What now indeed! Beloved Susie has just foaled, you as the average mare owner with a first foal have read the books, watched the videos, talked to friends, joined the lists ,and survived the actual foaling. But you stand there looking at the baby and your mind is a total blank- oh you are excited, and thrilled and awed by the magnificent baby in front of you but what do you do next?
Assuming that the foal is dried off by now, and the mare cleansed, and resting with plenty of clean water and fresh hay available; the foal has nursed, you have saved the after-birth for the vet to check, made the vet appointment and maybe even have had the vet out to check the mare and foal- what next?
For openers- you DON’T immediately clean the stall! And you DO allow the new mother and baby time to bond. You DON’T invite the entire neighborhood to come and see the baby right now! Plenty of time for that tomorrow. So, having made your video, snapped your digital pics till both mom and baby are seeing spots from the flash- you let them alone for a while.
Come the next morning you have an unparalleled opportunity on your hands. You get to take mom and foal outside to graze – that is if the weather is above 40 degrees and not raining. If it is colder than that or raining or snowing, let them stay in for the day. Your opportunity is still right in front of you. I am assuming you made the pre-foaling purchase of baby halters- yes you need many more than one. The little critters outgrow halters at an amazing rate. O.K., you have the mom, the baby and the halter- now comes the first fun part. You have to put the halter on the baby. The advantage is on your side provided you do this today! It may be very active- getting that halter on- as you will no doubt discover, foals are NOT born halter-broken, and that adorable little thing wants NO part of what you are determined to do. Having already done Foal imprinting as a practice is rather useful at this point. Eventually without any real damage to you or the baby, the halter is on- this process is much easier with two people doing the job by the way. But if you are alone, don’t despair- it can be done- usually with the aid of a corner of the stall where you can ‘pin’ the baby there against the walls and put the halter on. Once on quickly attach a long lead rope and make a butt rope out of the slack- proceed to quietly and slowly move forward- usually the baby will cooperate at this point. For no more than ten minutes walk ‘laps’ around the foaling stall. You are now ready to attempt to take them out.
It helps if the paddock or pasture they are going into is very close to the barn, and if the gate is already open- the first time you have mom and baby on lead shanks, with the butt rope on the baby you are going to find you really could use an extra hand or two, so having the gate open is a big help. There should be nobody else in the paddock to escape – so open gate is safe. Lead them with the baby between you and mom. Mom ( hopefully) knows how to lead, and baby will go with mom. This is the critical point that when many folks take the “easy” way and just lead mom, trusting baby to follow along. WRONG! Easier for now maybe, but not within a very short time! Enter through the gate, make a turn so you are facing but behind the gate and be prepared! Getting the lead shank of mom and the baby at almost the exact same time takes a bit of doing but can indeed be done- stand clear! Oh, I forgot- I do hope you are wearing substantial footgear and possibly even soft gloves- feet and hands are very vulnerable. Oh and you might want to leave that halter on for a bit! But you must remember to handle it and adjust the fit daily!
Foals are funny little critters. Some are born mellow and curious, some are born aggressive- often more true of colts than filly foals, some are born timid and shy. The type of foal there in front of you will have to determine how you handle it. In about all cases however, moving quietly, not zipping around like a loon, speaking in a normal tone of voice, not doing baby talk, nor shouting or shrieking will go a long way to creating a good relationship with that baby. Some moms are super protective- which is another challenge to handle, some are wonderful and trusting, ( the preferred kind), some are nervous wrecks- which is another challenge, some are aggressive themselves.Some are simply not interested in that baby – want nothing to do with it! Yet another challenge! Here’s hoping you have a super relationship with your mare to begin with, cause now is not the ideal time to form one!{mospagebreak}
If the foal is exceedingly timid and shy, you have a couple of options to choose from. One you can sit quietly in a corner of the stall and wait for the baby to come up to you and investigate you- make no sudden moves and let the foal sniff all it’s wants, do not however put up with any pawing attempts! And don’t go to sleep right off. Giving mom a flake of hay will keep her busy and not in your lap!
The other option in this case is to ignore the foal and lovingly groom on mom till the foal simply can’t stand it anymore and comes up to you- takes longer but can work as well. This method only works provided mom will let you touch her! Do not force the baby to make contact with you. Human babies and foals have innocence and ignorance in common, both are very sensitive to what happens to them at this point in their short lives. You don’t want to “break” the foal, you want to train and teach it good basic horse manners- no ear pulling or chain across the nose! Restraint is NOT natural for a horse, nor is wearing a halter or being lead- keep that in mind – you are building the basic response of that animal right now, a response he or she will have all their lifetime so be careful, be quiet, don’t react violently and take your time!
Haltering and leading do need to be done daily- it is far safer and easier to deal with a foal who weighs less than 100 pounds than to wait till the little one is going on two or three or more months of age!
If your foal is an aggressive one, well, you will have to be prepared to correct rearing, striking, biting as it happens. Some foals will stop that behavior if yelled at, or smacked with the flat of the hand on the shoulder- not the butt! Or the head! Do not hit a foal on the head!!! Nor pull the tail or drag it forward via the lead shank. Too easy to cause damage with those methods.
Most foals have a magic spot at the base of the neck- utilize it to make friends with the critter. Soft brushing is a wonderful way to do this, provided you can get your hands on the foal. If you can, and if you brush, do not put the brush on the foal with the bristles down facing the skin, lay the brush sideways and gently turn as you sweep the brush down- try this on yourself and see the difference. That foal’s skin is very sensitive and too brisk a brushing can create behavior problems such as shying away from you, reinforcing the desire to stay away from you as well. Handle the legs all the way down to the feet, and within a few days handle the feet, picking up gently and not very high, putting it down- do not just drop it. Within a short while you may begin ‘tapping’ on the surfaces of the foot- handling hind feet can be tricky, but start up at the hip and run your hands down the leg. You might consider telling the foal what you are doing as you do it, and picture it in your head as well.
The mellow, calm foal is the most pleasure to deal with- they love scritchies, are interested and curious and generally are all over you with affection- that too has to be channeled into proper behavior- but it is far easier- just remember- no rough stuff- leave that to mom and she will oblige- and oh! Don’t get between mom and baby while baby is nursing- if the little dear chomps on mom, mom won’t hesitate to chomp right back and mom’s chomp is not a little love bite! Stand at mom’s head if you must while nursing is taking place or on the far side of mom!
That should give you a fair idea of WHAT NEXT is in store for you while raising a baby horse! Good luck, keep calm, keep cool and it will work out!
Ina M Ish
iish@earthlink.net