Help!! My mini mare was attacked

[mini horse mania]

I went outside to check on our minis today and noticed one of my mares, the smallest, and the lowest on the totem pole was standing with her 6 week old foal in the middle of the pasture-head down, and lethargic acting. I didnt notice anything off hand until I got to her- on both sides of her neck-the hair was ripped off--- under her mane, and her mane was matted into it. her foal wasnt acting well either. I took him to a bucket of water and he drank and drank- i am assuming she was in so much pain, she wouldnt let him nurse. She nibbles on feed and hay, but not like herself. i cut her entire mane off and cleaned the wounds, sprayed her with fly spray and blue coted them. I separated her from the others, I just got a mini donkey last week, and i believe him to be the culprit, i have never had this happen, even with my dominant mare who constantly picks on her. I have a feeling I may lose her, and have to bottle feed the foal. he did nurse a bit before i left for the day.The vet told me there is really nothing I can do besides banamine for pain, and what i have already done... any suggestions....???

 

[Wings]

Can you milk the mare for the foal?

Can she see the others? Obviously she needs to be away for her own safety but as a herd animal they often want to at least see the herd.

Make sure you keep a close eye on her to make sure she does not have any negative reactions from the stress.

Fingers crossed that she recovers

 

[mini horse mania]

Can you milk the mare for the foal?

Can she see the others? Obviously she needs to be away for her own safety but as a herd animal they often want to at least see the herd.

Make sure you keep a close eye on her to make sure she does not have any negative reactions from the stress.

Fingers crossed that she recovers

I have her in a large chainlink pen that we used to have for chickens- she can see everyone. i looked today and she doesnt appear to have much milk. she was fine a few days ago... I am going to bring the foal home tomorrow if I dont see him nurse enough...or if her udder isnt filled anymore than today. The foal looked a little sunk in his belly , and wasnt his normal peppy self. he is nibbling on feed and hay.. I hate to pull him off of her so young and stress her more, but she is going through enough as it is... I believe the donkey was trying to breed her...he is definitely going somewhere else...

 

[Songcatcher]

I would be very careful with the bute. It is extremely easy to overdose with it.

Hope your mare improves.

 

[Sandy B]

How old is the foal? If the foal is nursing well, the bag will be drained most of the time. If the foal was NOT nursing well her udder would be full and hard. I would rather see you give her Banamine myself as as you can dose more accurate. Have you taken her and the foal's temperature. If not I would do that first thing. Is she pooping normal? You may insist that your vet come to check them both over. There is more that can be done.

 

[mini horse mania]

How old is the foal? If the foal is nursing well, the bag will be drained most of the time. If the foal was NOT nursing well her udder would be full and hard. I would rather see you give her Banamine myself as as you can dose more accurate. Have you taken her and the foal's temperature. If not I would do that first thing. Is she pooping normal? You may insist that your vet come to check them both over. There is more that can be done.

The foal is 6 weeks old. I have not taken their temps, but will tomorow morning, as well as call a different vet . excuse me- I did mean banamine...not bute--- there is one vet wthin 75 miles of us that deals with horses-she stays booked up. rest of them deal with cats and dogs. I may trailer her to that vet if she cant make it out to see them. She is pooping normal, and drinking- i can tell she is in pain looking in her eyes...should I leave the foal with her ?.

 

[Sandy B]

Personally I would not take the foal away! If you take her to the vet, take the foal as well.

 

[mini horse mania]

Personally I would not take the foal away! If you take her to the vet, take the foal as well.

I will- thanks!!!

 

[REO]

Please take them both to the vet right away, their lives depend on it. Don't take the foal away. You'll stress them both out more.

 

[Minimor]

She may have injuries that you cannot see--besides the bites she may very well have serious bruising (or worse) from being kicked. I once had a mare get beat up by another Mini mare--when I first noticed there was something wrong I thought the mare was severely ill with some viral thing or infection. She was lethargic, depressed and reluctant to move. She had no interest in her foal. Then I checked her over thoroughly & found a raised lump on her side--a lump that was approximately the size of a hoof--and I realized what had happened. One of the other mares had kicked the stuffing out of her. She was bruised & stiff & sore. Fortunately all she had was bruising & sore muscles and was much improved after a few days. She did keep producing milk & allowed her young foal to nurse.

It is possible that if your mare is injured badly enough that she would suddenly quit producing milk. If she isn't allowing her colt to nurse or if she truly has no milk for him, I would supplement him with goats milk--he will do well on that.

