Turned mare and day old foal out - refuse to be caught now

[greyponies]

Has anyone ever had an extremely friendly, previously easy to catch mare turn into a protective monster!! She's 4 and foaled yesterday morning - I turned them out in her usual pasture alone this morning and as it's cold and windy here today wanted to bring them in early. If I get within 75 feet she takes off. No inticement of grain or carrots does the trick. Her foaling stall runs out into her pasture so I've dumped her water trough and just left water buckets in the stall with fresh hay and some treats in her feed tub. Any ideas - or do I just need to rally up a few people and herd her into her stall? Easier said than done I'm sure. :confused:

[Sugarbrook]

Oh Yikes!!! YES, your best, most trustworthy mare can go into what I call "Super mommy mode" and turn into a holy terror to catch. That is why, until I know I can catch them easily (myself) they go into a small paddock with a halter on. If you can get help, I would try to go for the foal first. The mom will come up right away. In a perfect world you would go for the mare but now you are stuck with a problem you need to remedy.

I know you already know this, but being me (LOL) I have to add: Just stay calm, walk, and dont get them running. Hopefully the halter is on the mare. Good luck and keep us posted.

[RyTimMick]

Wait until the foal lays down to sleep, then quickly walk up to Mom. She won't leave the foal. Move quickly because she will wake the foal.

Tim

[greyponies]

Yes, her halter is on but as I can't get near her... I'm stupid, I had a Dutch mare years ago that did this same thing but none of my ponies have ever been difficult to catch after foaling so I just didn't think about it - especially with this always trot right up to you pony. Once I get them contained I do have a 100' x 150' area that also runs out from her stall that I can use for now. How long do they behave in this manner - I can't remember how long the Dutch mare tormented me for?

[greyponies]

Tried that - she nickered to the foal and he was up and trotting away with mom before I got within 75 ft.

[Summerwood]

Don't feel bad, I had this happen to me last year. My mare (who did not have her halter on) actually did run the foal to get away from us despite me walking quietly with grain. The foal was several days old. She can be a real you-know-what at the beginning when her foal is just born, which of course I did NOT know then. I had a guy go out in the pasture with me and I was able to grab the foal without him panicking too badly and then she came. I just gave him a big bear hug:). We had to act quickly and luckily the colt is pretty sensible. After this incident, they went out (with halter on the mare)with my other mare (and her foal) that is a saint to catch. She decided that if the other mare thought it was ok, then it must be ok to come in. Each time I grabbed the foal first though when they came up for a few days. Maybe your mare will come up at normal feed time for the evening, and she won't be so suspicious. Hopefully hunger will get the better of her.

By the way, a year later, the colt from the saintly old mare is easy to catch and the other one follows him. I think they learn a lot from the mother!

[mlranchtx]

I had a maiden mare who gave birth to a suprise foal in a 15 acre pasture this year... Then she pulled the same crap with me... :mad: :mad:

I couldn't even get close enough to see the gender of the foal for the first day. :no:

Thankfully she was out with another mare and some geldings so I managed to get most of the herd out and then catch her friend and she followed her buddy into the barn.

What about a friend who she may follow?

Just a thought.

[okggo]

What is the pasture like? Any way to put hay/grain in an enclosed area (like a stall or run-in) - leave it - and when (watching from a distance) you see the mare go in and start to eat, close her in?

My mare last year didn't want any parts of us after her foal was born, but luckily for us she was still quite food motivated.

Is your foal friendly? If you can catch baby, mom will follow.

[sfstable]

I had the opposite problem today turning out a mare and foal for the first time. I had the mare but the foal would not follow or stay with his mom.

He wanted to check out every other horse in several pastures, had to check the puddles, etc. His mom was going crazy -- I ended up having to "corral" him by using his mother as a cutting horse. I guess he thought it was a game -- going to be a handful that one. :)

Never had a problem before with turning out brand new young one who would not stay by the mother. Usually takes weeks for them to decide to be independent. :)

[greyponies]

4 of us just tried to herd her down but she managed to slip past us just before we got to the gate and we couldn't get her back down there again. So before they got to riled we gave up. I wondered about turning the 2 year old out with her that she was with up until foaling - maybe that will settle her a little???

Sometimes these guys make you want to pull your hair out.:cry:

[rideagoldenpony]

You really want to nip this in the bud before the foal learns that his mom is running from you.

