# Introducing foal to herd& electric fence?



## Ebonyisforme (Oct 23, 2013)

As many of you know, I have a 2 1/2 week old foal with his mare. Currently they are in a round pen but I would like to let them out in the electric fence with the other 4 mares so that they can free graze. I'm scared to because Lizzie is super super protective and won't let the other horses even come near. How do I go about it? And is electric fence okay for a foal? And also, will a mare naturally wean their foal if left with them long enough to? How long would that take? Thank you and sorry for the overload of questions!


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

Ebonyisforme said:


> As many of you know, I have a 2 1/2 week old foal with his mare. Currently they are in a round pen but I would like to let them out in the electric fence with the other 4 mares so that they can free graze. I'm scared to because Lizzie is super super protective and won't let the other horses even come near. How do I go about it? And is electric fence okay for a foal? And also, will a mare naturally wean their foal if left with them long enough to? How long would that take? Thank you and sorry for the overload of questions!


If the round pen isn't next to the fence, so the horses and Lizzie can see each other, then I'd look to move the round pen or make another pen next to the fence so they can all get used to each other. I wouldn't let Lizzie & foal out with the others until the "new" wears off and she's not so protective. Protecting the foal is good, the psycho "OMG YOU JUST LOOKED AT MY FOAL, I'M GONNA KILL YOU" of the new mother, not so much. I have 2 mares who have been pasture mates for years and they had their foals within 1 week of each other and I'm not even CLOSE to letting them get back together yet. One would probably be ok, the other one.....yeah, no. Maybe when the foals are about a month old. We'll see. 

As for the hot wire, introduce the foal to it a time or 2, she'll probably avoid it like the plague from then on. But, be aware if one of the herd decides to be mean (I call it, "Have the a$$" for the foal) she may get run through the fence a few times. 

Regarding weaning, some will, some won't. I physically separate my mares & foals between 4 & 6 months, depending on mom's condition and foal's psychological development.


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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

I wouldn't let the mare and foal out with the herd for the moment, can you not divide off an area for them next to the other mares?

Electric fencing is fine for the foal as long as it cannot get under the tape. 

As for mares with foals at foot I have never had any problems with turning them out together, they are protective of ther foals and keep away from each other until the novelty wears off.

As for weaning, I have seen two year old horses suckle from their dams as they have never been weaned or had another foal.


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## JCnGrace (Apr 28, 2013)

I always marked the fence for visibility until they got used to it in the corral so when they were let out in the big field they knew to stay away from it. 

At 2 1/2 weeks I'd be introducing them into the herd already. In your situation I would turn mare & foal out by themselves until the foal knew the fence lines. Then I would turn out the most easy going of your horses with them until things had settled, then the next in line etc...

I've heard people tell of mares that would wean their foals but I've never known one personally. With the colts I would geld in the fall as soon as fly season was over and then wean once they were healed.

I used "do not cross" plastic tape to mark the fence. No, not because I thought the foal could read it but because hubby was a cop and always had partial rolls of it laying around. LOL I think now you can even buy it at like Lowes or Home Depot for construction sites. (Was going to show you a picture but it won't work.)


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## Smilie (Oct 4, 2010)

If the mares knew each other before the foal was born, I would have no problem letting mare and foal out with the rest of those mares. Yes, mares will be protective of that new baby, and I even had mares, more dominant, try to steal a foal, but I have never had a mare attack a foal
A foal, that is just a few days old, sometimes latches on to the wrong mare, not really identifying his mother, and I have had a protective mom, chase another mare, because baby was following her.
I thus, always kept a mare with a newborn, separate from the other mares, foe the first few days, but then turned them out together , no problem
Far as electric fencing-foals have no concept of it, and do learn, but what they need most is a highly visible fence at this point in their life, so they don;t run into it, or if they do, don't get hurt or run under it, or roll under it accidentally. Thus a two strand fence, with a hotwire, great for adult horses, is not sufficient for foals
Yes, you can flag the fence with seismic tape, for increased visibility, but far as weaning on their own, not unless in a wild. feral situation, where a stud will drive out his own daughters and colts,once they get to a certain age, and not if that mare is not back in foal, thus weans that baby,before the new one is born


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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

I had a mare that had a foal at foot, she had returned from the stud, foal was about two months old. 

Mare was a funny creature, she wasn't settled on her own with the foal even though she could see the other horses. I turned my old mare out with her. Mare and foal came to the gate when I was leading my mare to them. Then, naturally mum made a face and galloped off with the foal following to the top corner of the field. 

My mare trotted halfway to them and stopped, turned away from them and started eating, she totally ignored the pair. 
Thirty minutes later there were the three all grazing in a line with the foal between the two mares. 

Most horses long to investigate a new foal and this can lead to a young foal getting hurt in a melee with the mare trying to protect it.


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## JCnGrace (Apr 28, 2013)

Lets see if the photo will work using photobucket.


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