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Orphan Foal Behavior

Apr 02, 2015
Q:: A friend recently lost her mare during foaling, and she’s now hand-raising the foal as we’re not located near any nurse mares. I’ve heard orphan foals can develop some behavior problems if they’re hand-reared. Is this true, and how can my friend prevent these problems from developing? And, while she doesn’t have another mare on the property, there’s an older gelding and his pony friend. Would these horses be suitable companions for the orphan foal?
 
A:: Yes, hand-reared foals can develop behavior problems, but they are not necessarily inevitable or irreparable.
 
As you've noted, a nurse mare for an orphan foal would be ideal. If you can still find one, I'd go with that option, as the foal does not have to be a neonate to accept one. The limiting factor is normally the mare accepting the foal. Another good option can be group rearing of orphan foals. Some people do this professionally as a service, or you might find one or two other orphans in your area that could be raised together.
 
The behavior problems we see with these single, hand-raised orphan foals seem to center on the foal losing a sense of a human's "personal space" and a dramatic reduction of their own personal space or flight zone. These foals tend to be nippy and pushy. It can look and feel like play run amok, and that's probably in part what it is. Foals play hard and rough with their mothers and with their cohorts, older foals, and even willing adults. That kind of play, as well as other important social contact, is missing when a foal is raised alone. 
 
Source: TheHorse