My mare is very protective of her young foal. Will she let the stallion mate with her?

Question

This will be the first time that I will be breeding my own stallion to my own mare, and I have decided that it is easier just to run them together. Bella foaled on 21/2/07, so she would have started to come into foal heat about last Friday, so I have had her in with the stallion since then.

She is very protective of her foal, so although she is frequently urinating and winking when Obi (stallion) is near her, he isn't able to cover her because she won't let him get close enough.

Will I have to cover her in hand, or will she eventually be receptive enough to not worry about her foal for a few minutes, and let the stallion do his job?

PS. I know it is very late in the season to be covering her, but she is a late foaler, and I don't want to give her a year off.

I should mention that they are Miniature Horses and the foal is not by the same stallion.

Answer 1

I would expect her reproductive instict to override her maternal instinct. In nature mares generally breed within 2 weeks of giving birth.
If your current stallion is the sire of the foal everything should go well, however if the foal is not his own offspring. You should pay close attention to his behaviour concerning the foal. Stallions have been known to kill foals not of they're own genetic line.
If he is a mild mannered stallion this should not be a problem.

Answer 2

You should be doing this as an in hand breeding.
Put the foal or have someone hold the foal where she can see it and put her on a lead and then have the stallion cover her.
Unless you have a very safe stall put the foal in that and take the mare to the breeding area away from the foal. Expect that she will call and be upset by removingher from the foal. Have someone with the foal so it can not injure itself in the stall.
We have done both these methods to breed our mares on the farm. We normally put the foal in a stall and then take the mare to the breeding shed. We have a seperate breeding shed area.
Works pretty well but the do get upset and call but with experienced handlers you can get the job done fairly easily and quickly. Good luck.

Answer 3

The safest thing for the foal would be to have the stallion cover her in hand. Keep the foal near enough that she can see it. You're going to need 3 people to deal with this.
AI is another possibility.

Answer 4

A mare could properly be bred at age 3 yet my vet advises that maiden mares are perfect bred between the a lengthy time period of 6-12, and that even as a maiden mare can breed after the age of 12 and succeed, they're a lot less likely to have difficulty in the journey that they are on their 2d or third foaling quite of their first. As to why a youthful mare throws a more suitable positive foal than an older one it truly is an identical as with human beings and why ailments and defects skyrocket after a woman hits a particular age. a woman's eggs are only as previous as she is, save in ideas each and each of the eggs a woman of any mammal species could have are modern-day at beginning. The older the eggs get, properly they are type of like the eggs on your refrigerator, they are more suitable positive clean.

Answer 5

She is a good mommy..can you seperate her from the foal just so she can see the foal, behind a fence so the foal won't get kicked, you do run the risk of the foal getting hurt if they mate together if the foal is not protected. They are animals and she may go wild and the last minute if she feels her baby is threatened..