Nature is an amazing thing! The foal, from the first time it was born, was searching for his mama’s utter to nurse. It’s so important to let mama and baby figure it out. Only in certain cases, is it important to step in and help mama and baby.
It took awhile for the foal to figure it out and soon the mare became engorged. Because the mare was engorged and in pain, whenever the baby would come near to the utter (which the new foal is naturally programmed to do), the mare would turn around and bite the foal in the rear or lift up her leg to kick and push the foal off. After a long time of this taking place, we decided we needed to step in and help them both out- knowing that once that foal has nursed the first time, mama will be much happy because the pressure in her utter is relieved. Plus that will strengthen her maternal instincts for her new foal.
What Josh did here worked because he has worked with and trained this mare to give to pressure. Josh taught her before she foaled how to give to pressure If you have a mare that has never learned how to respond to pressure, this is not something that will work for you.
Josh looped a rope around the mares neck and tied a bowline knot. A bowline knot doesn’t tighten down on the mare’s neck. Then he put the rope between her back legs and then under one pastern. Josh stood off to the side. With light pressure, if the mare is trained, you can get the horse to put up that foot and hold it. With one foot in the air, the baby is able to nurse on the opposite side. Because the mares hoof is off of the ground she can’t pick up the other leg to kick the foal. Also,with the rope around her neck and under her pastern, Josh can gently bend the mare towards him and thus eliminate the mare biting the baby. The foal is then able to easily nurse and relieve the utter pressure.
Because Josh has worked with this mare before all it took was light and gentle pressure to teach this mare that her pain will go away as she allows her new foal to nurse. Because Josh had worked with this mare beforehand it was a wonderful experience that built the confidence of both the mare and the foal. If you haven’t spent enough time with your mare in preparing her for this, it will turn into a wreck and make things worse.
In the meantime, there’s nothing better than getting a front row seat to see mother nature at work!