Breeding Basics: 104

Tuesday, 10 May 2005

Part IV: Care of you growing foal & weaning.

 

     You may notice you foal showing interest in his mothers grain ration as young as just a few days old, we let ours eat what they will with the dam at this age.

Once they begin actually eating rather than just tasting or playing in it or if the mare won’t let them eat with her we give them their own bucket.

     We use a 12% sweet feed & top dress it with a ration balancer, we use grow-N-win. Since we have all levels of horses here from idol pets, lactating mares, to hard working running horses its easy to increase protein levels in this way for the ones that need more.

     Our babies get about 2% of their body weight in grain & 1# of hay/100# of body weight (some less, some more) in addition to free access pasture & salt & mineral blocks.

Fresh clean water is available at all times.

     You foal will develop better with ample turn out time. Except in bad weather ours come & go as they please.

As for worming & trimming we begin at 8 weeks & continue each 8 weeks after that. The trimming may be required more or less often depending on your foals hoof growth rate.

At 12 months of age your foal can be put on your regular worming schedule. DON”T FORGET TO ROTATE!

 

     Vaccinations should begin at 2-3 months of age maybe sooner, if you are in a epidemic area for something, your vet can advise you what is need & when for your area.

 

     Regular grooming is also necessary & serves many purposes. It helps you to form a bond with the foal, aids in taming them, & lets you evaluate their overall condition. Are they to fat, to thin, do they need farrier, vet attention, or do they have Boo Boos you need to attend to that you might miss without hands on contact.

 

     We halter & lead ours within a day or two, but only leave halters on while we are there.

We lead either with 2 people 1 leading mare 1 leading foal beside her or 1 person leading both if a helper is not available.

A butt rope is a useful tool in teaching to lead. Use a long lead rope on halter run it behind the butt just above the hocks keep a hold of the tail end as well as the end on the halter, this way you can encourage the foal forward without exerting pressure on its neck.

 

     We also teach to tie, pick up & handle feet & legs & load in the trailer. This one is easy if the mare loads, where momma goes baby will go.

 

     The teeth should be checked every 6 months until 2 years of age then annually after that. Unless of course you notice a problem then that should be addressed immediately.

 

     When to wean covers a great span of times. Some like to do it early some leave them much longer. A general rule of thumb is 406 months.  The jost important issue is to be sure the foal is eating grain & hay well before you consider weaning.

The first thing we do is check The Old Farmers Almanac for the best day to wean.

**I was a naysayer when my neighbor (an old timer) first told me to do this, I thought he was crazy, but the phases of the moon DO make a huge difference in the process. The foals wean easier & the mares dry up faster if you do it during the correct phase.**

You can look on the internet & it will give you the best 2-4 days or you can buy the currents years’ book & it will give you more choices. Each few days corresponds to a different part of the body, you want to choose days that represent parts farthest from the heart.

 

     Now that you have decided on a day you need a good safe place to put baby we have a smaller weaning stall, free of anything dangerous (as all your stalls should be), with small wire on the front so feet can’t get caught.

Five days before weaning we stop grain to mare (we tie her up while we grain the foal) & begin limiting pasture.

When the day arrives we start early so hopefully by bed time they have quieted.  Foal goes to weaning stall mare goes to another stall we get ours as far apart as possible.

Make sure foal has fresh water, hay at all times, & maintain current graining schedule, although baby may not eat well for a few days.

 

     Your mare should have no or very little grain, & minimal grass. Dry grass hay (no rich hay) is best until her milk dries up. She will become very distended & uncomfortable at first DO NOT milk her off that only prolongs the process. After her milk dries up her regular feed/pasture access can be resumed.

 

     We like 2 wean 2 or more babies at the same time so they have someone to play with once they can be turned back out. Many people turn them back with the mare, we could never do that even with no milk our mare would encourage the foal to nurse & later it would be like weaning them all over again.

 

     If you don’t have 2 babies any horse that will not hurt your baby will do. We have my granddaughters’ older Shetland mare who baby sits when we only have one baby. She never hurts them but will put them in their place & teaches them herd dynamics. A quiet old gelding can work well too!

 

     As yearlings ours are on a 12% sweet feed + some grow N win in accordance with label instructions & good hay at a rate of about 1 lb/100 lbs of body weight. They will be at @ 60-70% of their mature weight at 12 months. This continues until they reach 90% of their mature weight usually at around 2.

At this point they are feed in accordance with adult horse standards & according to work load. Keep in mind each individual horse has its own metabolism & may have different requirements.

 

***Just like some of us can eat a whole box of donuts & not gain an ounce, while others can look at the box & gain 3 lbs!

Horses are no different!***