Category: Raising Foals

Raising and caring for them right from birth and later: tips and tricks, ideas and suggestions.

Raising Foals
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When should I wean my foal?

Highlights: For those of you that dont have the time or the inclination to read the whole article here are the highlights: When ?-After 4 months old and once the foal has shown some consistent independence from his dam, the longer you wait the more the foal will be mentally equipped to cope with the separation. How ?: The best method will entirely depend on your set up, there is not one best method that fits all situation-sorry. For more information on my humble opinion on the plus and minus of each method the rest of the article. Key Points: Overall the focus should be on preventing injuries...

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Halter training for the new foal-Part1

How do I halter train the new foal?   Foals start out well: feral. They are leggy bundles of instinct that know nothing of the cushy captivity they are born into. The instincts that have served them well for millions of years of evolution will be constantly clashing with the world they will live in and the demand that will be put on them for most of their lives. For that reason, it is important that we ease them into our world as sensibly and as compassionately as we can. Just like young children and dogs, the first period of their lives is the most formatives. Brain plasticity...

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Halter training for the new foal- part 2

Part 2- the catch and release phase Once mom and foal are settled, are healthy and comfortable in their environment there is no reason to wait any longer. Every time we feed the mare her supplement (2 -3 times a day) we take the opportunity to catch the foal. We work in a fenced-off area or in a shelter so that there is some limit to how far the foal can go. With her nose in the bucket, the mare is generally a nice passive helper. The young little horse is usually afraid of us tall bi-pedal creatures and being afraid of new weird things is the default...

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Halter training for the new foal-part 3

Part 3-Introduction to the halter You might have noticed that until now no halter has been involved. Why is that? The main reason is you are only human: the moment you have a handle on something you will want to use it. Why is that a bad thing? Our tendency when handling any horses is to grab the halter and tell the horse where to go. It might sound redundant or pedantic but babies are not born halter broke. They are not even born with an understanding of giving to pressure. Fun fact: it’s actually the opposite: you cannot push (or pull) a foal’s first reaction,  because its...

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Raising Foals
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Halter training for the new foal- part 4

Part 4- Leading in hand. For a few weeks now, the foals have been haltered regularly. They can be caught anywhere (in the paddock, by their dam, away from their dam, or even in the middle of the field) and have zero issues with the halter, the leadshank, or being touched anywhere including the ears the nose, and the legs. At this stage, I prefer to continue to loop a soft leadshank around their butt, and over the back, when I lead them around,  but now I often just let it draped there or across their back and rely more and more on the halter to control the...

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Halter training for the new foal -Part 5

Part 5: The final touches A foal that stands to be haltered, that leads well, that accepts grooming, and picking up his feet has a good solid base for further education down the road. For many, that will be enough and they will be left alone until it is time for some more formal education. For others, it will be the bare minimum as they will also need to learn how to be bathed, sprayed, clipped, loaded into a trailer, trot in hand and stand on the line for shows. We go beyond in our handling of foals but not for any particular utilitarian reasons (we do not...

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Top 10 questions to ask a breeder.

So you’ve found an ad that catches your eye, something about that young horse makes your heart leap and you think to yourself: “This is an interesting prospect!” You probably have your own set of questions that are right away popping up in your head. I wanted to share with you what questions I, as a breeder, wished I was asked more often and as a bonus, I will tell you why I think those answers matter. (This is not just for sport horses, in fact, I purposefully tried to remove any specific breed bias here.) For those in a hurry: here are the top 10 questions and...

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Things you HAVE to know about Vitamin E.

Of all the lines on the nutritional analysis you can find on the bags of feed you might have in your feed room one line, in particular, has come under quite a bit of attention in the last few years: vitamin E. The last four or five years have seen some conclusive research on the importance of it and more importantly: how much our modern way of keeping horses has created a severe deficiency in a large number of them. If you hate reading all the way down to get the key messages I will make it easy for you in this case: Unless your horse is on...

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Raising Foals
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What to feed growing foals- Part 3-the minerals.

Are my foals getting enough minerals in their diets? What of these new studies that say that foals and broodmare can really benefit from more Copper? Are my animals getting enough to ensure they have a long sound life ahead of them? Like any breeder and foal raiser, I ask myself those questions pretty regularly. We want the best start in life for our foals and I find myself pretty bewildered at the wide array of feed and supplements out there being offered and touted as the best solution to this niggling worry. But when I go looking for actual data on what foals actually need I am...

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Raising Foals
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What to feed growing foals-Part 2, the proteins.

What should I feed my foals? How much? How do I know if it’s too much or not enough? Like any breeder and foal raiser, I ask myself those questions pretty regularly. We want the best start in life for our foals and I find myself pretty bewildered at the wide array of feed out there being offered and touted as the best solution to this niggling worry. But when I go looking for actual data on what foals actually need I am faced with a couple of challenges. the information in other blogs and articles are so vague that it is of no use. “Make sure the...

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