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Equine Network Store. A Home for Every Horse. Hope in the Saddle. World Series of Team Roping. Get Our Newsletter. Foals can gallop after about 24 hours. The first milk a foal gets from its mother is called colostrum. This milk boosts the foal's immune system since it is born with little protection.
Ideally, the foal should get colostrum within the first hours of birth or at least within 24 hours from birth. This not only provides antibodies, but colostrum helps the foal pass the first manure called the meconium. The foal will receive about a quart or liter of colostrum in the first hours of life.
Mares and foals bond very quickly. Much of their communication is almost imperceptible to the human eye. Because the foal has no immune system of its own, an infection can set in very rapidly. Many foals are born with oddly bowed legs.
This is called "windswept" and is common to large foals born to smaller mares. Because their ligaments and tendons are immature, they may also walk with their fetlocks almost touching the ground. Within a few days, as the foals become stronger, the legs should show signs of straightening up. Foals are most often born at night, and birth often happens very quickly.
In the wild, this nocturnal and rapid birth helps to protect a mare and foal from predators when they are at their most vulnerable. A foal will start to taste grass after they are about a week old. A foal's legs are almost the length they will be when they reach adulthood. In barn weaning , the mare and foal are brought into the barn and fed. Then a handler leads the mare out of the stall and takes her to a distant paddock, while leaving the foal inside the stall.
After a period of days or weeks, once the weaned foals have settled down and are eating well, they can be turned back out together in a group. By isolating each foal at weaning, they can become completely dependent on me. I spend a lot of time with each baby in its stall when I wean. Oliver finds weaning time is ideal for halter breaking and extensive handling of the foals.
By visiting each foal in its stall multiple times throughout the day, he gains their trust and is soon able to lead them out to walk around the barn. He prefers to keep new weanlings stalled for several weeks while working with them. After about a month, he turns the group of weaned foals back out together, but by then they are confident and easy to handle. You may have to board the mare off the property for a few days. Horses are herd animals and a single foal, newly separated from his mother, may become frantic.
You should discuss a plan with your veterinarian or another experienced horseman prior to weaning. They have a wild spirit and surviving is still instilled in their brain.
This comes to fruition with the birth of a foal and the herd mentality. Their wild spirit is telling them this foal will slow them down and puts them at jeopardy. Unfortunate natural order of things. This goes for most animals with males being separated from the offspring. At first they only eat mothers milk. They may mimic their mother eating grass and within a few weeks after birth they will start eating grass.
Their mother at that point will start cutting the foal off from milk until they are completely transitioned to finding their own food. Also you can supplement them with horse grain just make sure it is for foals.
They need to get the proper nutrition at this age just like most babies do. It takes roughly 11 months before a foal becomes developed enough to be welcomed into this world. This is a rough estimate as they can come a couple weeks early or up to 4 weeks late. Once they get within a few weeks of the born date make sure you pay extra close attention to that mare.
Most of the time breeders try to time it so mares give birth during the springtime. One reason being so the foal can be active and develop correctly. The milk will diminish as time goes on.
I have owned over 50 horses and currently own a small horse farm with 8 horses. I have competed on and off for over 25 years while doing mostly trail riding and cow sorting these days.
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