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Mare seems to HATE her foal...running out of ideas...

25K views 182 replies 62 participants last post by  TexasHorseGirl 
#1 · (Edited)
Hello everybody! Before I begin, this is my inaugural post on this site and I hope to learn quite a bit about these wonderful things we call horses during my tenure on these boards! And on that note: please please please do not hesitate to correct me if I am wrong

Okay, now that the cheerful introduction is out of the way, it's time to get to a more unhappy issue...

Late last night, I got a text from my dad saying that he was making the four hour drive from just outside of San Antonio to pick me up at Texas Christian University because of a rather disconcerting situation regarding a mare and her newly born foal on our property. I don't have classes on Fridays, so this was no problem at all in terms of academics.

Anyway, this mare (about ten years old) has had three foals in previous years without issue. In fact, she was the caring (but properly disciplinarian) mother that a horse mother should be.

Two and a half weeks ago, she gave birth to a BEAUTIFUL jet-black foal (a male) with a white "question mark" on his forehead.


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The birth itself was a rather difficult process for the mare; not only was the birth a breech birth, but the foal was quite large. I was not present for the birth itself, but my mom mentioned that it took a little over an hour for the whole process to occur.

The problem? From the moment that the birth was over, the mare seemed to ABSOLUTELY HATE this thing that came out of her. She won't let him nurse, forcefully bumping him away when he comes near her (my parents have been busy tending to him). On numerous occasions in the last two weeks, she has kicked or bitten him. She wants absolutely nothing to do with him and I've been told that it's not terribly uncommon for her to just leave him by himself or chase him away, ears pinned, baring (sp?) her teeth. Today was the first day that I actually saw the new baby and, simply put, it's heartbreaking. He's such a beautiful little guy and sweet as anything. Not to sound corny, but he just wants his mommy but mom does not share the same sentiments. If more information is needed, I will be happy to provide it, but the point is that we have raised many a foal from birth to adulthood on our farm and neither of my parents have ever seen a mare this brutally vindictive towards her baby.
 
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#3 ·
I'm so sorry that this has happened. It does occure occasionally, though it is fairly rare, especially with a healthy foal...is she letting him drink?
 
#6 ·
Thank you so much :) And no, not at all. She does not let him get anywhere near her to nurse. Honestly, it looks to me like she just HATES this awful thing that caused her so much pain and stress during the birth (also, I forgot to mention that my uncle is an experienced equine vet who has examined mom at least twice in the last week to check for any internal damage that may have occurred during birth; such examinations have shown nothing to be wrong with her physically).
 
#4 ·
Some mares do reject their babies. She might sense that there is something wrong with him physically or something. He might be perfectly healthy and she still feels the need to reject him. If worse comes to worse it might be safer to bottle/bucket feed him instead of letting the mare hurt him. Ive seen mares that hated their foals but would still let them nurse. Also seen mares who kicked the babies they loved through fences over feed. If she is becoming a danger to this poor guy i say see about hand rearing him. Just be SURE to watch his manners and hand reared babies tend to get SUPER spoiled if not. I would also consider putting him in with a babysitter horse. An older gelding or mare who would be willing to show him the "ropes" of being a horse. Either that or see if you can find a nursemare who will take him in as her own.
 
#7 ·
Get foal away from her if haven't already.

And have seen mares that will savage foal although had had no trouble with another foal.

Mare's Match is good, we raised one on that, and others on Foal Lac.

And there are some lines of Arabians that I understand this type of thing is fairly common in and that was first time I had heard of linage contributing?
 
#8 ·
Yup we separated the foal from his mom within the past couple of days. He was NOT happy about it, constantly whinnying to her which shows that he wants his mommy even if she doesn't share the same sentiments.
 
#13 ·
It is; we've only needed to use it a few times amongst the dozens and dozens of foalings we've had in our stables. It's been a process getting him to drink from a bottle and he's still not entirely thrilled with the idea. Like I said, he wants his mommy :cry:
 
#14 ·
There was another thread about the same thing within the last week, several ppl. talked about hobbling the mare or putting her in stocks so the baby can nurse. Obviously you can't do that for 6 months but someone said, once the baby nursed a few times mom liked him.

That baby is darling, take good care of him!!
 
#15 ·
Aw thank you so much :) He's a sweetie.

