LOVE the pink lips. She really is darling!
If Classy is still worrying about the others I’d sure consider some hot tape to create a buffer zone so they aren’t sharing a fence line. Just a thought.
I don’t know how it’s possible but she keeps getting cuter and cuter.
[QUOTE=grayarabpony;5882963]
I don’t know how it’s possible but she keeps getting cuter and cuter.[/QUOTE]
^^^AGREE^^^^
Oh yeah, way ahead of you. Parmak solar box on order, and all other fence components in hand. We had originally planned to expand the paddock since we had available no climb and hot tape the top to keep out the Percheron mare that keeps bulldogging through everything. LOL, she’s like a giant polar bear, and she charges through like one. We were held up temporarily by a power source option followed by the birth, but we already have our poles cut and ready and are planting them this week. No climb all around topped with hot tape, powered by a solar hot box, and we’ll be in business.
How’s this for ironic? As of late last night (after a 2+ hour loading fiasco) one of the other mares (also a black TWH, except she’s all black) bred by the same stud is now temporarily at my place overnighting/weekending in my barn. After the speculation ended and Dr. H. confirmed the pregnancy 3 days ago, the barn owner evicted the mare within 48 hours. I have always been friendly with the mare owner, and offered to help transport her. Unfortunately, the mare owner isn’t able to afford all the additional expenses of having a foal, so she’s going to have to give her up. Some friends of mine are taking both the mare and foal, so I’m transporting her to east Huntsville tomorrow. Haha, today we practiced loading, and at least she loads more easily now. I feel so bad for this mare owner. She’s so heartbroken to be giving her up, but she’s trying to do right by the mare. It makes me so angry with the stallion owner to have put the mare owner in a position where she can’t afford the extra, and it’s not fair that she has to lose her horse. She was a paralegal and got laid off, and was still able to afford the one horse because her husband works, but she can’t afford board and expenses anywhere that would allow a pregnant mare, and really can’t even afford the extra foaling expenses at a self care facility, not to mention most of those aren’t equipped for a foal.
nightmares.
I have been watching this thread with great interest. Congratulations: How exciting for you! Your little foal is just darling - not FUGLY at all!
Especially if I had access to relatively cheap/free legal advice because I was once a paralegal with a firm and presumably had at least one friend there who could help me out I would sue the crap out of the stallion owner. Hopefully she has insurance that can cover her gross negligence. That is heartbreaking and ridiculous as well as being insanely negligent. S*&$ happens but not that many times without help. If anybody should lose their horse it should be the stallion owner.
I can’t focus on it till after the wedding (Woot! Less than 2 weeks left!), but the other two mare owners are interested in compiling evidence for a joint case… There’s just so much stacking up now as far as damages, more on M’s part than on mine since I obviously didn’t have to give up my mare, so a lawyer was contacted and is checking into equine law. We’re still waiting to hear for sure as to whether mare number 4 is in foal… Thankfully there’s now some doubt, so we’re keeping fingers crossed that she’s not in the same boat.
Insurance? Ha, I don’t think she even carries liability to cover her rear when she teaches lessons to kids (without a helmet, BTW)… I was curious and checked out her latest website, and she has photos posted of a child with no helmet sitting bareback on a horse tied to a post. The woman hasn’t a clue…
On a happier note, lookie lookie! Baby half pass!
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k171/erikahana824/prego/babyhalfpass.jpg
Jeeze, that stallion sounds like a 16 yr old boy – knocking 'em up left and right! The owner really needs a wake-up call in stallion management (and fence building;)).
But before you ship this 2nd mare off, let your friend know she does not need to give up the mare – there are ways to terminate the pregnancy…very easy (cheap) ways in early pregnancy.
And before anyone goes all “right to life” on you (or me), remind your friend that there IS danger to a mare in foaling. Mares DO die foaling from time to time. How would she feel if she lost her mare?
Oh – and it’s pretty ironic that the SO is throwing her out NOW, since at least with a pregnant mare the danger is passed…that woman is truly a piece of work…:rolleyes:
That baby is CUTE! We are going to demand periodic updates and pics - 'cause you might just have something special there. Yes, I know the breeding doesn’t make sense, but…
Funny, COTH doesn’t always consistently let me know when there have been additional posts.
