Weaning and Keeping at Same Farm

BridledObsession · Postby **BridledObsession** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 7:51 am

OK -- I apologize, I know we've discussed some of this before BUT I think we are going to wean our foal in the next few days. She's waaaaay past ready to be weaned -- can you say butterball??? :lol:

Our original plan was to take Mom to another farm, but I simply can't part with her. It seems so unfair. No one will care for her like we will AND I want to ride her. She's such a big, smooth, reasonable sweetheart. But not when it comes to her baby. :shock:

And although her baby is very independent and is venturing further and further all the time, she panics if she gets too far or Mom is out of sight.

So.......my question...............how do we do this? What if they don't respect the fences (we do have electric on top of the paddocks as well). Where should they be stabled in the barn? Out of sight of each other or next door? Should the initial seperation be done outside? I'm a little worried about this, can you tell? lol. Will it be OK for Mom to see her foal with the other horses right away or should we wait? Mom's super with people, but all other horses are highly discouraged from getting too close to her baby. They are both great horses to work with --- but extremely big and powerful (even though our filly is only 6 months, she gets mistaken for an older colt all the time).

Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated!!! Thanks!

foothillsequine · Postby **foothillsequine** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 6:54 pm

We wean our babies and keep our mares on the farm during the weaning process. We have 12x12 stalls with tongue and groove boards that lift out to form our foaling stalls during foaling season (they become 12x24). So when it is time to wean, instead of replacing the wood, we put in a 12 foot Priefert panel to separate mom and babe. They can still see each other, and touch each other, but baby cannot nurse. It is very beneficial for both the mare and foal as they do not "freak out", when the other is not in their sight, and no one gets hurt. We keep a close eye on the foal as they can and do put their heads through the panels to touch the mare. We have never had an injury, but we do closely monitor and when we are not in the barn at night, the camera is on. The camera is equipped with audio so we can hear everything. They soon learn that even though they are not together, everything is well in their world, and then you can replace the panel with the wood. If you have a very difficult foal/mare, you can rebuild your wall halfway, until they settle. That way they can still see each other and nuzzle.

I don't know if this will work for you, but it does work very well for us. Good luck!

foothillsequine · Postby **foothillsequine** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 6:57 pm

I forgot to mention that during the day, they are also separated into paddocks that meet each other, but they cannot mingle. Again, they can see each other...I hope this helps.

cewright · Postby **cewright** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 7:12 pm

We wean pretty much the same way as stated above. It has worked well so far.

Chuck

BridledObsession · Postby **BridledObsession** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 6:34 am

Thanks guys.....I thought we were going to have completely seperate them so that they could not see each other, but we are going to try it your way instead.

I read on another forum that according to the Farmer's Almanac, there are better days each month for weaning -- it's supposed to go more smoothly. I think we're going to do it those days in early November.

We had to seperate them for a short time this weekend while we bathed them. Since our filly is still a handful, we put Mom in a small enclosure just a short distance away while we both bathed the filly. It was interesting. :shock:

For the most part, Mom was fine -- she'd call for her filly every couple minutes, but then go right back to eating all the green grass she now had just for herself. In the meantime, our filly was getting herself a little worked up. We were all glad when it was over. :wink: