Hi. Welcome to the Uni. This mare & foal have been through hell but, from what you say, they appear to have managed to come through the experience. However, any mare with a young foal at foot has one job & one point of focus ONLY - to put all her time & energy into nurturing her baby. PLEASE let them concentrate on each other & refrain from any separation at this time. The mare has recognised her improved circumstances with you - she allows you to be in her space. It seems the foal too is quite accepting of human contact. Restrict your contact with them to providing food; the mare will require greater levels of good quality food in order to provide the foal with high quality milk. If this mare needs to she will drain her own body of nutrients in order to give her foal what it needs. There are feed mixes specifically for lactating mares. Spend time with the pair, scratching them gently & building a bond - the more the mare relaxes around you the more the foal will naturally trust the human. By all means take them for walks around the pasture. There are lessons specifically about foal handling on the Uni. Use this time to study all the lessons & cement your relationships. The foal should remain with its mother until it's no longer reliant on her milk. You will find that the foal will grow bolder as it ages & whilst the mare will not allow the foal much scope to explore remotely on its own, this trait will gradually relax. Although they can survive after the age of 4 months without their mother there are huge benefits in leaving them together longer. What are your plans for the foal? If you keep them both then you will need to let the mare wean the foal naturally. However, once the foal grows more independent of its mother you can start to work with her specifically. Your attempt at dual join up was seen by the mare to be a predatory threat to her baby so, please, DO NOT REPEAT THIS. This forum is here to help & support you. I hope you are not too disappointed that your first responsibility to this mare is to respectful of her family responsibility - I'm sure she will repay your patience a hundredfold in the future. Keep in touch & we will offer you our insights & advice. But for now, enjoy basking in the miracle of new, impressionable life & the relief your mare feels now she's found a safe haven. Cheers, Jo.

Thank you so much for this response!  I am very new to dealing with a mare and foal. All horses I have been around were older. We are keeping both of them in the hopes of one day being able to train and ride them. I will just work on the bond between our family and hers for now.  We are providering her a lot of extra food with supplements for the nursing mother. She was VERY underweight when she was rescued but is steadily gaining every day. I am really glad I found this online resource!  Thank you again.

Hi, 
Am so glad to see this question and thread and Jo’s answer is right on point. Welcome and please keep us updated on your progress.
Enjoy,
Tara

Hi. I'd like to offer my thoughts on some specifics in dealing with your mare & foal, given you are new to Monty's methods as well as unused to young stock handling. Monty says you never stop learning, that we have barely scratched the surface of understanding horses & their training & he is still honing/fine tuning his nonviolent methods. However, there are tiny factors, that make all the difference to the horses, that really only become apparent to the human student over a period of time, unless they attend a live course where these subtle points can be identified & addressed. I'm hoping that, rather than finding this list daunting, you take the time to practice these elements - practice can be done almost anywhere & whilst you continue with your normal routine. 

A) Breathing. We all do it but controlling how you breath can influence horses. Diaphragmatic slower breathing (like singers) extends your vocal chords, lowers your adrenaline & helps you be calm - horses read this in you & follow suit. Shallow, rapid breathing will cause horses to be more reactive, to speed up & keep a greater distance. 

B) Body language. Horses use body language & so do we. Horses read our body language. Rapid, jerky movements unsettle & spook horses. For instance, in Join up, the trainer squares up their shoulders, looks directly at the horses eye & opens their fingers wide (like claws) to drive the horse to go away. To invite the horse into our space we move our body/shoulders from square on to a 45 degree angle, close our fingers & move our line of sight down. The horse is still in our peripheral vision but by training our eyes not to stare or flash about we can cause the horse to be more calm & feel more safe in our company. 

C) Responsibility. Humans must accept all responsibility with horses. Foals & horses have instinctive reactions & learned responses. If a foal or a horse is unfairly, brutally treated it will remember it. They will associate that experience with a situation not the individual human. We may unwittingly trigger a 'negative response'. Nevertheless, it's us, the human, who have triggered that reaction - the horse has simply reacted instinctively. There is NO FAULT on the part of the horse. It's the trainers responsibility to be a trusted leader for the horse. To give clear signals, to be patient enough to allow the horse or foal to learn incrementally at their own speed - there genuinely are no short cuts but that doesn't mean progress is necessarily slow. We must remain calm & consistent whilst also being alert so as to ensure our own safety as well as the safety of our horse & foal.

Three not overly long paragraphs that cover an immense amount of ground. I really hope they help you to gain even more advantage from the lessons you study on the Uni & in turn, assist you towards your goals. If you can take the time to visit previous posts on the forum there is a wealth of information there, not to mention other people sharing difficult situations - you are so NOT ALONE. Cheers, Jo.

Great thoughts here Jo, thank you. @Tara - you will like foal handling lessons on Monty's Uni, once you gain the trust of the mare as she settles in. 
 

HELLO,
After what your mare  and foal has been through, you are God send to them.  I hope that you feel really good about this, because I do.
Jo has given you a wealth of information, and if followed, it should put you in a very good scenario with both horses.. I have raised 30 babies in my life and can tell you without any hesitation that your relationship with the mare is of vital importance.  Your mare must be able to feel that she will be the most loved, well care-fore mother of all time with you and your family.  The way I see the mares is they are the key to any successful horse operation whether it be two horses or two hundred.  So I would encourage you to do something each and every day with your mare, but whatever it is, it must include the foal.  I am speaking now of grooming, cleaning out the hooves and just talking with her with your arms around her.  Tell her how very beautiful her baby is and just maybe you will get to scratch the baby during one of these sessions.  Hopefully, this attention by you will lead to a strong trust in your leadership by them.  As mentioned by Jo about taking walks with them, I am a believer in  spirit walks around the farm.  It is at this time that we humans learn the lessons that horses can teach us.  We just have watch and listen carefully.

The only other thing that I might mention to you is in regard to the weaning process.  If you can allow that process to happen naturally, everyone wins.  Weaning of foals is one of the single hardest times for a young horse to go through..  We always waited for them to be 5-6 months old and always kept them next to each other.   It was still a hard time..   With that said, I can say without any doubt that is a very hard time for both mare and baby.  If possible, go naturally...

Thanking you again

Bud