Q: When is the ideal age to wean a foal from its mother? I’m keeping the foal (and the mare) so there is no actual need to separate them, should I just leave the dam to wean naturally? He is quite a big and boisterous colt. I don’t intend to breed the mare again this coming season, if that makes any difference.
RA, Tauranga
Vet Dave replies:
Weaning is typically done between four and seven months of age. It can be successfully done as young as three months, but not unless there are good clinical reasons to do, typically to do with the mare (eg. weight loss or laminitis).
For a successful weaning, the foal should be readily grazing grass or hay, thus be ready to remove milk from its diet without too much of a nutritional hit.
When foals are three months and older, their nutritional demands will outstrip the mare’s milk supply, so they will typically search for other feed sources, usually mimicking their mother in the feeds she eats.
Factors to consider for timing of weaning include the condition of the mare, how well handled the foal is, the diet of the foal, the growth rate of the foal, the behaviour of the foal around humans and the future breeding plans for the mare.
Mares who are struggling to maintain weight are typically weaned from their foals earlier, so they can travel through winter at a sensible weight and have time to return to a good condition for any future breeding or work.
Some foals become relatively dominant over their mothers and will learn boisterous and domineering play, and this can make handling more difficult for humans.
A well-placed, mature gelding who guides this foal into acceptable and unacceptable behaviour is wise to add into the mix early.
The same would go for a mare who teaches her foal undesirable habits, such as being difficult to catch – this is not a trait you want a foal to learn and is purely a product of its environment – it is not genetic.
Foals who are adept at foraging for grass and hay and have introduced their gut to digesting fibre are ready to be wean; however, just because they are ready does not mean they have to be.
In the wild, foals will self-wean at around 10 months of age – this is beneficial to the survival of the wild foal as it means it is more likely to make it through the winter and survive to adulthood, whilst still giving the mare’s udder resting time before the next season’s foal arrives.
In domesticated conditions, this nutritional advantage is no longer needed, as most of us feed our horses and foals to supplement any needs which are not met through grazing.
If your mare is in good condition, you are finding that you can perform all of your desired handling with your foal, and have no other behavioural or management problems associated with keeping the mare and foal together, then you can be relaxed about the exact timing of weaning.
If you have a foal who is getting a developmental condition which may benefit from a reduced speed of growth, then an intentional weaning is beneficial to the foal’s future orthopaedic outlook.
If you have a foal who thinks rules are made for others because his mum lets him do what he wants, and there is no one else to keep him in check, then I would suggest an early weaning and introducing him to a kind but firm friend.
