Sweaty foal

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stimpy

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So now that the foal has landed safely I have to find something else to worry about....

The heat! Foalie is out full time in a pen with Mum. It's was built to be safe for her, post and rail with horse netting, but it has no shade. It's protected from the prevailing wind but I wasn't expecting this level of heat and now the lack of shade is rally bothering me. Mum is fine but foalie was pretty sweaty yesterday, she has got a pretty thick coat. She's only 6 days old, should I be worried about her overheating/sweating?

I have the option of moving them into to a larger pen under the trees but this will be fenced with electric fencing. I was hoping to wait for a bit longer before introducing her to the electric fencing but now I am wondering whether I should try and move them sooner.

Which is the lesser of two evils?
 
I had this last year too & ended up tying some large tarps to the outside of the fence meaning there was a little bit of shade. I did this on a corner of little foal paddock so the shade lasted all day.

However, you guessed it, ungrateful little monster never used it but it certainly made me feel better :)

Ps no foal yet :( am on phone at mo but will pm you later when on puter x
 
Mine are in a four acre field with plenty of trees but they are laying down where mum is grazing which is in full sun, and are a bit sweaty too. As long as they are getting up regularly to drink then they should be fine.
 
ElleSkywalker said:
I had this last year too & ended up tying some large tarps to the outside of the fence meaning there was a little bit of shade. I did this on a corner of little foal paddock so the shade lasted all day.
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Ha! I did exactly this yesterday with garden shade netting. It's a bit feeble though and yes she hasn't used it.

ElleSkywalker said:
Ps no foal yet :( am on phone at mo but will pm you later when on puter x
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Crikey Elle, she is really making you wait.... :(
 
Alba said:
Mine are in a four acre field with plenty of trees but they are laying down where mum is grazing which is in full sun, and are a bit sweaty too. As long as they are getting up regularly to drink then they should be fine.
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Phew! She is drinking but I will keep an extra eagle eye on that. Thanks, that makes me feel *so* much better :-)
 
I don't think electric fencing is necessarily an "evil" - done carefully, it's better than potential dehydration IMO.

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My perimeter fence is permanent electric fencing with 2 inch wide brown tape. It is a good visual boundary and I haven't had a problem with foals or any horse not seing it (it only has a hedge at one end btw) - so no running at it and getting tangled... if they go too near, I make sure they get a good zap, so they don't do it again in a hurry. For the foals, I have put some intermediate electric thread between the tape lines and underneath if necessary, so that there is no shimmying in between or under - from a roll or a lie down close to the fence for instance.

With the non-permanent fencing I use for splitting paddocks/strip graze, I am a little more careful and make them VERY visible especially when the babies are very young - 5 strands of white tape, close together & I use a tape (not wire as they can't see it so well) that has a low breaking resistance.

Most important - make sure the electrics is ON from day dot. They will always try and have a chew on the tape and that makes the difference between a foal that respects the electric fence straight away and won't forget that lesson and one that knows that sometimes the fence isn't on...
Mostly, foals will lean into the fence and that if the electrics is off, that is when they are most likely to get wrapped up and get injured.

eta: Litle Max above had been with a 5 strand fence in the first 2 weeks of his life, learnt very quickly it hurts if you touch the fence and was moved in a coral with only 3 strands (very high because Mum jumps anything for fun!!!). He is now 2 and still very respectful of the electric fence.
 
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GinnieRedwings said:
Most important - make sure the electrics is ON from day dot. They will always try and have a chew on the tape and that makes the difference between a foal that respects the electric fence straight away and won't forget that lesson and one that knows that sometimes the fence isn't on...
Mostly, foals will lean into the fence and that if the electrics is off, that is when they are most likely to get wrapped up and get injured.
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Thanks GinnieRedwings, I have been umming and aahing about this all day. I have mains electric and my permanent walkways and perimeters are fenced with three strands wide brown or green tape (like fieldguard tape). It was two strands until yesterday when I realised how easily she could roll under so I added another low strand. I had been worried about how much it will hurt her, I got a decent whack off it myself this morning, but one good belt is probably all it wil take to learn the lesson and it's not going to kill her, right?

I think I will now make the internal dividing fence lines out of white tape for visibility as you suggest, I may even partially cut the tape every 20 yards or so so that it will break if the worst happens. Her mother is very respectful of tape so I am hoping that she will pick up on this.
 
I would prioritise shade too. There is a difference between choosing to lay in the sun and having no choice. At least as you say, it will give you peace of mind that you have done all you need and this heat is horrible - why do we always get one extreme or the other. It was only 4 weeks ago the fields were flooded!
 
I would think again about partially cutting tape. It will cause breaks in the electrical flow and compromise the effectiveness of the fence.
 
HBM1 said:
I would prioritise shade too. There is a difference between choosing to lay in the sun and having no choice. At least as you say, it will give you peace of mind that you have done all you need and this heat is horrible - why do we always get one extreme or the other. It was only 4 weeks ago the fields were flooded!
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It's a flipping nightmare....the contractor has rolled 3 times now as our clay swings between bog and concrete! My mares and foals are all insisting that they want to be in their cool stables by day and out by night while the slaves pick up behind them! Foals all still crashed out...came in at 7 this morning and can't see them wanting to co out til 7 tonight! Feast or famine
 
You used to be able to get little, metal fence tape joiners to join two ends when your roll ran out. They looked a bit like giant paper clips. Those would probably make a safety join for if a horse got wrapped in the fence.
Ordinarily I would agree with GinnieRedwings about foals and electric tape fences but last years foal was spectacularly awkward when it came to learning about fences so I guess there will always be one. None of the others have been a worry at all even with temporary fencing even the one who's mother would jump out and forget the foal might struggle over 5 foot fences.....
Elleskywalker I can't believe you are still waiting for that foal although having said that Little mare down the road has also had perfect milk test results for some days now and no foal. She has been on antibiotics though for possible placentitis and have wondered if that is making the results odd. Fingers crossed they don't wait for the bank holidays, mine love to do that, vet callouts are so much better on Sundays or Bank Holiday Mondays they think....
 
Thanks all for the help and advice.

I can report that yesterday I got Mum and baby down into an electric fenced paddock with tree shade. Obviously they have mostly been out in the full sun but at least I now feel better that it's their choice :D Foalie has definitely had a zap off the fence and so I hope she will now just steer clear.

What a palaver getting them down there though. It's only the other side of our 3 acre field accessed via a wide walkway but 8 day old foal is very bold and thought it was much more interesting to explore the yard rather than following Mum. Mum is a very laid back professional eater and was saying "Mmmmm, lovely grass, mmmm... baby? What baby?" Cue lots of arms waving and sprinting after foal, gave the neighbours a good laugh though!
 
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