Orphaned foal at 3 months

[BrokenArrow]

Monday afternoon, I came home to find my inlaws Friesian broodmare dead in the paddock. Her 3 month old filly was understandably quite distressed, running the fence line and pawing at the mare. There was no sign of a struggle for the mare and my inlaws, who are overseas at the moment, declined an autopsy. The mare’s body was taken away that afternoon.

I’ve put the yearling in with the filly for a friend. I know it’s early days yet, but the filly doesn’t want to move from the spot where her mum was. I had to feed her down there otherwise she won’t eat and is generally quite stressed any time she has to move from that spot. The yearling is super friendly with her but it hasn’t made much of a difference.

Any ideas when she might start to settle down? The filly is basically unhandled but would always come up for a pat and a scratch. Now I can’t get near her unless I lock her in the stable. If I do that, she runs the box, screaming for hours on end and it’s not worth the stress on her.

[crosscreeksh]

We had a foal orphaned at 3.5 months this year…the mare had colicked and twisted…no hope. Our filly was left with the mare/body for a couple of hours until we could remove the mare. We put her in the foaling stall (her home) and added a mini donkey. Our filly called - softly - for a day or two…then went on with her life! No hysterics or stall running. The first weeks she would call softly when the donkey got out of sight…they were in a pasture adjacent to other horses, but not in with them…I didn’t want to risk the filly or the donkey if the group got rowdy. Now she is a well adjusted yearling with incredible manners and social skills!!

I would put your foal in a stall and get her handled to the point where “I” was her main focus…a buddy would help, but left to fuss/act feral… without handling…IMO…you’re going to end up with a large, unmanageable problem. She will stop running and screaming when she gets tired…I highly doubt she will stress herself to death.

[FatDinah]

Can your vet advise you about giving her something to calm? Maybe a scenario where you stall her or paddock with the yearlong and give her a mild sedative so she can adjust? I agree you need to intervene to give her a new bond.
I want to say I am so sorry about the mare.

[Espionage]

So sorry about your mare, if she continues to stress badly for more then the standard weaning period would have normally taken 2-3 days (I know this isn’t the traditional scenario) I would talk to your vet about some omeprozole for her stomach as well. You don’t want her stressing out and giving herself ulcers especially if she isn’t eating well.

I agree with the comment above saying put her in a stall and get her handled. Depending on the size of the stall and availability of another small buddy (maybe the yearling?) you could give her a buddy in the stall. But make sure its a safe buddy. I would also suggest some daily grooming to help distract her and give her something else positive to focus on and bond with you instead.

[Highflyer]

I would definitely treat for ulcers no matter what. We have had a few over the years and they all adjusted pretty much within a day or two, although they were generally able to keep going out with their existing group of mares and foals just like with weaning, which helped.

[NancyM]

Good advice here already… if stress is obvious, ulcers are on the way. 3 months is the “earliest” that a foal can be successfully weaned, but many do require longer than that with their mothers to be weaned relatively stress free. I had one orphaned exactly like yours, suddenly at exactly 3 months. She was surprisingly calm about it though, but she has proven to be a very intelligent horse, and seemed to accept the situation as she saw it. And I had a dry, older broodmare (who was best friends with the deceased mare) who volunteered to take over the foal, which worked out perfectly… we have cougars around here, orphans with no one to protect them are fair game. The older mare took that foal, and raised her. No milk, but everything else that was important. Once I was sure that they were bonded, they went out into the herd together. It takes a herd to raise a foal. If you have access to the right type of mare who would like to adopt this foal, that would be your best bet. You may consider using a milk replacer powder, mix it up with a spoonful of molassas to make it more acceptable. Otherwise, a suitable creep feed and good hay.

Good luck!

[BrokenArrow]

Thanks everyone.

She is a lot more settled today. She’s still not wanting to leave where the mare was, but will come up for a feed and is following the yearling around when she does decide to move. I will definitely get her onto some ulcer treatment as well, especially since it looks like she’s had the scours a bit.

Last night she ate without a fuss and only when she was finished she went back to the spot. Hopefully, she continues to settle.

[FatDinah]

Thanks for the update, best hopes and thoughts for you.