Kyzteke, the stallion owner isn’t the one who is throwing her out. Sorry for the confusion. No, the mare owner and I both left that farm where the stud was kept. I left last November because the SO was underfeeding my gelding, made him lose a crapload of weight, and wouldn’t let me bring him extra feed because she didn’t want me to take up any extra room in the feedroom. My friend the mare owner along with 7 other horses (8 total) made a mass exodus (including police escort) from that barn back at the end of February/beginning of March. Both of the other mares that were pregnant and the 4th mare that we’re unsure about left at that time because of conflicts with the SO.
After additional information about this most recent boarding manager who threw out the mare owner, in a nutshell, it appears that she threw a fit and gave 24 hours notice to have her moved because BM’s daughter wanted the foal and was willing to pay foaling expenses because the mare owner couldn’t afford expenses. BM decided that mare owner should pay foaling expenses and just give BM’s daughter the foal for free, mare owner still couldn’t pay foaling expenses, so she threw her out because she couldn’t afford to give them a free horse. Mare owner tried to work things out with BM daughter (who is in her mid 30s) but BM had some kind of fit and demanded she leave despite the contract stating she had to give boarders 30 days notice. At any rate, I already moved the mare and she gave her to some friends of mine, and they can afford to keep her. She still hasn’t foaled out and they’ve now managed to get her off the fescue, so hopefully they’ll have some better luck from here out.
By the way, how late can a vet even terminate a pregnancy? This mare is ready to pop, so I wasn’t sure if that could even be done. As of this point, we’re not sure if it’s going longer due to fescue exposure or if the mare was just bred really late. Down here in the south, our weather stays wonky till late in the year. This week we’ve got lows in the upper 30s, 40s, and even 50s, and then our highs for the coming week are even up into the 70s during the day. Since they didn’t even know any of these mares had been bred and didn’t leave till late February, they have no clue as to when cover date could have been. We occasionally have t-shirt weather in November, and in extremes even in December…
Oh yes, and baby updates! My cutie pie is growing VERY QUICKLY! She’s still all legs of course. Our regular farrier came yesterday to do the other horses and commented on how he thought she wasn’t built like her mama, but thank goodness that she’s colored more like mama. Still have yet to see any run-walk gait, but she’s piaffed and passaged around the paddock when playing. Haha, I was told not to get my hopes up yet, but at any rate, she’s super cute 
When we work on leading, I’ve noticed that she fills out the foal halter we’ve been using a lot more than she used to (Thank you again you-know-who for sending it to me! :D) . When I tried it on her the first time, it was tightened all the way up to the first hole on each side with room to spare. Now we’re on the third hole on each side, and about to extend to more holes again She hit three weeks old on last Thursday, is already trying to gobble mama’s grain, and is curious about EVERYTHING. She’s constantly investigating my gray barn cat who doesn’t have the sense to stand up and move out of the way when horses walk around (lays at their feet and under them, yikes…) Haha, that cat is a whole different story…
I don’t know if anyone else has said it, but you all should take the Stallion owner AND the Barn Owner to small claims court to cover your foaling expenses. It would be especially powerful if you all filed together. I don’t know how much a DNA test is, but if you can each get one done and show they all have the same sire, that will strengthen your case. Was this stallion the only possible “daddy?” The court might even order the stallion castrated, if that is possible!!!
Hey, at what month do you guys wean your oopsie winter babies? Mama mare was a good mama at first, but now she’s getting kind of mean 
I saw her bite her baby several times on the hiney when she was trying to nurse before she finally gave in and let her nurse, to the point that Queen finally bucked and kicked out. Other times when I have fed them in Classy Lady’s stall, she’s kicked out at Queen and knocked her down a few times. Classy Lady is fine around people during feeding time, but she has some of the most horrendous manners towards other horses at feeding and has for awhile. She has always tried to reach over and bite at other horses being walked up the aisle to go in their stall whenever it’s time to feed. I’ve started trying to separate Queen and feed her in a separate bucket, but then she won’t stay put to eat it all because she gets anxious and wants to stick close to her mama. If I let her try to eat with her mama, sometimes she gets in at the feeder without problem, and sometimes she doesn’t. When I open the door to let them back out into the paddock, a few times Classy Lady has just bowled Queen over and knocked her into a doorway because Queen was standing in front of her. It’s like she’s totally over her, and she is only going to be 9 weeks old tomorrow. I mentioned this to our vet, and he said we might need to wean her early. I had thought to wean her late, at like 5 or even 6 months because she’s a winter baby, but her mama is a beeotch! I’m starting to get kind of concerned that either Queen won’t get enough to eat other than when she can convince her mama to let her nurse or that her mama is going to actually hurt her one of these days.
