Im very sorry for the loss of your mare…I have a homozygous black Welsh stallion that is producing lovely hunter type foals and is small enough at 12.2hh to cross well with many horse mares for a large pony foal…and the foal would be eligible for half Welsh papers… let me know if you would like more info… Best of luck with your foal and the nurse mare!!
Yesterday I got to speak to the woman that runs Last Chance Corral. My nurse mare’s foal is there and doing well. I learned some very sad things yesterday about this “industry”. First, I asked her how much it is to raise the foal as I would like to pay for its care. She told me that in all the years she has been doing this, rescuing on average 200 foals/ year, NO ONE has EVER offered to care for the orphan foal! That is disgusting! IMHO, anyone renting a nurse mare the cost of raising the orphan foal should be automatically built in to the price. She also told me that the folks I got my nurse mare from are one of the few organizations that even care about the well being of the orphan foals. Many others just dispose of the foals. Terrible.
I was also able to come to an agreement to take my nurse mare’s 2016 foal when he/she is orphaned next year. Again, she said no one has ever contacted her to do such a thing. Frankly I think at first she was confused by my request.
So my point in all of this post…if you need to use a nurse mare please 1) research who you are getting the nurse mare from 2) offer to care for/ adopt the TWO orphan foals that will be produced to care for your foal.
I certainly cannot judge someone that uses a nurse mare. But if we could all be a bit more responsible for the “collateral damage” resulting from doing so, the story would not be nearly as sad. And if someone is looking for an organization to make a tax deductible donation Last Chance Corral certainly could use the money. The Tb industry (which is the greatest “consumer” of nurse mares) does nothing to care for these foals.
Wow Blume, I too am shocked that nobody has ever offered up those things 
Can I share your post on FB? Or if you’re on FB and you share what you just wrote and it’s public, I can share it from there.
just one question… I know some mares have twins and are able to nurse two foals, so what about nurse mares… If the mare has enough milk would it be possible to raise both foals with her??? Its just a question… because that would be so much nicer for everybody…
Blume- that is really disappointing to learn. I’m also surprised the rescue gets no money towards the care of the foal, since nurse mares are expensive.
But I am so impressed with your responsibility and commitment towards your nurse mare’s foals! Kudos to you!
I worked pretty closely with a nurse mare farm in Maryland for quite a number of years. They raised all of their foals themselves until they were of weaning age and could be sold, and they did a darn good job of raising them. They had a very good reputation for providing good horses to the local horse scene-- everything from future kids ponies and 4H mounts to competitive show horses.
I don’t know about nurse mare farms in other parts of the US, but it seems that “dumping” the foals at LC Corral has become quite popular. I just hate that. At first I thought it was predominately the big breeding farms with their own personal nurse mares sending foals to LC Corral so they wouldn’t have to deal with them, but it appears it is well beyond that. It makes you wonder why the cost of nurse mares is so high when the farms aren’t caring for the mare 6 months out of the year and they aren’t caring the for the foals.
The original proprietor of the farm I worked with passed away a number of years ago and a family member took over the business. I have not been in contact with them for at least 5 years, maybe 10. I sure hope they have not become one of the irresponsible parties who ditches their foals to become someone else’s problem.
Manni01-- to answer your question, it would really depend on the mare’s personality. From a practicality standpoint, the nurse mare is much more likely to accept a strange foal if she doesn’t have her foal already with her and nursing. She’s also more likely to bond with the foal and become a nurturing mother figure if she doesn’t have another foal to focus her attention on. I personally have worked with 2 mares who accepted an orphan while continuing to raise their own foals. It absolutely can be done, but it to try to do it every time would really complicate the situation and would likely have a lower success rate.
Manni01…I suspect most people taking in a nurse mare don’t want to deal with two foals…especially the big Tb farms. They really only care about the welfare of their foal.
Tex…I am happy to hear there was a nurse mare farm in Md that was uber responsible. Yes, it is sad that some of the farms “dump” their foals at LC Corral, but at least they don’t kill them as I have heard happens at other places.
It is funny…as I was waiting for them to bring me the nurse mare I had written a list of questions: is the mare registered, breed, age, what has she produced in the past, what are her strengths, weaknesses, vaccines, deworming, health issues, etc. Like I would do with any other breeding/ horse acquisition. When she came all they could tell me was an around-a-bout age and breed. They didn’t care what I bred her to. I think they thought I was crazy taking pictures of her “stood up” as best as possible to evaluate her. They are really going to think I’m crazy when she gets all braided up for the AHS inspection of the foal!!
JB…feel free to share on FB. I posted about it on my personal page Laurie Weiser.
If people were just responsible a lot of the animal problems we have would be almost non-existent. Spay, neuter, vaccinate, take care of what you produce into this world. And if you can’t care for them, and can’t find a good home, humanely euthanize…don’t dump, don’t leave out to starve, don’t send to auction for a fate unknown. I don’t expect all these animals to live like mine do with air conditioned dog cottages, barns with fans, green pastures, apples, carrots, brushed, bathed, etc. I don’t even think an animal needs all that to be happy or content. Good food, water, a decent shelter from the weather, basic care and a kind human hand.
