It's that time of year again! The time when youngsters are weaned and started on their independent lives and careers. theHorse.com has a new article to help breeders make the transition process as smooth as possible.
"Weaning can be an exciting time for you to introduce your young horse to new things without his dam by his side. You get to watch his personality and intellect develop, while catching a glimpse of his potential for future athletic endeavors. But for the weanling, it might just be one of the most stressful times in his life."
In consultation with experts, theHorse.com offers important tips to get the best results. Among them, experts seem to agree that foals should not be weaned before four months of age, "to allow the foal ample time to grow and develop a strong immune system before leaving mom’s side."
Another tip involves an approach that most breeders can accomplish: turn the weanlings out with nonrelated mares. "Adult-weaned" foals showed reduced behavioral issues and physiological stress than foals weaned only with fellow weanlings.
For more tips from the experts, click here.
Photo: Medena / CC BY-SA (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)
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