Hmm...that's an interesting suggestion! I'm not sure how well it would work considering she won't let him get ANYWHERE NEAR her. Her eyes (and actions) tell me that she hates this awful thing that caused her so much pain. She shows absolutely NO SIGNS of wanting to be a mom to him; I'd go as far as to say she wouldn't hesitate to kill him if she had the chance.
 
#16 · (Edited)
Oh and I will definitely keep y'all updated on how all of this is panning out since, obviously, it's not something with an overnight solution (or nothing that readily comes to mind, that is).

I will say that today, in particular, mom seemed really annoyed and just generally ****** off.
 
#18 ·
Awh thank you :) So do I. It's a bit hard for me to feel bitter towards the mare since I basically grew up with her and well, being a horse, it's hard to think that she's doing this out of pure spite towards her baby, but I definitely feel a bit more sympathetic towards the little guy.
 
#20 ·
Unfortunetly they can turn away a foal. I'm wondering if maybe she resents him because of the bad delivery since it was probably very painful being an hour. I would think there was more to a mare just rejecting it the instant it was out especially after three foals prior. Maybe there is something wrong that she smells? You had a vet out of check both of them out after birth right?
 
#22 ·
Oh that is so heart breaking. I've only had hands on experience with this sort of thing once. Really awesome brood mare refused a baby, baby's kidneys starting failing about a week and a half later for no known reason. Mom knew there was something wrong with the baby. Sounds to me like your colt is fine, just something wrong with your mare? Geesh, that is so sad.
 
#23 ·
Thank you so much for the kind words and advice thus far!

Just an update:

The little guy got bottle fed this morning; we still have him on an enriched formula since he wasn't getting anything from his mom. We have a vet coming in later today to take a look both him and his mother, but as I've said, it seems like he's in immaculate physical shape. It's his psychological state about which I'm worried :(
 
#25 ·
Restrain the mare with hobbles or stocks or even easier, put her in the stall and position her where her udder is even with the door, open the door (only works with sliders) just a foot to allow the foal access to the mare. Mare can't kick or bite at him. Mildly sedate the mare or feed her grain while the colt is there to distract her. If the mare is dripping milk, she will want the relief from the foal nursing. I would be hand milking the mare a few times a day to keep her in production and use her milk to feed the foal.
 
#26 ·
I think my parents have been using a combination of enriched formula and natural milk from mom. But restraining her is a good idea, not exactly ideal, but at this point, we're kinda desperate to get things as on track for the baby as possible.
 
#27 ·
At this point I would be hand raising the foal as if he was an orphan. Let the mare dry up and bottle and bucket feed him. Forcing her at this point is only going to end up making things worse. More so since she has already tried to kill him a few times. Get an older mare or gelding for a companion for him and put him in with them, one that is a proven "baby sitter" that he can bond to and learn how to be a horse from.

You're putting too many human emotions on the the pair of them.

Was an IgG ever done on him? He may already be immuno-compromised. what "enriched" forumla are you giving him? Was the colostrum formula actual colostrum from a colostrum bank or the mass produced/sanitized stuff that is basically worthless?
 
#29 ·
Twitching is a 'necessary evil' of the horse world when it comes to dangerous tasks, and involves using a device or your hand to twist a flap of the horse's skin to control it, or to put pressure on/twist it's upper lip. It can be very painful in the wrong hands, but is safe in experienced hands and relatively harmless. It sometimes needs to be done in situations like this or when the vet/needles are involved.
 
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#34 ·
does the mare even have milk left or is she drying up? Did the foal ever nurse off her? I had an orphan foal we were unable to get a nurse mare,so she was already drinking from bucket. I had read about success in inducing lactation on open mares so we decided to give it a shot with my one mare:). She did get some milk but ended up not enough to sustain a baby:-(. In the process we were going to use her as a surrogate mom,for companion & teach horsie manners even if this lactation thing didn't pan out:).My mare & her were housed in ajoining stalls & paddock to get use to each other. At time to introduce them & try the nursing thing the vet came out & mare was restrained in hobbles & sedated for first intro.Baby nursed with little objection from mare. The next few nursings My mare had hobbles & I held her as baby nursed.She's squeal a bit but not really get too upset.Vet felt hobbles were the safe way to go till mare was standing quiet. Well mare was good so I stopped the hobbles thing pretty quick & just restrained her by hold her with stud shank.Within a couple days I was able to let my mare & baby together without me holding her.She ended up taking care of baby like it was her foal:D. We still had to bucket feed baby as mare never did lactate enough milk,although baby did always go to her & suck:lol:.Made things easier too when it came to intregate foal to herd as she had a mommy{who was boss mare} to take care of her:lol:.
 
