I started by putting my mare (Arapaho) and her filly (Ivy) out
with my other two horses, an old mare (Lady) and her 18 year old gelding
(Corduroy) when Ivy was about 3 1/2 months old. At first it was just
for short periods, and I increased the time gradually until they were
all together most of the day. I watched, and saw that
Ivy began to pair up with Lady to sun herself in the afternoon. She
had picked who she would be weaned with.
At 5 1/2 months, Lady traded places with Arapaho. I left Ivy in the
area she had been raised in to decrease her stress. The weaning went very
smoothly. Ivy called out about 5 times the first night. Once or
twice the 2nd night. After that it became a rare
occurrence. Arapaho answered her a few times, but less times
than she got the call too. The areas are not side by side, and unless
each stood in a specific corner of their area, they couldn't
see each other. I don't know how much difference being side by
side would make. I will probably not put them back together until
springtime.
The mare's udder never appeared to get uncomfortable, and was pretty
much back to "normal" in a couple weeks time.
I had taken time off work to be around during the first week. It is a
very stressful time for the foal, and I wanted to be watching to see that she
didn't run until she was wet with sweat, or go off her feed. I spent some
extra time playing with her. What better way to spend time off?