[QUOTE=Blume Farm;8166487]
Yesterday I got to speak to the woman that runs Last Chance Corral. My nurse mare’s foal is there and doing well. I learned some very sad things yesterday about this “industry”. First, I asked her how much it is to raise the foal as I would like to pay for its care. She told me that in all the years she has been doing this, rescuing on average 200 foals/ year, NO ONE has EVER offered to care for the orphan foal! That is disgusting! IMHO, anyone renting a nurse mare the cost of raising the orphan foal should be automatically built in to the price. She also told me that the folks I got my nurse mare from are one of the few organizations that even care about the well being of the orphan foals. Many others just dispose of the foals. Terrible.
I was also able to come to an agreement to take my nurse mare’s 2016 foal when he/she is orphaned next year. Again, she said no one has ever contacted her to do such a thing. Frankly I think at first she was confused by my request.
So my point in all of this post…if you need to use a nurse mare please 1) research who you are getting the nurse mare from 2) offer to care for/ adopt the TWO orphan foals that will be produced to care for your foal.
I certainly cannot judge someone that uses a nurse mare. But if we could all be a bit more responsible for the “collateral damage” resulting from doing so, the story would not be nearly as sad. And if someone is looking for an organization to make a tax deductible donation Last Chance Corral certainly could use the money. The Tb industry (which is the greatest “consumer” of nurse mares) does nothing to care for these foals.[/QUOTE]
I am very sorry for your loss.
Unfortunately this service is not a good idea, no matter how it plays out. They are replacing one orphan foal with another and the “new” orphan has much less value even if is was better bred, too well bred and they are not going to want to orphan it. And if orphan foals did well, generally, then this service would not be nessisary.
With tons of horses being sent to slaughter, creating new ones with a disadvantage off the start, is not going to give them a great chance. This sounds awful, but it might be kinder if many of them were humanly euthanized right away.
I think the bottom line is to find a way not to use these mares at all. There is a protocol for mares to bring them into milk and to make them think they had a foal. I think this needs to be looked into (and perfected) more often as it would give mares a job and no by-products (unwanted foals).
It is sad that people that can afford to raise horses for racing, wouldn’t be more interested in the well being of these mares and foals. Maybe if enough people spoke up, the hormone protocol would be used more and perfected.
You have been through a lot and are trying to do the right thing but I think not using the industry is probably the best solution in being responsible to the horses.
I don’t disagree with you. However, I think there are times, and I feel like my situation was one of them, where a nurse mare serves a real purpose and is not one of convenience. Having said that I fully understand someone’s argument to never use one. I wish I never needed one. I wish my foal took to the bucket and/or bottle but after 12 hours at the vet school she just wasn’t taking to it. My goal is to reduce my imprint for having done this and will take & raise the foal I produce next year.
[QUOTE=stoicfish;8166714]
I am very sorry for your loss.
Unfortunately this service is not a good idea, no matter how it plays out. They are replacing one orphan foal with another and the “new” orphan has much less value even if is was better bred, too well bred and they are not going to want to orphan it. And if orphan foals did well, generally, then this service would not be nessisary.
With tons of horses being sent to slaughter, creating new ones with a disadvantage off the start, is not going to give them a great chance. This sounds awful, but it might be kinder if many of them were humanly euthanized right away.
I think the bottom line is to find a way not to use these mares at all. There is a protocol for mares to bring them into milk and to make them think they had a foal. I think this needs to be looked into (and perfected) more often as it would give mares a job and no by-products (unwanted foals).
It is sad that people that can afford to raise horses for racing, wouldn’t be more interested in the well being of these mares and foals. Maybe if enough people spoke up, the hormone protocol would be used more and perfected.
You have been through a lot and are trying to do the right thing but I think not using the industry is probably the best solution in being responsible to the horses.[/QUOTE]
You are doing the right thing, Blume. I am glad others are reading this so that they may consider supporting nurse mare foals as well. Please keep us updated. Many of us are pulling for you, your lovely foal, the wonderful nurse mare, and the future spotted pony!!
[QUOTE=Blume Farm;8166878]
I don’t disagree with you. However, I think there are times, and I feel like my situation was one of them, where a nurse mare serves a real purpose and is not one of convenience. Having said that I fully understand someone’s argument to never use one. I wish I never needed one. I wish my foal took to the bucket and/or bottle but after 12 hours at the vet school she just wasn’t taking to it. My goal is to reduce my imprint for having done this and will take & raise the foal I produce next year.[/QUOTE]
I get that. 
There are other options that may become available if enough people know about it and demand to use it. This is what it is, but maybe if breeders look into using a different method, then these places will not be in business. I have seen the hormone method and while it does need tweaking, I think it could be a much better alternative.
I am glad your foal is doing well and that you are so conscientious, but unfortunately the process is not and neither are most of the users. That is why I thought it would be appropriate to mention the alternatives. To get people thinking about it before they are grief stricken, exhausted and have a foal to deal with.
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