Help! Momma Horse is charging me

[Blondie2003]

OK, so my momma Horse has completely fallen off the deep end. She's charged me, tried to kick me and tried to bite me in the face. What is the earliest I can wean Flickr and get her away from her momma.

Flicka

 

[Julia & Smudge]

Normally you wouldn't want to wean before 5 months. The foal's digestive system wouldn't be ready to handle grain and hay yet and they are really dependent on mom's milk. It would be best for Flicka to stay with mom for several more months. What kinds of things have you tried with the momma? Maybe try having someone halter and hold her while you work with Flicka to get her used to you around her baby. You could try feeding her treats (I just wouldn't feed a ton of treats) while working with the baby to make it a positive experience for her. Just be very careful when around her and always stay alert.

Just a thought here too, could she be on her foal heat and just acting up because of this?

I am by no means an expert, just some ideas you could try. Hope you figure something out!

 

[Ryan Johnson]

I would suggest tying her up while you interact with the foal, once mumma knows you have no intention of hurting the foal, she should start to relax. I agree with Julia , I wouldnt wean before five months of age unless I had to or was advised by my vet.

Some mares will turn into fire breathing dragons after the birth of their foal its just how some mares are. keep us posted on her progress

 

[chandab]

How long ago did she foal again? [how many days?] Mare could be coming into foal heat, which any heat can make some mares testy. Hopefully soon enough she'll be back to normal for her and not quite as protective of her baby; some it takes just a few days, others a few weeks.

 

[Rocklone Miniature Horses]

How much are you interacting with them ? If it's too much mom may just be getting fed up now. It might be worth letting them be for a while to be. I know many people who don't touch foals until after weaning and still have very tame well behaved horses. Sometimes better behaved cause they respect humans a bit more.

 

[Mona]

One thing to remember when dealing with horses like this, for YOUR safety, keep the foal between you and the mare. She won't kick at you that way, for fear of kicking at her foal.

I had a mare like that once too. It was a mare I owned not long before I sold out of my minis, so I only had one foal from her, and I purchased her heavy in foal. The mare was a total sweetheart until shortly after the foal was born, and then was was PURE EVIL!! After about a week, and the novelty of a new foal wore off, she calmed back down again.

 

[Maple Hollow Farm]

I have one of those too, really sweet until foaling, then she is vicious! I enter the stall when the foal is between us and catch the foal before I catch her as she wont attack if I have her baby. I have also haltered her over the stall wall if I cant get the foal to come to my side LOL! About a week after foaling and especially once I turn them out with the other mares and foals she gets over it. I always still keep an eye on her just in case when she has a foal but normally after that week she is mostly back to herself. It is actually really hard to discipline as you want to make her feel safe and not threatened or it will only be worse. I would recommend carrying a crop or something in case you need to get her away from you but also keep in mind that some mares wont back down, most will but some might attack more if they feel threatened.

Edited to add that I wean around 4mos with no issues. Just make sure baby is eating hay and grain well before weaning.

 

[MiniNHF]

When we bred and raised thoroughbreds, we never messed with the babies until they were weaned and all became well behaved race horses, even the stud colts (unlike some you see).

 

[bevann]

Had a mare we called JAWS when she foaled.First foaling she was so bad had to get someone out of bed to iodine cord.I would catch her with food and move baby to another stall to work with him.I didn't want foals to get her bad attitude.Each foal she was a little better,but still nasty.foals were weaned at 3 months and did fine.All her foals has sweet dispositions.I sold her but she was still nasty when she had a foal.I never trusted her when she had a baby.I have weaned many foals at 3 months and once even 2 months due to illness of the mare.all made out fine.My foals were all eating grain and grazing at 2 or 3 weeks.Several are now 17 and still in the show ring.

 

[Chamomile]

In the past when I had difficult mares I would just turn them out and let them be mamas. They can teach the foal to be afraid of people with all the drama that comes along when the people show up. There is nothing like allowing the foal to spend time with their mom. I've had foals that were weaned early, at 3 months, and those weaned later, at 6 months and the foals that were weaned later were calmer and less stressed than the little babies. Also they seemed to handle change and stress better as adult horses. Just food for thought!