Weaning Foals

There are many ways to wean foals, so choose a method that will work best for your horses and farm.
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There are many ways to wean foals. Bob Coleman, MS, PhD, PAS, an equine extension specialist at the University of Kentucky, says there are basically two methods–abrupt weaning and gradual weaning.

"Whether you put the foals in a pen and take the mares away, or take mares one at a time out of a herd, this is abrupt weaning," says Coleman. "The mare is removed, taken out of sight and sound. In a herd, however, a foal still has the security of his herdmates, so it’s not as stressful as putting him by himself."

Traditional Pen Weaning

The Pitchfork Ranch near Guthrie, Texas, has 80 broodmares, raising foals for cattle work on the ranch. Manager Bob Moorhouse says they wean foals about the same way the ranch has done it the past 100 years. Foals are born in April and May and weaned in January, and mares are placed in breeding groups in early summer. When stud bands are rounded up in July to take the stallions out, foals are handled and halter broken

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Heather Smith Thomas ranches with her husband near Salmon, Idaho, raising cattle and a few horses. She has a B.A. in English and history from University of Puget Sound (1966). She has raised and trained horses for 50 years, and has been writing freelance articles and books nearly that long, publishing 20 books and more than 9,000 articles for horse and livestock publications. Some of her books include Understanding Equine Hoof Care, The Horse Conformation Handbook, Care and Management of Horses, Storey’s Guide to Raising Horses and Storey’s Guide to Training Horses. Besides having her own blog, www.heathersmiththomas.blogspot.com, she writes a biweekly blog at https://insidestorey.blogspot.com that comes out on Tuesdays.

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