mare & foal

Question

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Hi D, thanks for your quick answer,could the mare and colt be seperated by a fence, so they can still see each other, or do they have to be out of sight of each other for months?
thank you very much
sharon.
Followup To

Question -
Hi,
we are going to look at a mare and 3 month old colt tonight, the mare has been back in work for
the past month.I have read that to move a mare &
foal can lead to major distress & sometimes illness.Would you think its a good idea to look at them,& we would want to keep the mare & foal
together,they would be the only ponies in our field at the moment.Would there be alot of problems later on if we wanted to take the mare out on her own.Also what age does the colts testicles drop?
sorry alot of questions all in one,i hope you will have time to answer them.Thank you
Sharon.

Answer -
Hi Sharon

When the foal is anywhere from 3months - 5 months and eating well from a creep feeder it should be weaned. To wean it you must have an area to separate it from its dam SAFELY.  You may not have the facility to do thiS.  They must remain separate for a long while (usually months) to keep the foal from returning to nurse on the mare after they're put back together.  Yes there are ALWAYS pasture buddy problems with horses and more so with a mare and her foal if not properly weaned.  Foals tend to be so active we call them "suicidal" for the first couple years of their life.  Have the proper facility, training knowledge and skill is necessary to care for a young horse.  Age where the colt drops can vary --- I've seen them drop as weanlings and others not till they are a couple years old --usually not a good sign.  There can be retention also which requires surgery to geld which is expensive to "find" the missing part.  Perhaps you may purchase the mare after the owner "weans" the foal and the foal is no longer part of the package?  sounds like you just want a horse to ride?
Hope this helps
D

Answer
Hi D, thanks for your quick answer,could the mare and colt be seperated by a fence, so they can still see each other, or do they have to be out of sight of each other for months?
thank you very much
sharon

Sharon --- If they are separated by a fence the foal IS going to try to reach momma..... so the TYPE of fencing is critical --- pipe & cable - they'll try to crawl thru or over --- barbed wire (shudder) will cut them up ---- when we wean -- usually we stick the foal in a stall that it can't get out of -- can still hear mom in the pasture and its REALLY noisy for a few days --- after things settle in a few days (or whenever) - THEN we put the foal in a turn out pen with pipe but by then the foal will still call to momma and race around - but things are better --- you have to REALLY watch when you move to this step...

If more questions email txreiners@aol.com to save time of going thru this...

D