Orphan foal behaviour/ naught foal behaviour

carmenlucy123

carmenlucy123

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Ok so there was a horrific video in NL and it was titled orphaned horse

Followed a couple of comments about orphan foals being notoriously bad bla bla and I felt a little annoyed about the brandishing as I have two

Then I found myself on YouTube watching videos and there was a horse called izzy hand reared and it pulled some faces and shook it's head during filming and the person filming backed away, now Mabel occasionally shows this head shaking behaviour and I firmly pinch her bottom lip as it's usually due to trying to suckle me ect and then venting her fury at finding no milky bar lol but I really tell her and for eg last week she tried to find the milky bar on my boyfriend upon not finding it she struck in protest with her front leg and she got a rollocking off Fin ie shouting and a firm smack on neck and tug on her headcollar we really try an stamp this out as I'm worried about having a horse with a bad attitude although I also hope turning her away in April will do her the world of good
But if you wanted to find the videos I'd be interested to see what you thought
Also it's a weanling and it appears to have a grazing muzzle on? Seems odd but obviously I don't know the whole story
 
Anyway is this common naughtiness and how do people cope/ensure they have a happy horse?
I am quite strict see but then a voice in my head says they are over handled and im creating problems by overhandeling? which is why they will be turned away ASAP for at least 2 years
 
I was one of those who commented on orphan foals and the importance of trying to find foster mares for them.

I have never had an orphan foal myself, so what I know about them is from friends (one in particular who had a mare die but the foal survived) and from what I have read.

The problems seem to stem from 1, the foal imprints on the human and thinks that it is a human - not a horse and/or 2, the human carer doesn't/cannot teach the foal horse manners and horse social structure.

My friend's foal was kept with other horses/ponies as much as possible but she still didn't behave like a 'normal' horse. She was much more 'in your face', less wary and would get frustrated or cross with humans. I can see how she could have become dangerous without expert handling.
 
I would have loved a foster mare for Mabel but unfortunately it was very late in the year and he wanted alot of money off of me that I didn't have and he was very odd long story but didn't trust him
 
Mine was actually very easy as a baby, she didn't like being with other horse particularly and would mooch sadly wanting to come out of the field for ages, until she was 2 I don't think she was any naughtier per se than the others, it is easy to worry because they are orphans and they are different but all people friendly foals can be equally guilty of trying similar tricks. She has been pretty much turned away all her life, all ours live out in mixed age, single sex herds(excepting foals). When she went through her 2/3 year old brat phase she was more aggressive with people, wanting to play with a real edge, fine if headcollar was on but loose in the field could be a real pain and had to be sent away firmly and conclusively several times. That is the hard bit with orphans because they are just not fussed but a flappy jumper or feedbag was enough to make her keep a small distance. She is now her old sweet self, will always be different and perhaps a bit more in your face but more than manageable. The thing that has helped her most is having her baby half sister in the field, the colt before was tolerated but not really interacted with but last years baby has really brought out the horse in her and as she re learns her horse language she becomes easier to talk to.
Do not either give yourself a hard time about not managing to find a foster mare, I was offered one and advised not to take it by experts, my daughters pony adopted as far as she could but the foal just didn't see her after a week in hospital and never imprinting on a mare. At times like that there is only so much you can do.
I am not watching the videos as too little internet and they will make me cross.
 
Each foal is different wether an orphan or not and it is still easy to spoil a foal on a mum if you do not put the bounderies in. Yes the orphans friendlier than others but the same rules apply and getting interacting with other horses is the most important part. We bucket reared one but she had a shetland nanny who was very protective to the point she would chase strangers out perfect :-)
 
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