I’ve only raised a couple babies (read: take all this with a grain of salt), but I’ve noticed that the mare can get a bit sassy/nippy when nursing because the foal is using teeth (OUCH). You’d get a bit nasty too! In turn the foal can throw a bit of a temper tantrum because mom is disciplining them. I wouldn’t worry too much about that part.
As for the other stuff, it does sound a bit worrisome. The food aggression would bother me the most.
If she’s being THAT pushy when you open the door to let them out, I’d just make sure that the mare wasn’t in the position to body check her foal in the first place. IMO, she shouldn’t be allowed to “explode” out of her stall like that regardless… perhaps try to stand in front of her and forcing her to exit respectfully (possibly with a crop in hand). Manners. :yes:
Biting baby on the butt when first nursing is common - baby starts getting teeth, starts getting “eager” to nurse, and it hurts LOL My mare would bite pretty hard sometimes, resulting in little bucks by baby, and this would repeat 3, 4, 5 times before baby got the hint and was more gentle, only to be repeated the next time LOL They will sort that one out, so as long as the mare is really being good to the filly in other situations, that’s fine
It’s not out of the realm for you to put mom and baby in separate stalls for feeding at this point.
9 weeks is really too early to wean. If you don’t feel you can separate them at meals right now (but really, you can), then set up a different situation when you let them out, which may include putting a halter on one or both of them so you can control who is at the door when.
Is momma bolting out when you open the door, or just matter of factly walking right over baby? If the former, then I would for SURE put a halter on her because that behavior isn’t acceptable, foal around or not. She’s going to knock a human down, or smash a hip into the door, if she does this often enough.
Ok, so nothing to worry about as far as biting her on the butt as long as she’s not chasing her off and not letting her nurse at all. Awesome, because I was a bit worried. Don’t domestic horses generally not self-wean a whole lot anymore? I know they do it in the wild, but I thought I read somewhere that domestic horses go way longer till weaning… I could be misinformed, but I thought I saw that somewhere.
No, she’s not bolting. She uses her manners around me, and I don’t ever let her rush whether I have a halter on her or not. She’s not bolting/exploding through the door and body-checking baby so much as she’s just marching right on through her and has enough mass behind her to really knock baby out of the way. So, is that not really something to worry about either?
I’m wondering if I could get away with mounting my new foal feeder just OUTSIDE of the door, so that Queen will still be close enough to her mama to see her and not get anxious but not get in the way or get beat up by her mama. Problem is that’ll leave her loose and she’ll still be able to walk off and not eat if she feels like it… Still, better than putting her in another stall where she can’t see Classy Lady and therefore not eat at all.
Classy Lady is starting to behave like she could care less where her baby is. This morning we turned out their paddock mate, my friend’s shire mare, Venus, who we’ve had in the paddock with them because my friend had special boots on her feet because she has some foot problems (and didn’t want them to get lost/stuck in the mud in our pond since Venus LOVES to play in the pond). Queen has gotten very attached to Aunt Venus, and when my friend took her through the gate, Queen managed to scoot through right before she shut it and managed to get out into the herd. We have 4 big horses out in the main pasture (and 2 mini donks and a mini horse) and that’s why we’ve been keeping mama and baby separate. Queen led us on a little 5 minute chase where we played ring around the rosie around Venus with her, and the whole time Classy Lady had her face stuffed in her hay on the other end of the paddock and didn’t look up once.
So, if she’s 9 weeks now and her mama is behaving like this so far, should I try to stretch it till she’s 5 months or should I consider weaning her early at 3 months like the vet suggested? Will that mean having to give her Foal-lac pellets or powder or something?
Feral mares generally self-wean the foal when the next year’s foal is born - it’s out of need. If they don’t have a foal that next year, it isn’t unusual to see a 2yo still nursing.