#35 · (Edited)
Aww :) In this case, the mare is producing milk at a normal rate, but she absolutely will not let her baby nurse. She does not want him anywhere near her. As I mentioned previously, she chases him off or lashes out at him. I've read several accounts of mares rejecting their foals initially, but most of these cases settle down after a little bit and the mare accepts the baby. This mare of ours, plainly and simply, just seems to hate this little foal of hers.
 
#36 ·
Oh my heartbreak!
I would definitely treat the foal as an orphan foal now and give up on dealing with the mare. She has obviously made her mind up and sounds like there is not much left to do with her.
Sending positive thoughts for that little guy!
 
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#37 ·
It sounds like you and your parents are dealing with the situation as best you can, and better than most - very good, sound, educated decisions in the midst of what is a heart-wrenching circumstance. The very best of luck, and he is so absolutely beautiful, by the way! There's no doubt he'll thrive under your tender loving care :)
 
#38 ·
I've dealt with 2 rejecting mares. Both times a little Banamine and Ace helped a LOT. With the one mare, she was just being an idiot and was a maiden mare. I gave her the shots and then after about 20 mins brought the foal back to nurse and she tried to kick it away again, I got tough with her and let her know that while that foal MIGHT eat her alive, I would most SURELY do it if the foal didn't get to nurse. Took about twice and she was fine.

The 2nd mare was tougher. She didn't produce much milk and the baby's demands made her sore. She rejected 2 foals prior to mine, for another owner, and when she tried to reject mine, I did the Banamine & Ace thing and she stiil wouldn't allow baby to nurse. We ended up having to supplement with buckets of Foal Lac though to make up for the lack in milk.

The 2nd mare, we made an "Amish Stock" out of hay bales. Basically, we just walled her in with the hay bales and left a small opening for the foal to reach through and be able to reach her teats. We tied up the opposite rear leg and eventually, we hobbled her so that if she kicked she pulled her front foot out from underneath her too. After she upset her balance a few times she quit kicking. We also nose twitched her for the process and eventually, we could bring the foal up for about 10 mins at a time, once an hour, and let the foal drink.

For the 2nd mare, it really wasn't her fault, she just didn't produce a lot of milk, even when we used Domperidone to help her. I still have her, she is a good mom, as long as I supplement her milk with Foal Lac, she now accepts her babies right away and lets them nurse. I just have to make sure the baby doesn't demand so much and so hard that she gets sore.

The first mare, tried to reject a 2nd time, got the snot whipped out of her and she became an excellent mom. Finally got through to her that rejecting wasn't even a possibility. Kind of sounds like what's going on with your mare. You're managing the foal end of the problem real well, but I'd be having a "come to the waters" talk with the mare. If she didn't come back singing, "Glory Hallelujah", I'd sell her, with full disclosure.

This might take some of the work out of getting the foal fed:

Miniature Donkey - Short ASSets Ranch - Miniature Donkeys - My Momma's an Igloo
 
#39 · (Edited)
Mare sounds like she has her mind made up:-(.I think pain was the initial issue & her reaction has let her get away with it.Doesn't sound like the issue was forced too much & mare got her way:?? It might be to late now,but Short of trying the hobbles & sedating to see if she even settles down ,let her see foal isn't going to hurt her doesn't sound there is much else more you can try:-(.Raising the foal as an orphan looks like the the only other alternative. Even though my Girl had a surrogate mom to hang out with,she was still raised on a bucket like an orphan:).I weaned her from it at 4 mths.I ended up having to wean twice though:lol:,once from the bucket & later from her mom:lol:

Eta: the igloo momma is a good concept,i did try. My filly would have no part of taking a nipple though. Ended up when she was a little older & feeds less frequent I got her an oversized dog water bowl dispencer for her milk.worked on Similiar concept :)
 
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