Weened at 4 mohths - Any implications.

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I always thought ponies / horses were weaned at 6 months but the breeder wants to get the foal off the mare at 4 months when we should collect her.

Are there any implications of her being weaned early and anything I need to do to help her grow / flourish in the normal way.

The foalie will be integrated with some yearling fillies.

Thankyou
 
I would be interested to know why the breeder wants to wean at such age? If theres a problem with mare then fair enough.

I would be worried that foal wouldn't develop as much as it should, and would think carefully before purchasing
 
I thought the weaning process had to be gradual. Wouldn't weaning at such a young age be stressful for both foal and mother. Does seem odd. Have you asked as to why? I'm no expert but could it not cause some sort of seperation anxiety or stress at the very least.
 
If the foal is getting big and fairly full of herself then this may be why they feel she is ready. If not, and she's a little thing then I'd be concerned.
 
I would ask the breeder why they want to wean it at 4 months. Is the foal healthy enough? Has it dragged the mare down at all? Would have thought there would have to be a good reason for them wanting the foal of its mum at 4 months it will be a very stressful time for them both.
 
I went to some lectures at the National Stud a couple of years ago and they said weaning between 4-6 months is normal. According to them (I am no expert, just repeating what I was told) the mare's milk drops massively in quality at 4 months, and the foal naturally starts to wean itself anyway. I have weaned a foal at 4 months before when the mare started to drop weight (grass quality was poor and couldn't feed any more hard feed than already was).

Normally I wean at 6months, but as long as the breeder is able to give you valid reasons for weaning at 4 months I wouldn't be too worried. I would recommend feeding the foal some milk pellets or powdered milk for a couple of months to start with.
 
We always weaned at 6 months unless it was for a good reason for example we had a mare who foaled late in the year,it was a very big foal and pretty independant anyway at 4.5 months and was dragging the mare down so we weaned early so we had time before winter to put some condition back on the mare.
Foalie did fine,in fact went on to win a number of championships,but this was the exception to the rule in this case.
 
Thankyou very much for your help. The foal is a solid girl ( cob x ) and from what I gather the breeder thinks she's ready to come off the mother although she didn't elaborate as to why. I think it may be a convenience thing cos the mare is off the forest and another crop are due in, all the foals are sold and this foal is certainly not looking poor but I just wanted some advice as to the best way to help her.
 
A friend bought a foal, due to pickup at 6 months but breeder then decided to wean at 5 months. Assume it might be because they have sold and therefore don't want to continue to pay for foal's keep?

His growth was behind (I should also point out he got a respiratory problem just after weaning, might or might not be related) and he has been a VERY slow maturer. He was also a complete git with his mouth until about age 3: she thinks all these things are related to weaning early.

I think 6 months is early enough, foals given the chance to self-wean still suckle/hang around mum until up to 1 to 1 1/2 years old in my experience. I certainly wouldn't want one of mine to be weaned earlier than 6 months.
 
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His growth was behind (I should also point out he got a respiratory problem just after weaning, might or might not be related) and he has been a VERY slow maturer. He was also a complete git with his mouth until about age 3: she thinks all these things are related to weaning early.


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she may think that but it's hardly scientific evidence that the early weaning was to blame for all the issues.

i weaned my foal at 4 months for various reasons and she has always been a strapping youngster winning lots of championships and now as a 5yro is successfully competing BE eventing.

my friend had a foal the same year that was left on the mare a lot longer- it got respiratory issues, OCD and is now barely over 15hh and generally looks weak and runtish.

i think as long as the foal is well fed and looked after then it shouldn't be a problem at all
 
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