Starting to get a bag?

[lexischase]

So precious! Congrats!!

 

[blazingstarranch]

So gorgeous! Hopefully you will get to see what you have soon lol. We're all just thrilled you have a happy and healthy foal. Keep those pics coming!

 

[Riverrose28]

The baby is adorable! Sometimes it can take up to 12 before Mom goes since she is kinda numb there. Make sure she drinks lots of water and if you are concerned you can give her some milk of magnesia, but this usauly resolves on its own.

 

[atotton]

Adorable baby for sure. Love the rich colouring.

 

[Small_Stars]

Ok, it's official....it's a he.

I was a bit disappointed with the lack of coloring, but his sire is First Knights Dare To Dream and his grand sire is First Knights Bit O Hot Shot....so I have high hopes for his conformation regardless of color.

Mama did finally go poo.

Other than her squealing and getting cranky when he bumps her, all seems to be well. Happy about that.

 

[Eagle]

Congratulations on your

Don't worry about mum screaming, some mares are quite vocal with their new babies

 

[AnnaC]

Oh a big, bouncy baby BOY!! Again many congratulations.

Glad that both he and his beautiful clever Momma are doing well.

 

[countrymini]

He is gorgeous! Congratulations!!!

 

[Small_Stars]

Thank you.

Quick question....how long till I can take them outdoors and let them run around? We're supposed to be getting up into the 60's and sunny. Very nice out. They've been in the stall, but I was wondering when it's ok for him to go out and see the world and enjoy the sunshine? How soon do you let yours out? Also, we have another mini that is 2 years old. She's not mean, but nutty as a fruit cake....how soon can I let them out with mama and baby? Should I keep them separated until the baby is weaned or better?

 

[weerunner]

I take baby and momma out into the world in a separate little paddock to romp on day 3 or so. They stay out for about an hour or so the first day and I slowly up that over the next week or two. By one week as long as everything is going well I take them out into the main paddock with the other girls, and weanlings and lead them around making sure eveyrone is going to be respectful. There is usually lots of curious noses wanting to smell baby, but once the initial excitement is over I take off the lead lines and let them go. Adult minis are usually extremely patient with the little ones jumping on them and being silly. Never had a baby hurt yet using this method.

 

[Eagle]

I usually let mine out a couple of times a day for an hour a time from day one. My mares are all used to being out in the pasture and would probably hate me if I left them closed in. The only weather that will stop me is cold rain. Let mum graze somewhere alone but preferable where the others can see her and baby and mum will also feel safer if she isn't totally alone. Mine are all used to being together so I usually put them back with their babies after a week to 10 days. It is hard really to say as each horse reacts differently and I was very lucky that all my mares have always got on very well.

 

[Small_Stars]

Thanks.

It's really warm today, but windy and I debated letting her out for just a bit to stretch her legs and run off some energy. It's not a very big pen, but bigger than her stall with lots of sunshine. I might wait another day and take her out tomorrow, but I did open the top door to her stall so she could see outside and she is very antsy wanting out real bad.

She's still pretty aggressive to the other young mare as they're stalls are side by side and I wonder about turning them out together. I don't plan on turning them out for awhile, but wonder how this is going to go. When it comes time for that, I will probably wait till husband is home so everyone can be on lead line till we make sure that everyone is going to be nice to each other. LOL

 

[Never2Mini]

Aw Congrats !!! He is to cute !

 

[Eagle]

I prefer to put them out as soon as possible, I learnt from Anna that it is much safer than keeping the mare in for days and then have her so wound up that when she finally gets out she charges all over frightening and risking the foal. I understand that everyones set up is different and we all do the best we can with what we have. When you have several pregnant mares and mares with foals they all just seem to get along nicely, obviously with a younger mare only it makes things harder to sort out. Can you sort out a turn out area for mum and baby near the other mare so they can see each other?

 

[countrymini]

Whatever you decide, dont forget to take photos of his first day out!

 

[AnnaC]

Yes you need to get them out for exercise as soon as possible - weather allowing. It is not good for mares to stay confined after foaling - unless for medical reasons - as they can get very stressed which is not good for their milk supply! Also the new baby needs to be able to run around to help its digestion and to expand its lungs/strengthen its muscles.

