My Maiden mare foaled last night

[WSR's_Judy]

[SIZE=12pt]I purchased a mare last year breed to a multiple champion stallion. The mare is 5 years old and this is her first foal. [/SIZE]

She foaled last night, has a beautiful chestnut colored colt. But she has got so defense about protecting her foal that she will not let us in the stall to clean up after her and do a vet check on the her and the foal. The vet is coming this afternoon but I don't think she is going to let any of us near her new baby. She turns and kicks at us.

She has never been an overly friendly mare but she has never acted like this. I just do not know how to handle her like this.

Does anyone have any suggestions, on how I can get her more comfortable about me being in her stall to feed and clean up after them?

I do not know what the vet is going to do when she gets here, this mare is not going to let us in the stall to check her and the baby.

 

[Tapestry Minis]

I'm no expert by any means but we did have a maiden mare foal this year and she too was very protective and would spin and kick at us when we tried to enter her stall. This mare has never kicked at anyone. We unfortunately lost the foal the next day but in that time just working with the mare she got better with us coming in the stall and handling her and the foal. Once she knew we weren't going to take or hurt her baby she got better. She had a halter on as she was wearing her Equipage transmitter so if we could get a hold of her halter and just pet her and talk to her helped reassure her we weren't a threat.

Congratulations and good luck.

:

 

[Firefall]

I have a mare like this too. But she wears a halter so I'm thinking I will have to tie her up so I can work with her baby this time. Not sure what else to do? Unless you can make a bigger pen, you work on the one side while her and baby are on the other?

Good luck anyway!

 

[Rachel]

Congratulations on your new little foal. I can't really offer any suggestions for the situation as I don't have any experience with this. Maybe your vet will be able to help you out. Good luck and keep us posted please!

 

[Miniv]

Unfortunately you are probably going to have to trick her to get ahold of both her and the baby.

Open up the stall to offer to let her out, and as she goes to leave, catch her. A second person can catch the baby. I would recommend that you tie the mom while working on the baby, cleaning the stall, etc. Once done, do lots of scritches - even brush her.........then let her alone.

Do it again every day and mess with her and the baby every day. Eventually, the mare will learn you don't mean any harm, and the baby will be used to you as well.

It's going to take awhile before the mare relaxes and realizes there's no threat, but hang in there......it will eventually happen.

MA

 

[Mona]

Ditto to what Miniv said, and I also wanted to add one more thing. With a mare that is protective, if it is possible to get the foal before she comes at you, you can keep the foal between you and her, she won't go into "attack mode", as she knows she may hurt her baby that way, and won't do it. That was just something I remembered that was told to me by a dear old friend and cattle farmer. If he would have to take a cow and new calf in if it calved out in the pasture, I remember him saying as long as he kept that calf between him and the cow, she would never try to harm you. I have found that to be a very wise, true and useful tidbit of information from a wise old man, and it has come in handy occassionally over the years. I have never had a mare actually kick at me, but I have had them turn butt to me in the stall with their new foal, and once I can separate that foal from it's mama and keep it between us, all works out well, as she can see all, and soon reallizes I mean no harm. Good Luck with your new wee one, and congratulations!

 

[Reijel's Mom]

With a mare that is protective, if it is possible to get the foal before she comes at you, you can keep the foal between you and her, she won't go into "attack mode", as she knows she may hurt her baby that way, and won't do it.

Just wanted to say here to be careful with that tactic and to use your judgement. I have ZERO foaling experience, but grew up on a cattle/hog farm and assisted with more than my share of calvings in my day. I can say that Mona's advice is true 99% of the time with cow and calf, and generally great advice - BUT you will get the occasional cow who just sees red and will try to take you out, no matter if her calf is standing between you or not. Now, if you are actually holding the calf, that's different. But if the calf (or in your case foal) is just standing between you and momma, they will accidently knock that baby flat to get to you - if they are that aggressive. Pretty rare, but not unheard in the cow world. I only wish my dad would have raised minis

 

[Little Wee Horse Farm]

I'd just like to add that it's VERY important that you get to handle that foal, if only so you can treat its navel NOW - not tomorrow - to prevent joint ill. We had that happen many years ago with a mare who was completely violent towards us when she had her foal. THing is, she was always a nice mare beforehand. And this was her second foal, but first with us.

She had a halter on to begin with. I always make sure a foaling mare has a halter on, just in case you need to grab her for some reason. It took me, the vet & the vet's assistant to get hold of her and get the baby away. By then, the baby had contacted joint ill because the mare was also a total pig & wouldn't let me in to clean up after the foaling. What a mess that whole thing was. It had been just about 10 hours since he was born too before we got him.

The baby, by the way, survived by the grace of God. He had to be kept in for 30 days, and handled several times a day for treatment. Each time, the mare was tied away from the foal & boy, it wasn't pretty at first. But, eventually, she came to accept it & she calmed down. The baby survived & was fine. The mare, unfortunately, couldn't stay with us, because I won't ever go thru that voluntarily. We always bred for temperment, and to me, this was not acceptable. She was sold with the buyer being warned about her behavior.

But...I talk too much.........point is.........get that foal so you can treat its navel. In my experience, hours is too long to wait. Having the navel treated is one of the first things a foal experiences here. Those germs are just waiting to march in there. Get someone to help you. Perhaps warn your vet about this situation so he/she can bring help along if necessary. There are ways to do it, but the situation itself would determine the best way.

 

[Mona]

Just wanted to say here to be careful with that tactic and to use your judgement. I have ZERO foaling experience, but grew up on a cattle/hog farm and assisted with more than my share of calvings in my day. I can say that Mona's advice is true 99% of the time with cow and calf, and generally great advice - BUT you will get the occasional cow who just sees red and will try to take you out, no matter if her calf is standing between you or not. Now, if you are actually holding the calf, that's different. But if the calf (or in your case foal) is just standing between you and momma, they will accidently knock that baby flat to get to you - if they are that aggressive. Pretty rare, but not unheard in the cow world. I only wish my dad would have raised minis

Yes, that is why I said...

if it is possible to get the foal before she comes at you, you can keep the foal between you and her, she won't go into "attack mode", as she knows she may hurt her

I meant that you would be holding the foal...not in the air, but holding in your arms, but I squat down and have the foal standing in front of me. But as I said, I have not experienced a real aggressive mare, so a more aggressive one may not be as accepting of the situation either.

 

[Little Wee Horse Farm]

Thot about you overnight -- Wondering if the vet has been there & how things are going? Update please.