We bought our mare last year, in August (she was 3 then). Had no clue she was bred at all. She dropped a beautiful little guy for us on Thursday early morning. Imagine our surprise . She never looked pregnant at all. Not even a little bit rounded off.
She refuses nursing. We separated mare and foal when she started to do serious kicking on him for his trying to nurse. She nailed him square in the chest and it just made me sick to hear the sound. She had done this several times.
Vet came out after 16 hours and IV'd colostrum into the little guy. He is seemingly active and doing fine, but we are feeding him via feeding tube every 3 hours. We finally got the mare to nurse -- forcibly...had to tether her head on both sides and hobble her hide legs. She still managed to knock both my daughter and I over, but we got the little guy in there for a bit.
She kicks at him when he's in her stall, so he is still separated. The new bag of milk replacer the vet sent shows it's for calves...the first stuff was a bucket of Foal-Lac, and noted specifically for horses. I'm confused? Is this calf replacer ok for the colt?
Should we worry about trying to force the mare into being a good mother, or just move on with feeding him ourselves and working him into bucket feeding for his milk now? I have no idea what to do.
There was a rejected foal at my yard 2 years ago and she was raised on calf replacer. It was purely an economic decision, horse milk cost twice as much. She grew into a lovely big filly. If you're concerned check with your vet.
Deanna there is someone named Kassie Findley who had a rejected baby this year. Check her posts. Mom never took to him.
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. She never looked pregnant at all. Not even a little bit rounded off. 
