How is this done? Let baby tag along with mama while she is ridden? Ride where baby can see mama from a safe enclosure? I may never breed, but wondered if I did…does it mean no showing the next year?
When I breed a mare…I consider her on “maternity leave” until the foal is weaned. Having a foal running around loose might be a hazard and locked in a stall screaming would be distracting to the mare IMO. I think showing would be hard on everyone…but that is just MY take on it.
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Agreed. I have seen some who ride with the foal tagging along, but I don’t think it’s fair to divide a mare’s attention between you and her foal. I have a nice, experienced broodmare who is relatively relaxed about her filly; at 2 months, filly is very independent and mare doesn’t fret when filly is in adjoining pasture, or briefly locked out of the stall during feed time. Theyre fine being separated for 15 minutes 2x a day. But I don’t expect her to focus on me, perform under saddle tasks, and ignore her foal.
A wandering foal is a hazard. They decide to nurse and walk directly into a mare’s chest to make them stand. Not to mention, lactation is a big demand on calories from the mare; I don’t know many Fat lactating mares who need extra exercise for health reasons. I’ve always felt it best to wait until weaning, when milk production drops and emotional bond is detached.
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I started riding my mares with foals at side. Maybe at about 2 months. The foal got to play in the ring, sniff jump fill, trot over piles, etc. it was a little distracting for the rider—the babies change direction, cut in front of you, etc frequently. Once the foals were about 3.5-4 months, they’d stay in the field with their friends while I rode the dam alone.
I did ride my girls while they were pregnant, too. Up until they were too big, and towards the end, just walking trail rides. But when I started riding them lightly with foal at side, they’d only been out of work for a few months, so it was easy to get them legged back up.
These were my two main riding horses, not dedicated broodmares, and the plan was to return them to the show ring.
Agreed that my mares were on “maternity leave” late in their pregnancies and after foaling. With a well-grown foal that leads well, I might hop on the mare bareback and pony the foal around the pasture or on a safe (fenced) trail. I never tried to “work” the mare with the foal alongside. Agree she would have divided attention (at best).
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Don’t forget that even if the mare and foal temperament makes it safe, foaling makes a lot of structural changes to the mare, lax ligaments and tendons, and it just takes time for all that to get back even close to normal.
Minimally she’s going to be out of work from, probably at least 9 months into pregnancy, to at leeeeeeeast 2 months after foaling. That’s minimally 4 months, and could be 6 months, depending on when she needs to stop work, and how long she stays pregnant.
If she foals in February, you’re looking at minimally April to start work, and that’s LIGHT work. I would not consider putting her in enough work to be show-ready in a few more months, unless you’re talking Trail classes or something fairly unathletic.
Do people do it? Yes. I don’t agree with it.
It’s more reasonable to think you can start back light work in the 4 month range, but that’s not going to allow real showing, so at that point you might as well wait until you wean at 6-7 months.
Does that mean you can’t take the mare for walks around the property? Or start some ground driving, foal safely out of the way? No. Just be considerate about how soon you put weight on her back.
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Thanks for the replies. I think I saw someone bring a baby along with her mare to an event once. I didn’t realize about the toll the pregnancy takes on the mare, didn’t know how uncommon it would be for a mare to get back into show shape before weaning.
