[faith0504]

my mini shetland foal is 6 months at the end of sept so its the awful weaning time, please can anyone give me some ideas on how to do it so its not stress ful for any of us,

[shetlandpaul]

is it staying or being sold. if staying why rush.

[faith0504]

hi she is staying with us, had thought about leaving them together for the winter, but they will have to be weaned at some point, was just wondering if there was an easy way to do it

[Hardfeather]

The mare will spean the foal herself if you just leave them together. If you haven't covered the mare again, there is no real need to part them.

I have two home-bred horses here. They both still run with their dam. The elder, a 4yr old gelding, stopped sooking his mother at about 9 months old. The younger, a 2yr old filly, was still having a suck till she was about 20 months old. She's stopped now. I only cover my mare every two years anyway, and she's empty this time, so it doesn't matter. All mine live out as a herd, so the closer they are the better.

[faith0504]

hi thanks for that, do you have any problems if you need to take the mare away, i.e feet, vet and such like

[Hardfeather]

I don't because my fences are electric and there are other horses with which the youngsters live all the time. That's one of the benefits of having a stable (in that they remain constant) herd which live out all year round.

If any of our lot are taken away for any reason, the others settle very quickly with the remaining company.