No, she’s not bolting. She uses her manners around me, and I don’t ever let her rush whether I have a halter on her or not. She’s not bolting/exploding through the door and body-checking baby so much as she’s just marching right on through her and has enough mass behind her to really knock baby out of the way. So, is that not really something to worry about either?
Well, yes, because baby is in the way, it IS something to worry about. She could easily end up crunching some baby body part against a side of the stall. Once my mare got over the early very protectiveness of her foal, she too would often “forget” he was there when it was time to go back out. I backed her off the door, made sure the foal was out of the way, then let her out and he followed. So, however you keep the 2 of them from occupying the door space at the same time, do that.
I’m wondering if I could get away with mounting my new foal feeder just OUTSIDE of the door, so that Queen will still be close enough to her mama to see her and not get anxious but not get in the way or get beat up by her mama. Problem is that’ll leave her loose and she’ll still be able to walk off and not eat if she feels like it… Still, better than putting her in another stall where she can’t see Classy Lady and therefore not eat at all.
So there’s no adjoining stall? You can certainly put the foal’s feeder outside - will that work for inclement weather? Where can she wander off too that might cause trouble?
Classy Lady is starting to behave like she could care less where her baby is. This morning we turned out their paddock mate, my friend’s shire mare, Venus, who we’ve had in the paddock with them because my friend had special boots on her feet because she has some foot problems (and didn’t want them to get lost/stuck in the mud in our pond since Venus LOVES to play in the pond). Queen has gotten very attached to Aunt Venus, and when my friend took her through the gate, Queen managed to scoot through right before she shut it and managed to get out into the herd. We have 4 big horses out in the main pasture (and 2 mini donks and a mini horse) and that’s why we’ve been keeping mama and baby separate. Queen led us on a little 5 minute chase where we played ring around the rosie around Venus with her, and the whole time Classy Lady had her face stuffed in her hay on the other end of the paddock and didn’t look up once.
How was the herd with Queen? At 9 weeks, it’s not out of the realm of possibility to put them into the herd, but that’s something you’ll have to determine based on the dynamics.
So, if she’s 9 weeks now and her mama is behaving like this so far, should I try to stretch it till she’s 5 months or should I consider weaning her early at 3 months like the vet suggested? Will that mean having to give her Foal-lac pellets or powder or something?
Nothing so far would make me think there’s anything warranting weaning at even 3 months. Separate feeding arrangements sound like the only thing that needs work. Nothing else about what you’ve said is weaning-worthy. Even if the mare isn’t all that concerned where the foal is at all times, doesn’t mean that’s a reason to wean early
[QUOTE=ClassynIvansMom;5883051]
Oh yeah, way ahead of you. Parmak solar box on order, and all other fence components in hand. We had originally planned to expand the paddock since we had available no climb and hot tape the top to keep out the Percheron mare that keeps bulldogging through everything. LOL, she’s like a giant polar bear, and she charges through like one. We were held up temporarily by a power source option followed by the birth, but we already have our poles cut and ready and are planting them this week. No climb all around topped with hot tape, powered by a solar hot box, and we’ll be in business.
How’s this for ironic? As of late last night (after a 2+ hour loading fiasco) one of the other mares (also a black TWH, except she’s all black) bred by the same stud is now temporarily at my place overnighting/weekending in my barn. After the speculation ended and Dr. H. confirmed the pregnancy 3 days ago, the barn owner evicted the mare within 48 hours. I have always been friendly with the mare owner, and offered to help transport her. Unfortunately, the mare owner isn’t able to afford all the additional expenses of having a foal, so she’s going to have to give her up. Some friends of mine are taking both the mare and foal, so I’m transporting her to east Huntsville tomorrow. Haha, today we practiced loading, and at least she loads more easily now. I feel so bad for this mare owner. She’s so heartbroken to be giving her up, but she’s trying to do right by the mare. It makes me so angry with the stallion owner to have put the mare owner in a position where she can’t afford the extra, and it’s not fair that she has to lose her horse. She was a paralegal and got laid off, and was still able to afford the one horse because her husband works, but she can’t afford board and expenses anywhere that would allow a pregnant mare, and really can’t even afford the extra foaling expenses at a self care facility, not to mention most of those aren’t equipped for a foal.[/QUOTE]
Just out of curiousity, shouldn’t the stallion owner be bearing some of the burden of this problem? It was her stallion, her boarding facility, & under her care where/when this happened.
