Weaning: length of separation

[PiedmontSporthorses]

I thought I’d piggy back off this thread to get an update and pose a question.
OP - how did it end up going with your mare and colt/gelding?

Like many suggested above, I separated my mare and her filly for five months! They have been back together for a few weeks. Initially the mare was very standoffish with her filly - almost as if to say “not you again…” Then this mare came into heat this past weekend and suddenly the filly is nursing again (not sure if the nursing and heat cycle are related or just coincidence…). Not only is the mare letting her nurse, but her milk is coming back in <sigh>. Unfortunately, my herd situation is such that this creates a problem! I only have three horses on my farm currently including mom and baby and one other broodie aka auntie - who is leaving for the vets for breeding in two weeks.

I toyed with keeping mom in one paddock and auntie and baby in another but adjoining. Only issue is auntie is super close with mommy and I can hear the cries and see the fence running now. Plus when auntie leaves for 2-4 weeks mom and baby will be turned out alone for those couples weeks.

I also toyed with keeping mom stalled (stalls are in a shed row attached to paddock so she could always see them) 1/2 the day and filly the other 1/2.

Hubby has said no to removing mom or baby from property as I board my horses in training and, after all, this is why we bought a farm… :0/

I could leave them as is until auntie got back and then deal with re-separating them. Maybe look into getting another friend then…

So what the heck do I do? Any other suggestions? Anyone know of any nursing deterrents?

[Blume_Farm]

I am having the same issue. I weaned my foal late last year in November. Mom and filly have been separated this whole time. This past weekend I thought about putting them all out together again but the minute mom and filly were touching noses it was clear she would start nursing again and mom would let her.

So I am interested to hear others responses as well!

[Kyzteke]

Well, this maybe a silly suggestion, but it’s worked for me. I have a small place and I was only able to separate this last year’s foal from mom for about 2 mos.

I put mom back in and had a blanket on her with the straps crossed between the hind legs to give abit of a barrier to the foal. Then I sprayed “bitter apple” on the mare’s bag 2x a day for about a week.

Plus made sure I gave babe a good ration of chow each day.

No issues. Baby made a face once or twice then left dam alone.

Worth a try. Just make sure mare does not have any cuts or skin openings on her bag.

[_Tradewind]

Piedmont, I can’t really answer your question as we haven’t tried mom and baby back in together yet. They did, however, “accidentally” encounter each other at about the three month weaning point (I hadn’t closed mare’s stall door when I let her in to eat and she was wandering around, and I let baby take himself into his own stall to eat and he crossed her path). He suddenly decided he was going to try and nurse, and he was quite determined! Mare was a bit shocked, I don’t think she’s experienced this before! I’m not sure how much success he had as I intervened quickly and directed him to his stall, but I determined that that point (three months) probably would have been too soon to put these two back together!

[PiedmontSporthorses]

Thanks OP. It’s funny how some of them are so set on it. My filly is so independant in so many ways, so I am actually very surprised that after their separation she tried… and the mare let her. Funny girls!

Fortunately, the nursing is very seldom! And the Bitter apple suggested by Kyzteke seems to be helping! I have not SEEN her nursing or attempting to. I know it could be happening other times though. But I figure it’s good I’m not seeing it. I am also working on bringing in another mare so I can split them up for the long term… just in case.

[Kyzteke]

[QUOTE=PiedmontSporthorses;7532455]
Thanks OP. It’s funny how some of them are so set on it. My filly is so independant in so many ways, so I am actually very surprised that after their separation she tried… and the mare let her. Funny girls!

Fortunately, the nursing is very seldom! And the Bitter apple suggested by Kyzteke seems to be helping! I have not SEEN her nursing or attempting to. I know it could be happening other times though. But I figure it’s good I’m not seeing it. I am also working on bringing in another mare so I can split them up for the long term… just in case.[/QUOTE]

Good to hear. If the foal is being well-fed, “nursing” is usually just a comfort issue at that point. I had one this year who tried twice to nurse from her 3 yr old older sister. The filly actually let her do it (!) but obviously nothing came out. So the foal didn’t try any more.

You can tell if you baby has been nursing just by looking at the mare’s bag. It will be soft but full and the teats shiny and clean looking. A non-nursed upon bag will flatter…including the teats.