Well Ari; I have weaned a few of my own and it tends to be rather subjective, but common sense should always prevail. Here is a site that is keeping more or less (more in this case) with what I have done over the years.
http://asci.uvm.edu/equine/law/articles/022_weaning.htm

Imprinting the foal as its being born does seem to help quite a bit with the "separation" process. So if you can be there at the time, (because some are born rather quickly)you might find that very helpful for the foal.

The best of luck with the new baby...: )

Ciao Ari,
Sure you'll be looking forward to the birth of your first foal!
Monty writes a short text on weaning in "From My Hands To Yours" page 202.
Furthermore Monty has a slightly different way of imprinting newborn foals, also described in the same book page 197.
The original method was developed by Dr.Robert M.Miller :"Imprint training".
Will you let us know how things go?!
In bocca al lupo, good luck!
Miriam

Of course I'll let you know!
I'll go and check out all you have suggested =) Thank you!
Ari

I have been very priveleged to have a client who has let me experiment and learn how to iprint on her foals and I strongly recommend it. My client came from a traditonal horse background and got in touch with me when she had a colt that was and absolute monster (and I rarely am so rude about a horse haaha) - it was the first time she has ever been scared of a horse and he was just 5 months. I imprnted the subsequent 2 foals (same parents - one male one female foal) and the difference is astonishing. Next one is due June!! Good luck Ari, I hope it all goes smoothly.

Apologies for all the typos. trying to type too fast, slow down Vic!

hello everyone!
I just wanted to share with you something that had happened couple of days ago...
A female foal was born 4 days ago at riding club where I ride. Second day of her life my trainers decided to let her out in the pasture with her mother. At first, she didn't want to follow the mare and she stayes in the box. of course, the mare freaked out and screamed... so my trainer literally pushed thw foal all the way from the barn to the pasture. I guess that pushing part was due to into pressure phenomenon, but I don't understand why didn't she follow the mare...
Another (unusual) thing was that when the foal was free in the pasture, she didn't want to follow the mare at all (she was just 2 days old?!), she just kept jumping and galloping around and mare kept screaming and trotting and galloping after her (she wanted to be near her foal).
Has anyone experienced anything simmilar?
I hope that you'll understand what I wanted to say (English is not my first language)

Well mustang, your trainer must know "0" about mares and their young. This is such a stupid and cruel thing to do to both of them.
To je vrlo okrutna stvar za napraviti. Jako mi je žao za majku.
Moreso, it is a very traumatic thing to do to the mare. They should have been left in their foaling pen for a week or longer, depending on how both of them are doing. It is not as if she was in the wild.
We would just leave the pen door open to the outdoors and let the mare bring her own foal out when she wanted to. The more timid and shy ones would always take a little longer to do so. The point being, to let the mother do things at her own pace and comfort level.
Oh well, live and learn(?)...generally not though unfortunately it seems with a lot of horse owners/trainers.
I know a lot of trainers whose parents would not let them play in the sandbox because the cats kept trying to bury them.... : )
Thanks for sharing.

Thank you for your answer Paul, you also wrote a sentence in croatian :))
Yes, I forgot to mention, the foal already has a halter on when she goes out because she doesn't follow the mare... :/
I know this is wrong but I can't do anything about it because when I start talking about Monty's method they just laugh at me :(

Yes, you make a good point about people laughing at you when you mention Monty's method. It is so typical. I have to agree with, (I think it was Vicci) who said, the best thing is just to say nothing and simply set a good example for others to see. It is just that on this forum, we all seem to be preaching to the choir for the most part...: ) Oh well, its all good.
With the foal running about and not paying attention to the mother: That's quite common really, for some foals who are more "carefree spirits" and don't want to listen to or pay attention to "Mommy". At least the foal won't grow up drinking and doing drugs and hanging out with "seedy" characters....just a little humor there....(I know, don't quit my day job).

You really made me laugh :') Thank you for your answer :) I also showed my trainer the video with foal handler, and she said "excellent!" So I think she will use it soon :)

Tip I learned on a foal handling course - ALWAYS when leading in and out of lorries/barns etc. bring the foal out first (sounds counter intuitive doesn't it?) because the mare will follow the foal - as you have discovered, the foal just may get muddled or a bit carefree as Paul says, and not follow the mare, and then the mare will do everything in her power to get to the foal and this can be highly dangerous. This is of course when the foal is ok being guided by foal handler rope/halter etc. not being shoved around! ;-)

Good tip Vicci - it works for calves and cows too! Not much experience here but Tricka was born in a small paddock not a stall and as soon as she was on her little legs she took off - no care for Mum at all. I felt sorry for my Pie (the mother) as she had a very bad front knee and couldn't travel fast but she spent the first week trotting after Tricka. After a few weeks Pie became more relaxed and allowed Tricka to be away from her for longer. I think in general Mums chase foals and not vice versa - same happens with cows and calves too and there I have much more experience.

Hi everyone!
I just wanted to tell you that my foal has born 4 days ago, she's alright and the mare is behaving really good! I'm so excited! =)

Aren't they the most beautiful things in the world? They look so innocent and helpless....good luck with everything.

Congratulations and good luck Ari - hope it all goes well. My latest foal is a young Arabian colt who I will be weaning in the next couple of weeks - such an exciting time - hope you have as much fun as I have had with mine. Cheers Jan

How wonderful Ari, glad all is well :-)