Elena Vieira Nursing Foal Username: Opheliaimmorttal
Post Number: 13 Registered: 11-2005
Posted on Friday, January 20, 2006 - 09:01 pm:
Hi Everyone, I have a dilema, I don't have a stall and my pastures are really muddy. I was thinking about turning an old pig pen into a stall. It will be pretty big I think, it just matters on whether or not we can do it and if my dad will agree. I don't want her to have her foal in the muddy pasture. She is due in April, so I dont know, it might have dried out by then, but i'd feel alot better knowing that she and the baby is safe in the stall. Has anyone had babies in the pasture? Any ideas on how to make a stall? thanks
It is natures way for a horse to have a foal in a pasture. the sunshine cleans the ground. Of course if it is really muddy in April which here it is because it is raining a good bit of the time, you could make a makeshift stall out of the pig pen, but unless you close her in there at night she will probably rather have the foal outside. My daughter's mare is 20 and she had her foal in a small pasture last year, this year it was raining so she decided to go to the barn. we leave it open to her unless it is really bad weather.
It would really be a bad thing to need to be able to see the mare and foal and take care of something IF something went wrong and god forbid you couldn't find her or it was too dark.
I would suggest....Making a small stall (12x14) at the smallest, and put a top and sides and a door on it and when she starts getting close, put her in the pen at night.. about a month out so she can have some time to adjust. then when she gets really close you can start bedding her down really good for the foal to be born..
Elena...the hard/expensive part of a stall is the roof. If your dad doesn't want to put the time/money into the roof, maybe you could talk him into framing the roof and using a tarp stretched VERY tightly as a roof. If your area is really windy, this may not be a good choice, but if you just get a lot of rain it would work. In my area, people use these as pasture shelters and they work great unless a hurricane comes along then nothing works very well!
Elena Vieira Nursing Foal Username: Opheliaimmorttal
Post Number: 14 Registered: 11-2005
Posted on Saturday, January 21, 2006 - 11:59 am:
I just want to say THANKS to the people who posted, i really appreciate it! I will probably be using both of your ideas! Elena
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