a good mum that she would have fed on forever. After three months away from baby she was still producing milk.
 
Another vote, I can't see the point of feeding a foal through a winter when mum can do it better than me, last years filly was weaned in April at 10 months with no stress at all, I let her drain the milk when the udder filled then gradually extended the times between feeds and the mare was dried up and had stopped producing within a few days, filly was in the next field to mum with her friends and hardly noticed but she still has a bond with mum and they are often grooming over the fence. I too make sure that they become quite independent and will often take a foal into the schooling paddock whilst mum feeds or looks on for a bit of leading and a groom.

I just find this method much less stressful for mum and baby and they can get back together quite quickly too.
 
my 2 year old was naturally weaned because it suited us rather than by grand design! I have 4 horses altogether-my mare Betty a 16.2 3/4 bred and her daughter Lulu 7/8 tb. our other 2 horses are retired half native laminitic lawn mowers!
All four are happy together but 2 needed feeding and the 2 retired ones live on fresh air.So I left Lulu with Betty whilst the grazing was rich and in winter all 4 were out together by day and the Betty and Lulu in at night each in their own stable.Lulu was still suckling occasionally from Betty until Betty was about 5 months pregnant,[quite a gymnastic feat with knees bent!] and I was about to separate them when she suddenly refused to let Lulu feed any more.
This suited all of us and when the new foal was due the 2 year old was of course quite happy with the retired mares.
I have to add that despite suckling so late Lulu was always an independent foal and has always been confident led in and out of the yard whilst Betty was out of sight and vice versa.Is this her nature or is it a result of being left with her mother to grow up in her own time? I don't know! but it worked for us and I would do it again although I understand mares often tire of colts quicker than they do of fillies!
 
I know of a mare and foal well not a foal now rising 2 that is still feeding from mum. If they had of been mine i would have seperated them a year ago as it is pulling mum down.
 
Not something I altogether have any experience of but I think it is more a 'single mare owner' thing. Ours live in big groups and even at 3 months old the foals are basically semi weaned and hang out in a gang away from their mothers. Some of the older mares are looking a bit rough so will be better off weaned.
 
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