Very unfortunately our mare died 9 days after her first foal (male) was born. She was a wonderful mum and tought him a lot, so he is doing quite well. He is now living with our three horses in a loose housing system, - but in his box during night and a few hours during day. This to ensure he get some hey as he tend to eat too much grass which his stomach has had some trouble digesting.
He is now 6 weeks old, very lively and getting lots of scratches from the three other horses who cares a lot for him in their tough way. We tend to leave him as much with the horses as possible, feed him his milk 6 times a day and handles him to take him in and out, - use a long rope/foal handler etc but I start to feel very uncertain about how much we should do by now? We need to be able to handle him safely and he is very quickly getting much stronger, - but on the other hand we have read about all the trouble you easily get if he is too much with us. Should we speed up making join up etc? Or do we wait. Right now he is so easy going, just playing around but I fear that he quickly will be too dominant and I really do not know how to handle him. Don't want to be too soft or too hard on him. It does happen that he nibs us and when we react (because we get surprised, and it is painful!) he starts chewing, - as he does with the other horses when they chase him. I fear in the future he may bite or worse, - how do we handle this? Is it ok to hit back, - and how? Have heard all the stories about horses ending up crazy and agressive because they were first spoiled and then did not understand a no. Please, does anybody have some good advices for us?
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Orphaned foals, what to do?
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HI - sorry to hear you lost your mare. I do not have a lot of foal experience; there are others on here that will advise you in much more detail but I will just start things off.
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Under no circumstances should you 'hit back'- you will only make him aggressive. You are right that over handling him will be a problem but he also needs to learn some basic manners. It's good that he is with other horses but watch he doesn't get bullied.
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I suggest watching the foal handling series on here, that will help I'm sure.
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A tip from Ian Vandeberghe re: feeding from a bottle; don't feed face on - try to simulate feeding from mare - i.e. feed from the side with some sort of shield over his eyes if possible - just like it's dark underneath the mare. It may be too late now as he is not a newborn I don't know....but see what you/others think.
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he's too young for Join UP - Monty says when they are weaned and not calling for Mum (if Mum was still with you) so about 6 months or so.
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I would get him used to a Dually (green one) so that you can control his feet/movement. Keep his moth away from your skin so he can't nip and if he does he needs to be sent away just like his Mum would do/other horses; the Dually is great for this but I'm not certain what age you can start this, as I said, others are more experienced than me with very young ones.
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Good luck, keep us updated!
Hi. I have 2 home bred youngsters, now 2 & 1 years old. I too lost my mare, but the filly foal was 6 months old. However, I discovered something by accident. I was handling the colts feet, at about 3 months old. He kicked out, in play rather than aggression & caught me on the jaw. I never made any sound but moved next to him & using my hip gently bumped him so he moved his feet, repeatedly. On the 5th repetition he looked at me as if to say " You're really not pleased with me, are you? " A year later the filly cantered past me & in a way that suggested 'chase me' dabbed me on the knee. I followed her until she stood still & then moved her feet in exactly the same way. Yes, I got the same reaction. Neither youngster has kicked me since! In fact, they don't kick each other either. But when cross they bounce their rear ends up & down - the threat to kick is enough. Babies need to investigate their world. All mammal babies use their mouths & I suggest you need to allow this to happen but balance it by moving his feet when he gets too invasive. This will start his appreciation of your space & his respect of it. The MOST important thing is for him to regard you, as well as your other horses, as the safe place. Before the foals were born my 3 ponies, mare, gelding & stallion, were spooked when a car crashed just beside the field. They all bolted past me, thankfully not knocking me flat. I turned to see how far they had gone to find them lined up about 20 feet behind me - hide behind the middle aged fat woman, that'll be the safe place. This behaviour has been shown again & again, from different spooky causes. In later life this has a beneficial effect - they come back to you when you fall off. From their perspective, the rider getting off unexpectedly is spooky. If we're angry with them for causing that to happen they will run away, making a bad situation worse. Happily, my guys come to me for reassurance as they know they can trust me. You have a great opportunity here to have a very special relationship so cherish it. When we lost Bella her filly foal spent 90 minutes chewing on my sleeve, mouthing it not destroying it - she needed a safety blanket to help her cope with her loss. Then she moved away with her brother & Dad & the unrelated gelding came over & took less than a minute to assess the situation - families really matter! Enjoy this unique relationship. This horse will be special & is your mares legacy. Lots of luck. Keep posting. Cheers, Jo.
Thanks a Lot for your comments. I read them carefully as well as i watched montys videos etc . It is a Big help already and we are doing quite well so far. So maybe i am over rating potential problems. I am just scared of hearing all the stories about foals forgetting they are horses. Montys advice to install a goat to take over made me also a bit pessimistic....
Monty advises NOT to make join up until after the foal is taken away from the mare In ordre not to interfere In Their relationship, - which makes perfectly sende. But here the mare is no longer around? Is it then a good idea to make the first join up earlier? To ensure the right relationship between him and us. Or will he just forget/renegotiate again and Again being too young still? And if not making join up early, how much should we then train him ( lifting hooves, grooming etc).
Hi. Your foal will regard you as part of the herd so your best option is to gently move his feet so he knows you're someone to respect. The fact that he spends the majority of his time with your other horses means that he will know he's a horse. My young foals were handled daily, but only for a short periods, 5 to 10 minutes. Lifting their feet, halter training, grooming & building trust. I keep a huge hay bale in an old horse trailer in the field & the foals would come in to get a sneaky mouthful or two. This is how they became happy with the ramp. I too was worried about humanising them but it seems I got the balance right - unless mine are flukes you shouldn't worry (but refrain from taking the foal into the house & letting him watch TV too much. He'll monopolise the sofa)! Join up is for a bit later in life, around 6 months. In the mean time, relax & enjoy. These little guys grow up so fast. Cheers, Jo.