Several questions about my "monthling"

[JoZ]

My wonderful Sempatico baby was born May 24. So I guess he’s little bit more than a monthling. After a slightly rough start (two day hospital stay for an impaction) he is doing wonderfully, growing like a weed, smart and brave and adorable. But of course I have a few questions.

• He came in from pasture the other day with red-rimmed eyes. Probably allergic to something or too much sun. He was back to normal within an hour, but if it’s bothering him, I’d like to do something about it. Have you used fly masks on babies, and can you recommend a brand?

• What about fly spray on babies?

• I don’t have a salt block in their pasture, because of something I read and half remember. I hate when that happens! Something about babies getting diarrhea from getting at the salt. At what point is this not a risk? Or should I just put salt in the mare’s food?

• Any tips for teaching a very young baby to be bathed? I generally don’t teach bathing until their yearling summer. But this little dude is destined for an inspection at the end of the summer and I sure don’t want to be introducing bathing when I’m getting him ready for that! Also, he is pinto, and all boy, so he’s already gotten muddy in his white parts. Just trying to figure out the logistics, how many people I will need, etc. I do not have a wash rack, just a concrete slab outside the back door of the barn.

• Dam is a cribber. She cribbed a lot when she was stallbound right before she delivered. I don’t think I’ve seen her crib since she had the baby. She does not crib in the pasture. I have noticed the baby chewing on the wood sides of the stall. I doubt he is learning cribbing from her, but I wonder what this does indicate. Should I treat for ulcers? Paint something unpleasant in the stall?

Thanks in advance for any answers or tips!

[ticofuzzy]

I rarely use a fly mask on a baby but I have used the Cashel ones in the past. They fit well. I found the Supermask ones to be too short, in general.

I fly spray my babies. I used to just use natural stuff, but the bugs have been awful the past few years and I have not found the natural stuff to work at all. Now I use the chemical stuff. They are so much easier to fly spray later in life if they get used to it now.

The mare needs salt. Some babies will eat the salt blocks incessantly, some don’t. I don’t like to force feed salt or minerals, so my horses have a white salt block and a mineral block in their field. I find that the foals pretty much leave the salt alone in the field (my fields are large and there’s plenty to do) but will lick the salt blocks non-stop in the stalls. I remove all salt from the stalls. If I find the foals eating too much salt (showing anything other than a passing interest) then I will remove the salt block and just put it in the field on a sporadic basis. Just long enough for the mares to get their fill and then I take it out, a few times/week.

I teach the foals to be bathed by having them stand next to the mare and spraying the mare with the hose. We spray the foal a little bit while they are standing next to the mare. They also indirectly get some of the spray from hosing the mare. I would not do this on the cement pad, however. The foals jump around a lot at first and that could be dangerous on the cement. We do it either on the lawn or in the indoor.

Your foal is probably not learning to crib from the dam, especially if the dam is not really cribbing. Lots of foals chew on things, although 6 weeks is a little young to be chewing on wood. You could paint nasty stuff on the walls and that would probably stop the foal. If the foal is not showing any other signs of ulcers, then just chewing wood is probably not an indication but you could certainly give it a little bit of GG and see if it changes the situation. I find that most horses don’t “learn” cribbing from their mothers, but the mother could certainly pass on the temperament (anxiety, internalizing, etc…) that could lead to ulcers/cribbing. Also, management can play a role. Lots of turnout, lots of forage, appropriate grain, etc… all play a role as well.

[EventerAJ]

I’m a big believer in fly masks. For foals, I love the Supermask Mini size: it has velcro behind the ears as well as under the jaw, so you can really get them to fit tiny faces. Then as the foal grows, you can let out the velcro. Mine fit foals from 2-3 weeks old up until at least 6-7 months. They come in purple and are pretty easy to spot in the field when they get lost.

My colt was born in May last year and it was already hot. My mare is gray, and was disgusting after foaling. I hosed her off daily with him by her side. At five days old I was hosing him too, and he’s been the easiest horse in the world to bathe (now a yearling). Start off by hosing your mare and let him feel the spray, then go from there. It helps to have extra hands to hold them if needed. Another trick is to spray up in the air, and let the water fall down on his back like rain. Then you can gradually bring the spray down directly on him.

[Kyzteke]

I’ll agree w/most of what the above posters say. I use “natural” fly spray on foals, but do NOT use the toxic stuff. Most of the directions say not to use on foals under 6 months of age.

I’ve been breeding for 17yrs and been around horses for almost 50 and I’ve never seen a foal get diarrhea from ingesting salt then too much water (I recall the threads you are talking about and I really disagree…it’s from “Blessed are the Foals”…I find no other support of the theory that foals can get diarrhea from drinking too much water).

As tico says, mares need salt.

The cribbing: foals explore the world with their mouth. It’s on EVERYTHING. I think that is what you are seeing. A fellow breeder once told me she had a foal that was cribbing by the age of 6 months, but I’ve never heard of another foal doing this.

The one cribber I’ve had that I bred started at age 2.5yrs.

Can’t advise you on baths…it’s so cool up here that most of the time the horses would NOT appreciate a hose bath. When I bath I use warm water in buckets…