Mares and Foals
Q. I am a new breeder of mini horses, and I was wondering if it would be safe to put the mares after they foal together on the pasture with the babies. I don’t want to cause fights. I have four mares ready to foal in May. They are all under 33 inches tall. Any help would be appreciated.
A. First the disclaimer – I am not a breeder, I have never even petted a miniature horse, and the total extent of my experience with broodmares is the one foal I raised from my Quarter Horse mare. The advice I offer here is based on this very limited experience with my mare and her foal, as well as far more extensive experience with horses in general, so take it for whatever it’s worth.
I bought my mare when she was 5 months pregnant, so she had about 6 more months to become well-accepted into my established herd of 5 horses before she foaled. Although she did get along very well with the other horses, I still separated her for a while after she foaled. I have known mares who were real sweethearts on their own, but who turned frighteningly dangerous and aggressive once they had foals. I did not want to take the chance that my mare might go on the rampage as soon as she had a foal to protect.
I put her and the foal in a pasture adjacent to the pasture with the other horses with a common fenceline (wood – NOT wire). I watched the horses interact over the fence. My mare didn’t seem to be at all aggressive toward the other horses and was comfortable allowing her baby to visit over the fence. The other horses were very relaxed about the new arrival as well. After a week or two, I put the alpha gelding into the pasture with my mare and foal. I figured if this herd boss, mother, and foal could get along without incident, there would be little to fear in putting the herd back together in its entirety. All went very smoothly, and the only problem the herd ever experienced was keeping the foal from getting too obnoxious in his play with them.
It is certainly important that your mares get along well together as a pastured herd before they foal. It would also be helpful to know your mares’ histories. If they have had foals before and were non-aggressive in their behavior toward other horses, you probably don’t have much to fear. However, if any of your mares have histories of aggressive behavior or if any are first-time mothers, I would certainly keep them separated from their foals in their pastures or corrals until you can assess their post-foaling behaviors.