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Post by maisiemay on Feb 18, 2013 15:48:48 GMT
Hi,
My maiden mare is very protective of her bump and is not happy with anyone touching it... Does this indicate that she might be foal proud once the foal is born? And if she is what are people's experiences of foal proud mares?
Thanks
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sarahp
Happy to help
Posts: 9,510
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Post by sarahp on Feb 18, 2013 16:05:08 GMT
Some of mine are very protective of their foals to start with and you can't get near them in the field - one in particular I only have photos of with very small foals at full gallop round the field, she would shove the foal along with her chest. But it soon wore off though, give it a week and all my mares returned to normal.
I can't ever remember having had one that was funny about the bump though.
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Post by Louise Dixon on Feb 18, 2013 18:23:51 GMT
Two of my mares are dreadfully foal proud, one is even funny about her afterbirth, one year I was trying to check it in the field and she was alternatively herding foal away from me, and trying to chase me away from it. I just let them get on with it, to avoid being bitten or kicked, and they come round by day 4. I think it is important to have a strategy for if you do need to intervene with anything, though - mine involves putting a leather headcollar (I do this up quite tight as I worry about foalie feet, and put fleecy bits on to try to avoid rubs) on a couple of weeks before foaling, and getting them used to feeding them in the shelter with the gate shut, so if I need to catch them I can get them into the shelter then clip on a lead rope through the gate. Once you've got hold of them, they are more or less OK - had to do this with one two years ago as mare hadn't cleansed and I thought foal hadn't sucked, but it actually had.
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