 

[Lizzie]

My thoughts are with your little girl and her baby. I wrote elsewhere here that a couple of years ago, a friend of mine who had kept Mini mares with a Donkey as a guard, attacked a new foal and killed it. He shook it like a rag doll from what I gather. He had always been good with the mares but obviously considered the new baby an intruder. Whey your mare feels better, she and her baby can probably go back with the herd, but I'd get the Donkey out of the herd now. After he is separated, keep a close eye out in case it happens again when he's already been separated. If it does, then you'll need to look in another direction for the culprit. Did you check all the other mares?

Lizzie

 

[Eagle]

I would get an internal test done too just in case he did cover her with violence.

I pray for them

 

[AnnaC]

I agree with the others, a trip to the vet is really essential - loads of bedding in your trailer and drive slowly, the foal will most likely want to lay down and rest. If your Donkey has been trying to breed with your little mare, she and the foal will be totally exhausted with all the chasing about and I'm praying that this is what is causing them to be so tired and dejected/listless.

Sending ((((HUGS)))) for you, your little mare and her baby.

 

[Sue_C.]

Is this a Jack? Fully entire...with a herd of mares? If so, he most likely DID breed her, or at least try very hard to...and donkey breeding it NOT a gentle thing... I would definitely have the mare checked internally if possible, as she could very well be bruised or torn.

And get that donkey out of there.

:shocked

 

[Windhaven]

I agree with the others. I would have her checked by a vet.

I would also keep her on banimine 3 x a day for a few days till she starts moving around more and eating. My guess she is VERY VERY SORE all over and could have pulled muscles and possible tie up from this.

I would also put both her and the colt on ulcer guard because I will bet they both have ulcers from this.

Offer the mare nice soupy food. Like soaked beet pulp, alfalfa cubes or pellets and her grain, all mixed together. She needs to keep eating and drinking as much as possible. Put it where it is very easy to get to for her also. So she won't have to bend or raise her neck for a couple of days. Then I would start putting lower so she did have to use her neck to help get it to limber up.

Also I don't know where you are at, but if it is getting chilly at night, I would keep her stalled so she doesn't get cold because that will make her stiffen up more. But keep her out as much as possible so she keeps moving.

And I would separate the donkey immediately. If he is still a stud, he should be gelding right away and not returned to the herd for at least 6 months. Then I would only do it when supervised to make sure he just didn't like your little mare.

Good luck and hope she gets better soon.

 

[Field-of-Dreams]

Jacks are vicious. That's how they get a jenny to submit, they beat them up. Mares aren't used to that. She's probably sore all over the poor honey... I would definitely take both to the vet ASAP.

 

[sedeh]

I'm praying your mare and foal are getting better.

ray I also think a trip to the vet with both of them is necessary. Good Luck.

 

[Magic]

I once had a maiden mare that was bred and she got a tear in her cervix, I saw a little bit of blood when the stallion dismounted. She acted very dejected and was lying down a lot. Had the vet out and my vet found the tear, started her on antibiotics. I could have (would have, surely) lost the mare if I hadn't had the vet check her over. The mare went on to be bred (to a different stallion) the next year after a year to recover and carried a foal to term successfully.

I hope that your mare and foal will be ok!

 

[overomh]

I had a big mare attact by a stallion that just didn't like her. He tore all tje skin loose but didn't leave any broken skin. Where he pulled the skin loose, it dried up and got real stiff. It was all over her nect and chest. The vet had to cut all the dried skin off. it left her whole neck and chest open. It was terrible. With time, meds, and alot of doctoring she got well and just had a line of a scare. We sprayed the injury down with a water hose every day to get all the dirt and debri out, then put a sav on it to keep it flexable. It slowly healed. You would have seen the dry, crinkled skin by now if that had happed to your mare. I to would take he to the vet. You might ask your vet about putting some kind of ointment on it to keep it mor flixable and less painfull for her to move.

 

[attwoode]

Seems like you are on the right track. I think that getting the mare and foal out of the herd situation is critical and get a vet to look her over and for internal tearing too. Banamine will halp with pain but be careful and talk to your vet about dividing a single dose of banamine into two half doses 8 hours apart. The uclerguard really is critical if she is on banamine and can't hurt with all of the stress. You can pick up some extra foal-lac pellets to mix with his food if you think her milk production is down. I would not separate mare and foal unless it became life or death situation as advised by vet.