by Lindi My mare Zena rejected her foal, Jazira, and was extremely violent towards her. She was a maiden mare and foaled very quickly and wandered off before the foal could get up. She had foaled unexpectedly in the middle of the day whilst I made a quick visit […]
A reader’s experience of her mare’s rejection of her foal Read More »
by Jenny Eddington Almost a month ago as I write this a brave aged Connemara mare died when her foal was born. As she had no colostrum to be given to the colt foal we were very grateful to a though bred stud that was able to supply enough frozen
By Cynthia Cooper When you are faced with an orphan or rejected foal, the best solution for the foal long term is to have it accepted by its dam or a foster mare. Raising an orphan by bucket feeding is less than ideal as they quickly become over-humanised and often
Orphan Foals Part 2 Read More »
By Cynthia Cooper The dream of breeding and raising your own foal can very quickly become shattered when you are faced with an orphan foal. Whether the foal is orphaned through the mare’s death or rejection by the mare, the focus must be on keeping that foal alive for the
MY COLT’S FIRST MARE by Cynthia Cooper Although I’ve been breeding horses for over 33 years,  witnessing my arab colt’s first sexual encounter with a mare was a very special time for me. It was an enthralling study in horse behaviour and really showed me how a stallion courts a
A Natural Breeding Experience Read More »
by Cynthia Cooper © Stallions need clear boundaries A highlight of my time in South Africa was being asked to play with a 5 year old Friesian stallion called Zander who had only recently been purchased by Carl Bronner. Zander was quite a cruisy character but like most young horses
Stallions need clear boundaries Read More »
A Non-Invasive and Loving Approach to Imprinting a foal by Liz Mitten Ryan De-sensitization and imprinting are found in every trainer’s tool box. Their importance to our efficient handling of horses is invaluable. From a human perspective our interaction with horses from handling to riding is safer and less stressful.
Welcome to the World Read More »
Foal training is such an important beginning to your foal’s future and good training will establish a relationship while also teaching your foal the basics to cope with the domestic life of a horse. Since my training using positive reinforcement has been so successful with my older horses, I now
Foal Training – The Positive Way Read More »
by Cynthia Cooper Fortunately, many horse breeders now recognise the pay-off for spending time with the foal in the early days. And many like myself have also realised that socialisation and education is the most important part of human interaction, not the imprinting. Although imprinting helps initially and forms a
Educating the Foal Read More »
By Cynthia Cooper Weaning a foal in a progressive way more closely imitates nature and is proven to reduce stress and future separation anxiety. I get a lot of people asking, “What is the best age and way to wean a horse”? I think if you can look to nature
Progressive Weaning of Foals Read More »
The decision to geld or keep a colt entire is one many owners will one day make when they breed or buy a young male horse. So why geld (otherwise known as castrate) your colt? Here are some questions you need to ask yourself: What is the future for the
The time for weaning foals is approaching and thus begins what can be a very stressful event for both the mare her foal. But it needn’t be if we consider how horses naturally wean their foals. Family structure is an incredibly important part of a horse’s life – young horses
New Ways for Weaning Foals Read More »
