This message is from: "Karen McCarthy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]: >> Also, on the subject of foaling, I'm not sure I see as a good >thing keeping a mare, especially a maiden mare, isolated from her >herd mates in a stall....allowing birth to occur in a natural setting would be a lot less stressful. We have done it both ways (e.g, allowed births to occur in clean pastures or brought a mare inside if weather was bad), and think the more natural approach is best. << Thank you Bill for expressing this type of thinking. I have been foaling out lots of mares, since 1984, and I almost learned the hard way, by dictating to the mare where she would foal. I was at work, and my husband was doing his usual mid-day visit to my very pregnant mare. She was ensconced in a foaling stall, in a separate barn, away from her usual stall and neighbors. She had been moved about a week, but was not "settling in" at all, in fact, the contrary: she always wanted out! As he took her out for her daily handwalking/grazing, she literally DRAGGED him to her "regular" stall, and he decided, what the hell, let her have her way. He went home for a short nap, and before he had been awakened by his alarm clock, one of the teenage boarders at the barn woke him with a hysterical call: my mare was foaling, and the foal was literally coming out against the stall door, so much so that they could barely get it opened. When they did, they had to push horse blankets under him so that he could have some relief from the cold concrete. Moral to this story? Listen to your mare and know that being fjords, with their reputation for vigor, mud and manure are not a threat. To my recent horror, my maiden mare Tise foaled in the dirt, the ONLY dirt in a clean, grassy 5 acre pasture. And the filly? Little Miss Idelle is doing just fine,thank you! So please relax, anxious mother-types, and take heart that these creatures really can take care of themselves...Happy foaling! _______________________________________________________________ Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com
