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Discussion on Pregnant maiden mare, neighbor
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New Member:
Pulley
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Posted on Wednesday, Oct 15, 2003 - 1:05 pm:
Hi there, well after getting out of horses after 30 years, for oh about 4 months, I am back in it with a mare I bought back and who is now 4 months pregnant.
10 yr old maiden mare. She is being ridden atleast 4 times per week for an hour and all is well. She is in a 14 X 16 stall with a paddock out the back. She has a neighbor mare (right next to her) who is in foal also. They do not get along, just tolerate each other. They kick at each other outside in the paddock and inside against the block wall! So far no real damage to legs. The barn owner keeps hoping they will get use to each other and wants to try turning them out for a few hours a day to see if they sort this out. I am very apprehensive but realize they both will need some pasture time soon and also know it will be important for the foals to socialize. Any suggestions on what to do would be greatly appreciated.
Lil
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Member:
Westks
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Posted on Thursday, Oct 16, 2003 - 1:54 am:
I strongly disagree with turning them out to geather before foals are weaned! If you don't want to lose one or both foals do not turn them out togeather to sort things out now. some mare will never get along with other mares and especially if in foal or with foal at side.
Turning them out seperately is the smartest thing to do.
I know the reason for the suggestion is not so much for the mares as easy for the person who has to do the turning out.
If they do not get along now not going to with foal at side either.
Foals can socialize during weaning, you do not want the foals to learn that at turn out they are supposed to fight to the death like their moms.
Try turning mares out after foals are weaned and they are not in sight of their foals or hearing distance. before they are rebred. That would be the best time to try to get mares to get along.
If they don't get along at this point forget putting them togeather and not have injuries constantly.
There are alphas in horses just like people so no guarantee either way.
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Member:
Imogen
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Posted on Thursday, Oct 16, 2003 - 2:09 am:
Is the kicking just when food is around or all the time? I know quite a few mare/boarding pairs who give a good impression of hating each other/kicking the walls whenever buckets are clanked but otherwise it's not so bad.
All the best
Imogen
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Thursday, Oct 16, 2003 - 7:29 am:
Though Janette's concerns about injury occurring to the mares or possibly the foals are real, I have never seen or have simple second hand knowledge of two domesticated horses "fight to the death". I have seen two stallions make peace in a large pasture when accidentally turned out together for several hours. We have had to put down horses and even foals due to injury during fights or even injury during rough play.
The problem is this is pretty common behavior for mares when first introduced across a fence and many horses that behave this way will quickly learn to get along fine in a pasture situation. Forcing them to be in such close proximity may be making things worse instead of better. That said, if these were two client's horses, I would not put them together as long as they behaved this way. If these were my two horses, I would seperate them by more than a single fence or wall, give them several weeks to get use to each other, pull their shoes and watch carefully for several days.
DrO
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Member:
Pulley
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Posted on Thursday, Oct 16, 2003 - 1:28 pm:
Thank you for all the input I really appreciate it. I think that the close quarters as Dr. O has suggested may be making matters worse. And yes the nastiness is more pronounced at feeding time. I think the owner of the other mare is more upset than I am because her mare keeps pulling hind shoes off in the process of kicking at my mare. That said I now have a new, more immediate problem. My poor mare fell down last night. She got spooked while lunging and jerked the line out of my hands, took off out of the arena, I will be closing all gates from now on, 20/20 hindsight ya know  once she hit the small asphalt drive all four legs went out from under her. (all one direction) she hit the ground on her side and slid along, fortunatly on the stirrup that was run up on my saddle. Once she got to the grass she got up and trotted off to settle next to some horses in a pasture a few feet away. She was quite shaken. I walked her around to see how she was. Thank goodness her injuries were pretty minor considering. She has abrasions on her hip and shoulder and a very small nick in her knee. She has started to "hair up" for winter so that helped too. The stirrup actually took most of the abuse. I untacked her and let her eat grass for 1/2 hour. she was already having some body soreness so I put 1 tablet of bute in her morning feed. The barn owner has been breeding forever and she assured me the bute would be OK and that most likely the fall did not hurt the foal. I am so afraid and of course I totally blame myself for not taking the necessary precautions by simply cloing a gate. Dr. O, what is your opinion on the possible loss of the foal? Am I freaking out for nothing? I am sooooo mad at myself. Please advise.
Thank you
Lil
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Friday, Oct 17, 2003 - 10:19 am:
I think there is a good chance the foal will be fine.
DrO
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Member:
Pulley
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Posted on Monday, Oct 20, 2003 - 7:15 pm:
Hi Dr. O
I ended up having to call my vet out on Thursday as my mare was so very sore. She paced a small "race track" around her stall, not even using her paddock all day apparantly. He examined her and determined heart rate, resperatory etc. was fine and that maybe she just had a low tolerance to pain. He gave her shot of banamine and within the next 48 hours she was fine. I will see how she moves in the round pen tomorrow. Wanted to give her some time to recover and will start back slowly. My vet concurred with your opinion in that he said "You would be surprised at how well the foal is protected". So now I will return to mulling over the whole pasture issue with the neighbor  As always thanks for the input. I really am glad this site is available.
Lil
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