weaning and nutrition

Question
we have attempted to wean our 9mth old foal from his mother by seperation to no avail.we seperated them for 3 weeks but the mare seemed very depressed.we put her back in with other horses and her foal and he began to suckle yet again and still does AFTER he has been bucket fed.we do not want to seperate them again because it depressed our mare.After having loose droppings for a while she began to loose weight.we have been looking into different weaning uses such as "udderware".we were also wondering if a low protein diet would help to dry up her milk  

Answer
Hi,  The best and most efficient way of weaning a foal is to separate the mare from the foal by taking one or the other off the property, so that they can't hear each other yelling for the other.  This usually takes about 1 month.  Be sure to leave the mare with other horses she is used to being with so that she can have company and not be so lonely, this will help with the stress.  Yes the mare will fret over her foal being taken away and possibly loose some weight but when she is weaned and over the stress of it all she will gain it back, this stress usually only lasts about 2 weeks when weaned at the normal weaning age.  This stress is what causes loose stools and this is common along with loosing weight.  The mare's milk will not dry up until the foal stops suckling off of her so changing her diet won't do anything.  I know of mares who have produced milk for up to 2 years if their foal is left with them for that amount of time.  Once the mare and foal are weaned and are both back on the farm they will need to stay separated for at least 2-3 more months in a separate pasture (to be sure her milk has dried up).  I have had babies that after being weaned will try to suck off of anything that will stand for it, (including geldings)!  So if they were put back together he probably would start sucking off of her again.  The mare's milk is much better to the foal than anything else so of course he's going to try to suck if he's put back with her especially since he's been allowed to do this for 9 months.  Recommended weaning age is 4-6 months depending on how independent the foal seems to be, so the sooner you could get them weaned the better the mare and foal will be.  Weaning that late can also aid in behavioral problems with the foal later on such as causing the foal to become "clingy" with pasture mates which can be very nerve racking if you ever plan on doing any kind of riding or just getting on out to brush him.  For example, I have a horse who boards at my farm who was not weaned until he was 8 YEARS OLD!  The horse was free to his current owners because no one can do anything with him because of his awful ground manners and lack of "having to grow up and be a grown up horse".  He still is not broke, you can't break a horse who is still on his mom because you can't separate them long enough to do anything with them without the baby and mare going crazy for each other.  This horse will always have "issues" only because of the way he was raised or lack of.  You must break that bond the two have so that in the future you can do something with the baby, such as ride or even just get him out and brush him.  Weaning is very natural and if in the wild the mare would eventually take care of this herself, however when domesticated and left in a pasture this will not happen.  Hope this helps and good luck, this will be stressful for you as the owners and the mare but it will be worth it.  Jessica