Orphan Foals

 
The dream of breeding and raising your own foal can very quickly become shattered when you are faced with an orphan foal.
Whether the foal is orphaned through the mares death or rejection by the mare the focus must be on keeping that foal alive for the first week or so and then giving it every opportunity to thrive.
Many firsttime and small breeders are usually unprepared for such an emergency but in reality its an all too common occurrence.
When you are faced with an orphan or rejected foal the best solution for the foal long term is to have it accepted by its dam or a foster mare.

If the mare is alive but has rejected the foal then there is a window of opportunity in the first few days to train her to accept it before her milk dries up. Ive heard vets say it wont work if the mare hasnt accepted the foal within the first few days but from experience I found that it could take up to 3 weeks providing you are willing to put the time and training in.
We used clicker training to teach this very aggressive mare to accept her foal by teaching her to target the foal touch it with her nose to get a treat.
We also used the clicker training method to teach the foster mare to accept this foal which she did within four days.
Colostrum is vital
At birth the most urgent need for a foal is to drink enough colostrum to develop sufficient antibodies in order to fight off any infections from the outside world.
Its a good idea to have some colostrum on hand in the freezer or have a supply organized from a vet or larger breeder just in case.
If you have a mare that has successfully foaled then its ok to milk some colostrum from her in the first 12 hours after the birth you only need to store 500ml or so to assist in an emergency.
After 12 hours the foal should have drunk enough to stimulate normal milk production so the colostrum reduces as does their need for it and ability to utilize it.
Some mares that drip or run milk for more than 24 hours prior to foaling may not give their foal enough colostrum so the foal may need blood plasma to boost their immunity.
The vet can test the foals blood to determine if it has received enough