For the first few days I usually will leave a halter on the mare, go out with grain and/or cookies, and take several people with me. I make one try and if I can't walk up and catch her instantly, then we just surround the mare (very quietly) and either move her into a corner, or walk up once she knows she is caught. We use a minimum of two people, and up to four, if needed.

Most of my mares are real pets, and I spend a lot of time loving on them and feeding lots of cookies while we are on foal watch. I call the cookies "pony crack", because all but one of my mares will do absolutely ANYTHING for a cookie! Then they are looking forward to cookies when they see me. This has worked really well for me, even with mares who were feeling pretty protective of their foals.

Just try to minimize the mare running from you by planning ahead and maybe keeping her confined in something smaller until she starts to chill out.

[Tamara in TN]

If I get within 75 feet she takes off. No inticement of grain or carrots does the trick. Her foaling stall runs out into her pasture so I've dumped her water trough and just left water buckets in the stall with fresh hay and some treats in her feed tub. Any ideas - or do I just need to rally up a few people and herd her into her stall? Easier said than done I'm sure. :confused:

welcome to maternal instinct... this is one reason why we wait a few days to turn them out like that preferring my indoor arena

if you try to chase her right now you will make her more nervous and you will risk running down the baby as well...

do you have to catch her ?

[greyponies]

Tamara - no I don't necessarily have to catch them except that I have a foal insurance exam scheduled for Tuesday am. - of course I can re-schedule. Will the mare chill out in the next few days??? Should I just leave them be - I've opened up the gate into the little paddock attached to their pasture and put water there and in her run-in stall - eventually she will have to come in there and I'll close the gate to the big pasture. You and rideagoldenpony are right - to herd and have strangers waving their arms about trying to direct her will just freak her out more and teach the foal that people are scary. The wind is calming down and weather report says it will switch into the S over night and not be too cold so I guess I'll just quietly stress and wait for her to make her move!! No grey hairs here! :winkgrin:

[Tamara in TN]

Tamara - Will the mare chill out in the next few days??? Should I just leave them be - :

look at it from her eyes...new baby,wind is up,strange pack of people circling around...

the only thing missing is an Animal Planet Commentator saying softly

" the mother pony senses danger on the wind and slowly across the field the humans stalk,arms raised step quickened coming for her and the hours old infant..."

:lol::lol::lol:

of course she hit the road...that's what she's supposed to do...

my husband just said "it'd be a good reason to cull her if she DIDN'T run away"

(forgive him Lord,he's a cattleman....;) )

find and lay out her favorite treat,alfalfa,grain whatever...
send the "helpful" ;) friends far away...
in fact limit all visitors/strangers new horses for a few days

she will chill and return to normal in a few days...but you can NOT make the baby think humans=run awaayyyyyyyyyyyyyy

you must make every every effort to nip that right now....many babies are ruined for life one way or another in the first 10 days of life...

best

[RyTimMick]

If you must catch her then find a pasture buddy to put in the pasture. You will seem like a better option then the other horse. Just wait out there quietly. Right now you are the only problem. Add another problem and you become the better threat to deal with. In the future leave the mare and foal in a stall for a couple of days. You can interact with the foal and the mare a couple of times letting the mare know you are safe. If you do go back out there, focus all of your attention on the mare, and none on the foal. Don't even look at the foal. If you do she will see you look at the foal and feel like you are a predator. Good luck.

Tim

[greyponies]

Thanks for everyone's advice - I'm planning on just leaving her be and hoping she comes around sooner rather than later. This is certainly not my first foal but I definately screwed up in thinking that my friendly, happy mare would not turn into psycho maternal crazy woman seeing as she's maiden and I just didn't know what she'd do. STUPID STUPID STUPID but... live and learn.:sadsmile:

[greyponies]

Got up the morning and she was in the small paddock behind the barn - so I quickly/quietly ran down to the barn in my housecoat and shut the gate to the big paddock. She hasn't gone into her stall yet - but I'm sure she will today if left to her own devices. :)

Wanted to add a pic but I can't figure out how to do it.

[Blacklabs]

I have been following along and glad to hear.

[Sugarbrook]

Yes, SUCCESS!!!! Good news.

[VirginiaBred]

Yay! :)