Orphan foal

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purplelucia

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Hi. I own a lovely gelding by a beautiful clyde stallion and TB mother. His younger siblings are available to purchase and I am in the market for a youngster, these siblings have the same clyde stallion but different mothers. All my horses have come to me as 3 or 4 year olds unbroken. My current horse was gelded late and is a bit of a boss but always kind and respectful to humans. I am tossing up between the two youngsters available, they are both very different, one will be bigger, a better size for me but was hand reared as the mother died at birth, after being hand reared he was turned out with other horses/youngsters until now and Unhandled, he is now 3 and soon to be gelded. His other sibling will be a bit smaller, not hand reared but turned out and unhandled, he is now also 3 and soon to be gelded. Both lovely horses and from the types I would sway to the taller one, should grow to 16.2/17hh and the mother’s breeding. My only reservation is that he was hand reared. Has anyone had any experience with orphan foals that have been hand reared and then turned out for a couple of years? Or any advice about them in general, or what to be looking for in a hand reared foal? Thanks
 
My horse was orphaned at six weeks. He was also bottle fed because his dam couldn't feed him for medical reasons. He was born and raised in an equine rescue centre, so the people that raised him were knowledgeable about horses.

He behaves just like any other horse. I wouldn't have known he was hand reared if I wasn't told. Bring a rescue centre I'd imagine there was a herd that he was put out with to teach him how to behave.
 
Orphaned foals can be a handful if they haven't been handled correctly, as they think they are humans and don't know the boundaries and can have difficulty mixing with other horses. Sounds as yours mixes OK with horses, but what is he like to handle?

One I definitely know off was carefully bottle fed and had a mare as a companion, was broken in OK but the owner was very elderly, although an experienced horse owner and the horse became rather unruly. After a difficult time he was rehomed through a charity and the people who got him were able to put some work into him and they are very happy with him, so I don't think it was the horses's fault at all, he was just a stroppy youngster that needed the work.
 
Big, hand reared, unhandled (what about feet and worming?), not gelded until he's approaching 3 years. You're a braver man than I am.
 
I think as he has been turned out with a herd since being hand reared there should be no difference. The problems with hand reared foals come because they become too humanised (and a lot of humans have to take responsibility for that!) and are never left to grown up with similar aged company to keep them in order. The same happens when people over handle their foals/youngstock - I have bred quite a few over the years and they are best left as near feral as possible.
 
I have an 8yo mare who was hand reared when her dam died shortly after birth (retained placenta = laminitis. They spent £1000s trying to save her).

She was free at 4 years old because by that time she was no longer the cute little foal who used to run up and rear sweetly when they shook a bucket of milk pellets - she was 700kg of thug who still thought running to a food bowl and rearing was acceptable. My then YO went to collect her from the field she'd be thrown into with some treats in case she didn't want to be caught and ended up hurdling the hawthorn hedge to avoid getting kicked.

It took me ages to teach her to tie up nicely, walk by me nicely and not to turn her bum and kick every time she disagreed with you. Her manners around food are a million times better but I am still cautious. It was 18 months until I let anyone apart from me handle her feet unless she was sedated. She still doesn't have clear views on the difference between horse and human behaviour. She hasn't been in herd turnout for a while now due to yard set-up (just with my gelding) but when she was she struggled because she didn't understand herd dynamics. Her separation anxiety is appalling and that is apparently normal with babies who lose their dams.

I think I would find out exactly how they reared the foal and whether or not it was pampered / spoilt and if so, stay well away.
 
I had an orphan foal to bring up 10 years ago. As has been said above, the vitally important bit is that they do not get over handled and have experiences of being with other horses as early but as safely as possible. Mine got the chance of a foster mare but the mare died (very long story) so was brought up by hand and the supervision of a pony. When she was old enough she ran with other young horses and went on to be backed and ridden away. Having said that she was also halter broken and led etc just like a normal youngster would be. If I was being picky, I would say the difference I noticed was that she had less sense of personal space than you see in other youngsters but I worked on this as did her pony companion ;).
 
SEL said:
I have an 8yo mare who was hand reared when her dam died shortly after birth (retained placenta = laminitis. They spent £1000s trying to save her).

She was free at 4 years old because by that time she was no longer the cute little foal who used to run up and rear sweetly when they shook a bucket of milk pellets - she was 700kg of thug who still thought running to a food bowl and rearing was acceptable. My then YO went to collect her from the field she'd be thrown into with some treats in case she didn't want to be caught and ended up hurdling the hawthorn hedge to avoid getting kicked.

It took me ages to teach her to tie up nicely, walk by me nicely and not to turn her bum and kick every time she disagreed with you. Her manners around food are a million times better but I am still cautious. It was 18 months until I let anyone apart from me handle her feet unless she was sedated. She still doesn't have clear views on the difference between horse and human behaviour. She hasn't been in herd turnout for a while now due to yard set-up (just with my gelding) but when she was she struggled because she didn't understand herd dynamics. Her separation anxiety is appalling and that is apparently normal with babies who lose their dams.

I think I would find out exactly how they reared the foal and whether or not it was pampered / spoilt and if so, stay well away.
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That's interesting, mine also has bad
separation anxiety. He used to get hysterical when he was separated from the herd.
He's a lot more confident now, but I always leave a companion with him unless we're going off somewhere.
 
Hi. Thanks for all your comments, really appreciate them. I have heard a lot that it depends how they were raised. I also have a 6 year old that was raised by a mare, she is a bit bolshy, impatient, was terrible with her feet and generally lacks manners and I think she was fussed over too much, but gets better each year. I will go and see both youngsters next month, the owner will spend the next month handling them and getting them gelded. I will know more after talking with the breeder about how he was raised and seeing both horses. Unhandled doesn’t bother me as I have experience with unhandled 2-4 year olds. The hand reared horse has been trained to lead etc and all youngsters have been in a walk through trailer. It will be with careful consideration choosing one as they also have spring foals so there is potential to wait a year and purchase a filly or a colt, I get on with mares just as well. Thanks
 
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