I was sure I have seen this question asked before but I can't seem to find the thread/s. How long do you folks reccommend keeping mare and newborn foal away from other mares. I seperated my 2 year old filly so the pregnant mare could foal in peace. Just wondering how long you keep your mares seperated. What are the dangers of letting them back together. One gentleman on my mule thread said to keep them seperated for a couple of months. He said there is too much risk from a protective mom trying to keep the baby away from the filly and from the filly running around being playful. Thanks for any thoughts and or opinions.
Fred, It maybe the thread about when to put geldings and foals together. It is going to be the same aspect. It really all depends on your filly and mare as to what type of relationship they have. Give your new mom and foal a week to adjust and for the foal to really find her legs, then you can introduce then together under supervision. If all is well then you should have no problems. I do not remember if your mare has had foals before or not? Remember most of these big breeding farms all are together and in the wild they are born and introduced to the herd right off the bat. Mine personally, had to wait till the foal was about 6 weeks old before the other mare would accept the foal in the pasture and the gelding had to wait a bit longer. Hope this helps.
Fred- my two mares are very bonded and I separated them for the same reasons - just to eliminate any distractions or problems at the end. I put them back together a week after the birth, but I introduced the other mare on a lead line first to see how Mom would react. The other mare has never done anything to the foal except glare at her and walk away. It really depends on the personalities of the horses. Our Mom is the alpha horse and this other mare wouldn't dream of challenging her.
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