Showing Foals

[Alisha514]

I am wanting to show one of my foals this yr. It will be born early April. Do I have to wait till I wean which means I would have to wait till July-Aug or can I show it at a couple of months old? I want to show it in AMHR shows.

Alisha

 

[kaykay]

Hi Alisha

They do not have to be weaned. But that does mean the hassle of taking the dam with you. Some dams take it in stride and others get very upset when the foal is taken from the stall to show. We have done it a couple times but I only do it with my really laid back mares and foals that dont stress easily.

Also you do have to be on the ball and get their papers. I think you can show them until 3 months of age without the paper but you have to show proof that you have applied for the papers

Kay

 

[Alisha514]

Thank you. I was planing on practicing taking the foal away and working with the mare and foal seperatly starting with a few mins and working to a little longer. This will let me know how they will do. My mare is very laid back but this will be her first foal so I dont know how she will be.

Alisha

 

[wildoak]

I'm not big on showing foals, but lots of people do all the time. Just be aware of the extra stress on your foal and be proactive about their health. As Kay said, if you show them early you will have the mare with you which helps baby with stress.....provided the mare herself doesn't overly stress. Show barns are also great places for the spread of germs/disease, so be sure your mare is healthy and up to date on vaccines, and talk to your vet about whether to vaccinate your foal early. Baby should have good immunity from his dam if he nurses good and gets enough colostrum early on.

Jan

 

[albahurst]

I guess my concern would be like Wildoak's concern- the stress on the baby/mare and being exposed to many, many germs. And, after experiencing the death of a neighbor's young filly at a show (got sick while there and died very quickly), I personally would not take a young one out. But, if you do decide on showing your youngster, I wish you all the best and very happy times!

Peggy

 

[kaykay]

Alisha

that is also what we did. we would work the filly out of sight of her dam several times per week. This did help a lot. We also made sure someone stayed at the stall to watch the mare just in case. I have seen mares in the barn absolutely go crazy crawling stall walls when their foal is taken away. Not good. Once we took the mare ringside because we had a lot of time between classes. But you have to have an extra hand to hold the mare. Another problem is if the mare is ringside she will call for her baby constantly.

We have only done it with 2 foals in all these years and only took them to shows close to home so they could go and show and then go home.

I know Getitia does it quite successfully and has no problems showing foals.

 

[Alisha514]

I will definetly take every precaution to not stress mare or foal. Both mean a lot to me. If when im working them and either one seems to not be able to handle it then I will wait till it is weaned. The mare will get her shots in March before she foals so all that will be good. And I will ask my vet if the baby will need anything else but i was told the foal is ok till 3 months.

Alisha

 

[djskid]

Just a word of warning that taking the baby away at a show may not be as easy as it is at home!

Last year I practiced with our foal (she was born in April and our shows were in September), taking her away from her Mom and leading her in an entirely different area. Mom and baby were both okay with this, once we did it a few times and they both got to understand that they'd be reunited. We practiced all summer, no problems. They didn't even hang out that closely when they were turned outside with the other horses. Fast forward to at the show-they both totally flipped out!!!

Mom was almost more than one person could handle-biting, kicking, rearing etc.. (which are things that she never does-she's always been one of my most laidback mares), baby was wound up too but part of that was just being a baby. I guess it was all the other horses and strangers around that made my mare more protective but she had never shown the least bit of uneasiness at home, so needless to say...if she is in foal this year, I don't think I'm going to be showing this pair!!

 

[Boinky]

LOL djskid..... I had a mare that did the same thing. I could take foal away from mom or vice versa for quite a while and she was always a rather mellow mare but when i seperated them at a show watch out!! I tried to show mom at the same show..she was worse than any stud I have (and i have a lot). She reared up and was striking and i ended up losing her do to the rein slipping out of my slippery hands..LOL she's never been a kicker but she was kicking at anything that moved at that show without her foal around!! lol

Everyone was like "wow that is one spunky mare!" after the class..lol.. they can definatly act way different at a show.