I would keep your younger mare inside for a few days while Momma and baby are enjoying their outside time - Momma is already telling you that she doesn't want the young girl anywhere near her new baby, so I wouldn't try with them next door to each other with just a fence inbetween them for a few days yet - Momma rushing to the fence to 'chase off' the youngster, and possibly kicking out could get the foal unintentionally injured.

Once Momma has settled down a bit, then try your young girl next to her with a safe (foal safe as well) fence between them. You may have to keep them like this for quite a long while depending upon what your mare thinks - her behaviour will tell you when the time is right to try putting them all together. How soon can you get Momma and baby out into a larger paddock? Once baby is rushing around, small areas are not so good as he will be having to do too many stops and starts with his young, immature muscles, he needs the space to be able to run in large circles to build up his strength and to expand his lung capacity.

Of course, as Renee says, things are governed by the amount of space available and I dont know your set up, but the rule of thumb is to always give your animals (especially the youngsters) as much space as is possible.

Oh and dont forget the camera when you first let them out!!

 

[Eagle]

I agree Diane about them bonding, I usually take them out onto the lawn for the first 2/3 days whilst holding mum on the lead, so mum gets some grass and baby gets to play and investigate.

 

[Small_Stars]

What I have is their stalls with runs, but I have not let her out into the run because it's about a 6" or so step down and it's muddy thanks to all the snow we got. I didn't want that little wobbly legged foal trying to maneuver the step and down into mud. So, I've kept them stalled up. I have another pen that is smaller, approx 40 x 20 or a tad smaller that is dry and sunny. That's where I was going to take mom and baby. The big pasture is 5 acres. I thought I would put mama and baby in the small pen for a while and then put them back up and then take the younger mare out to the big pasture. We took the younger one out to pasture and mama whinnied for the younger one and carried on and yet when we brought the younger one back to her stall, mama kept charging at her with her teeth showing. LOL She settled back down after a bit. Just found it amusing that she didn't want the younger mare in the pasture without her and yet, didn't want her back in her stall either.

At any rate, do you think it'd be ok to take mama and baby out to the smaller paddock for an hour or two tomorrow afternoon when it gets warm? He's been racing around the stall and bucking and jumping around. I thought he'd really enjoy getting outside. I wasn't going to turn the younger mare out at the same time as the only thing separating the smaller paddock from the pasture is just a single fence and I didn't want mama fighting through the fence. I thought she'd be more relaxed if there were no other horses out there.

We did mess with baby tonight, but he's already afraid of us.

We've had to wait till husband is home to hold mama since she still gets all kinds of upset when you mess with the foal. All I did was warp my arm around him and pet him until he settled down. He was jumping all over the place. I hope we can tame him down. Unfortunately, since we missed the birth, mama doesn't tolerate us near him and we didn't get to imprint him or anything, so he's a bit of a wild child. I just don't want him to grow into one of those minis that you can't catch, that you have to chase all over the place.

 

[Jade10]

With my foal i also missed the birth and the mum was also very protective, so i pretty much ignored the foal and sat in the paddock for a few days and didnt catch the mum either. Within a few days the mum had calmed down and would come near me again, so i just sat down and waited and the foal came straight up to me and wasnt scared at all

Also with my horses i don't have a stable (unfortunately) so my foal and mum were in a little paddock where they could still run if they wanted. So i dont see a problem with you letting them out into the paddock if its warm, unless your worried about catching them to put them back into the stable.

Also, even if the baby is a little scared of you at the moment, i dont think that will last. I think as soon as the mum settles he will probably start to realise that your not a scary person and he will come around

(Fingers crossed it happens soon)

PS sorry about my rambling haha

 

[Small_Stars]

You're not rambling at all.

Mama horse is actually, usually, very people friendly.

So, no problems catching her. We have had foals years ago when we did that that came to us and had never been touched till they were weaned. Took awhile, but they always gentled down. I guess I shouldn't worry.

Thank you for the encouragement.