Horse topic: weaning

Baby horse is now 3 months old. I am noticing everyday a new bite mark which makes me think mom is getting a little short tempered with baby and maybe the first steps of weaning have begun. I could be wrong...this is just the uneducated observation of someone who has never had a foal before.

Internet research seems to say that many people wean at 4 months, others prefer to wait until 6 months if possible.

Twice now we have separated mom and baby for a short period. Mom is unconcerned. You can get on mom and ride her out the yard and she doesn't give it a second thought. Baby, however, feels a little differently about this. To say baby pitches a fit is an extreme understatement.

I would like weaning to be as non-traumatic as possible. In my mind, short bursts of separation (half hour)might ease this transition. But maybe I'm fooling myself. Maybe there is no way to 'ease' this. I have been told that mare and foal will climb trees, break fencing and go through solid walls to get to each other. I do NOT like the idea of a sudden and abrupt, painful and panic-filled separation.

I do not plan to wean the baby now. SHe is only 3 months old. But if the mom is already getting less tolerant of baby, I wonder if it isn't starting already. If anyone has advice, I'm all ears. I am not sure how to proceed.

Mom may have started a bit early. Keep an eye on baby's weight, make sure it's eating well on its own. I too agree with waiting as long as possible or even better just let nature take its course. Make sure mom doesn't have any sores or infection on her bag/teats that may cause her to be put off by baby.
I have a mare that was weaned suddenly and horribly as soon as the 3 month mark came. she does have some anxiety and I completely attribute this to the weaning.
Sounds like they're doing ok though!

Another thought is the marks might be from mom disciplining the baby. My colt was very pushy and all over his mother at that age. She was not very good at putting him in his place and he tended to walk all over her literaly. I ended up weaning him between four and five months by placing him a paddock next to her. He could still touch and smell her and despite my best efforts nursed threw the gate everyonce in a while for several months. This seemed to be successful for all parties with minimal stress for everyone. He never actually left her ( but the were seperated just on the same property)until he was just over two and there were no issues when he left home for his 1st show with out her. It nice if you can completely seperate them if they have a group of weanlings to be together but for the single foal I think something like this works well.


Good Luck!