mare in foal or not

[lucky lodge]

hi ive just bought a new mare and is ment to be in foal,,,got her about 2wks ago and put her in the herd with my stallion and he was not interested in her at first but now he is,,, now she is kicking the crap out of him and running away and winking at the same time....is she in season or in foal i dont know, whats your thoughts she has been running with another stallion for about 4 months with a foal at foot before i got her....thanks in advance jenny

 

[Barnmother]

I would say it is possbile that she is in foal. Some mares "wink" for reasons other than being in season. I would take her out of the pasture with your stallion as either she might injure him. I have heard, don't know if it is true, that some stallions don't like to be in the company of mares that were bred by another stallion.

 

[lucky lodge]

oh thanks as he has been kicking her away from food ,,,now today he just went mad...that makes sense thank you....he has been removed from the mares now

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Get her out of there NOW!!

I would never put a new mare into a herd with a stallion in it, what he is doing is quite normal but is the reason I would not do it!!

Some stallions will cause abortion so that they can impregnate the mare themselves- they are not being "vicious" it is merely instinct.

She needs to be kept separate until she has foaled. The winking and peeing is merely submission to the stallions attacks, but she could lose the foal....

 

[lucky lodge]

he is out of the paddock with the girls now,,,,,but cant understand why thay have been fine for the first 2 weeks

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Horses do that. He probably thought you were going to remove her, maybe gave you a few hints, like ears flat and a kick or two, when you did not respond he took matters into his own hooves. I have a stallion who cannot run with mares at all- turn him out with mares he has shared a fence line with and he will be fine for a couple of days, maybe even a week, then he will suddenly start chasing them, seriously, dangerously, chasing them, around. Since he is now 33 I would rather have him on his own in a paddock beside them than dropping dead of a heart attack!