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The weaning process is an important step in every foal’s life—but there’s probably not a breeder out there who en- joys the process. Good plan- ning and strategy can mini- mize the stress of weaning, which ultimately benefits the foal, the mare and the owner. Knowing some of the logic and the reasoning behind the different weaning meth- ods can help you to make the weaning process as healthy and stress-free as possible for your foal and mare.


STRESS-FREE WEANING: is it possible?


By Gigha Steinman


When to Wean Most experts tend to recommend weaning foals when they are five or six months old, although a few suggest waiting un- til the foal is closer to seven months old and some feel there is no real harm in weaning a foal as young as four months old. (In contrast a foal in the wild may likely stay at his dam’s side for a full year, until the next foal is born.) Keeping a foal with his mother allows him to develop socially and emotionally, and most importantly allows his digestive system to develop so he is ready to transition from his mother’s milk to grains and forage. Most foals will be ready physically to be weaned from their mothers by the time they are four months old, but most experts feel the weaning process is less stressful for the foal if he can be left with his mother for another month or two. For the first two months of a foal’s life his mother’s milk will meet most, if not all, of his nutritional needs, and his di- gestive system will not yet be able to really digest forage or grains. Once the foal is two months old he will have begun consuming more grass and hay, and he will probably be sneaking bites from his mother’s feed as well. By the time a foal is three to four months old he will begin to better digest grains, nonstructural carbohydrates and forage. Around this same time the mare’s milk production and quality will have begun to decrease and will no longer be sufficient to main- tain the foal’s growth. Once a foal is two to three months old many breeders will begin “creep feeding” him. Creep feeding refers to the


method of feeding the foal small amounts of feed in frequent intervals, and there are a myriad of feeds spe- cially formulated for grow- ing foals. To insure the foal gets his intended food and you are able to monitor how much he eats, it will be important that the mare cannot get to his food. There are differ- ent variations of special buckets made for this purpose which are popular because they allow the caregiver the freedom to feed the foal and leave, without having to monitor the mare. These buckets usually have adjustable bars which can be spaced closer together or farther apart as needed, so the foal can reach the feed but the spac- ing will be too small for the mare’s muzzle to fit. Foals may also be able to obtain adequate nutrition by sharing from their mother’s bucket, but it is harder to monitor how much the foal is eating, and often the mare’s feed may not be the optimal feed choice for the foal.


TOP: Love at first sight! Just weaned, these two meet for the first time. On the left is the colt Dragon by Don Schufro out of Walkaway, owned by Crystal Lee. On the right is Synchronicity owned by Mer- edith Crawford. She is by Staccato out of Evita. ABOVE RIGHT: An outdoor creep feeder at Buena Vista Farm in Ocala, Florida; and: two examples of creep feed buckets for foals.


Warmbloods Today 59


Courtesy Buena Vista Farm


Crystal Lee


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