Weaning

[tinastephenson]

Please can somebody advise me?
Calico is 5 months now and I am thinking of best way to wean her next month. Chas is having a good feed every day now but is starting to drop weight so I dont feel it fair on her to go beyond the 6 month date.
Calico is happily munching on hay and has the smallest amount of chaff and sugar beet while Chas has her dinner and loves it! So I dont have any worries really about her coping food wise....
But, we keep the horses on a sheep farm, there is Chas, Calico, a small shetland who is in with my two called William and the extremely boisterous (for want of a better word!!) 15 month old Fresian colt.....
In the beginning I was thinking of Charity going elsewhere and Cali staying with William in the same field, but, Cali, although fine with humans is most definately becoming the boss in the field and Charity lets her get away with it!!!
So, my dilemma is, would I be better off finding somewhere for Calico to go so she could learn some herd manners?
If so, does anyone know of anywhere I could send her too for 3 months or so? Odd question I know, but I dont have the facilities here and its that colt which is causing the problems! He was not there when we put Chas into foal so always planned for them both to stay on farm with another companion horse but thats not to be...
I am of course happy to pay livery, transport etc etc but would really appreciate some advice on best place where she will be as safe as she can be and someone with experience keeping an eye on her....
All suggestions gratefully received.....
Sorry its such a long post..

[Deleted]

no fret, it should be a piece of cake if you go about it right.

what we did with our foal was to start putting her in a different pasture during the day, that way it's not to sudden for either Calico or mum, once she seems ok with that you can start weaning her at night too, if she starts getting exited in the mornings you could let them out for a little while together, but it might not be necessary. I absolutely hate it when i see foals weaned by just taking them out of the field and putting them in a stall or little paddock for a couple of weeks, this really is quite traumatic for the baby.
going about it like this our foal didn't even really get upset.

yes i know what you mean about heard manners, I've had the same problems, i think she should be fine as long as she is ok with humans, just be careful that she doesn't get it in her head that she's boss of you, it is so easy to tell her who's boss when she is this little,and it will make training later on sooooo much easier, believe me, i know.

it really would be best for her to have a companion,as long as she gets along well with the other ponies i really wouldn't worry about her being to bossy, she's just being sassy, it still is most likely that after a little while the older ponies will get fed up with her and they will tell her so.

if it is a posibility you also could put her in a pasture next to another horse.

and no i do not know of anybody,for i live in America.

Hope all goes well!

[tinastephenson]

Thank you Chloe, seems sound advice. tonight we had additional problems as another horse left the farm, that only leaves Chas and Cali, the shetland Will and the totally nutty colt....
The owner of the colt has asked if the shetland can go in with him so now I have mare and foal and no companion either.... wonder why I went for this breeding part!!

[Deleted]

o well i know it's frustrating, but i think it will be just fine.
Is it a posibility to put Chas with the Fresian? then you could put Will with Calico, if not you might be able to switch Will back and forth between Cal andthe colt. worst comes to worst Calico could go by herself for a little while, she'll just probibily get pretty spunky! Hope all goes well, Chloe

[tinastephenson]

Talk about shetlands being crafty, Will was put in with the colt, he managed to get through a fence into owners back garden, cantered across the yard, up the menure heap and popped over a wall to get back into field with Charity and Calico....
The farmer said Will obviously knew where he wanted to be and could stay there....
Looks like I have found somewhere to send Cali its another farm few miles from me, but he breeds welshies, he has lots of foals and mares there so hopefully will suit.... meeting him on Saturday morning to have a look around and discuss possibilities. Heres hoping

[Deleted]

Thats Great!!! I hope it all works out well.( i'm sure it will )

[tinastephenson]

Cant believe this, all change again.....
my hubby rung the landlords which have a strict 2 horse rule and they have agreed Cali can come here for 3 months .....
Now I am getting myself into a state as I am bringing a foal home to turn out with my two riding horses who are both geldings....
I am useless at this game!!

[tinastephenson]

Still have notvweaned Cali and she is eight months old now. Weather and time against us. Do you think this will be ok kept together for so long?
Also Cali is getting extremely pushy and that's putting it mildly! She is great until its feed time then she will try to barge through you no respect at all. Rest of the time she is fine! I have tried making her go back etc but she either barges or swings round on you. She has never kicked yet but when food is involved don't totally trust her anymore
She is such a fantastic filly apart from this hangup so any advice really welcome

[lucydales]

No rush to wean fillies as long as Mum is ok in my humble opinion.

If she is bargy can you put her in a stable or behind a barrier so she isn't able to step in to your space?

My (not so) little chap's manners have improved dramatically this year, he is rising three, we are less tolerant of bad behaviour and more importantly the herd are less forgiving when the baby snapping cos he's been an impolite kn*b is as big as them!

[Daftmare]

Send her scarpering Tina. Dont tolerate it at all. An older horse wouldnt tolerate that they would send her running off down the field so you must do the same otherwise you will end up with a big problem later on.
Cheyenne stayed with mum till she was nearly 2 so I wouldnt panic about weaning too much

[Deleted]

I agree, I would chase her down the pasture a little if she did that to me. You could take a long lead rope out to the pasture with you and smack her with it if she starts getting pushy.
I think she will probably try kicking you if you start telling her what to do, if she's bad you could even take a lounge or dressage whip with you when you go out to feed.
Adress the problem now, cuz it won't do anything but get worse. I've had some naughty ponies, mostly just because I didn't tell them who was boss when they were young. They are very good now though.

[tinastephenson]

In the field and if I tie her up on yard she is fine. It is only on her stable this is a problem. Although hers is right next to charity. She gets so pushy in there it's bad news trying to get in with feed!
I have tried going in and just making bit of a fuss of her but although she accepts it she is still barging door given the chance!!

[DalesLady]

We have had this too, but the foal gets sent away and comes back far more willing to be sociable and nice. You may only need to do it a couple of times, they tend to learn very quickly.

And don't feel too bad about not weaning, we have the same problem - the weather has been wrong for us to wean. Both mares are doing just fine, surprisingly so. One has a filly (9mths) and one a colt (10mths). We will wean soon, but one has had a slight accident so we have put it off for a few weeks.

Last year we had a foal with Mum until he was 16 months old - we gelded him at 6 months and left him with Mum for a few weeks to get over it, but as time went on and Mum was keeping her weight (she is rather a "too good doer" normally anyway), the fateful day kept getting stretched longer and longer. In the end we parted them one day when she came in to have her feet trimmed and he didn't need his doing. We weren't planning it, and it was delightful. No calling from either of them and she walked away so calmly and quietly, but the best bit was so did he!

I am not sure I would do this with every mare, not every year, but it was definitely the right thing to do for that mare.

[tinastephenson]

Can't believe this but I still have chas and Cali together!!

They all seem very happy but my daughter has to go back to work after maternity leave in two weeks and would be helpful if chas on her own as my mum can do the mare on her own but not the foal. Which is fair as mum 72 years old.

My only option is to get Cali here. Has anyone else weaned by taking foal away not mare and having to get her in trailer to get her here!!!

I can make big stable in barn but dare not turn her out with my two geldings straight away??

I am so sorry for asking for advice again but I am losing sleep over this!!

[jap]

I have fetched foals that were still on their mums. We loaded both and then removed the mare and drove with the foal secured but loose in the box.Shut all the doors and remove everything inside ,including partitions and breast bar.No haynets just hay on the floor.We then shut the foal inside a stable for a couple of days so that we could go in and catch them. At least your foal knows you so you are half way there.