Rehabbing a Barren Mare
Method:
Allowing the horse to live outdoors 24/7 in a MIXED herd of horses (as opposed to mares only)
Giving the mare attention and care that will allow her to trust and like people
Natural barefoot trimming so the feet (and therefore the horse) are healthy
Putting older mares or obese mares on an exercise regimen to increase fitness
Feeding minimal grain
Using free choice minerals
Using NO drugs or hormones
Using NO artificial lighting
The Horses:
We were extremely fortunate to be offered not only young mares, but very well bred mares.
Tiz Life was foaled in 2005 and is by Tiznow out of Hide the Bride by Runaway Groom
More Oysters was foaled in 2004 and is by More Than Ready out of Madamascus by Sheikh Albadou
History:
Tiz Life has a congenital deformity of her right front leg, as a result she was not raced. She was bred as a 3 year old, but the foal was either stillborn or died shortly after birth. She was rebred and pronounced in foal, but either slipped the foal or reabsorbed it.
More Oysters did race briefly. Her record was 2 wins, 2 seconds, and a third from 10 starts. Her wins came on the turf at a mile and a sixteenth. Attempts were made to breed her but she never got in foal.
The Plan (this will be updated as time goes by):
Our number one priority is to get the girls into the herd and let them adjust to being in a new environment. After they have become settled, our next step is simply to let them do their own thing, while being sure to interact with them in a positive manner. The goal being to get them to like and trust people by giving them affection and by grooming and giving occasional treats.
We do not plan on even attempting to breed them until the 2013 breeding season.
This project will be documented in detail here - but will also be updated on Wild Dreams Farm Blog. See live feed on sidebar to right.
Click here for the photo gallery.
01/18/2012 I have been lax in keeping track of the dates. Beauty has been allowed to free graze in the field almost every day. I have hand-grazed Maura several times. She is a more reactive horse than Beauty. While Beauty is content to graze, Maura is more about exploring and being on the alert. She has calmed down quite a bit however, though is still somewhat headshy. Maura and Beauty are still friends and often eat from the same pile of hay. At this point I am still allowing the mares just to be horses, and trying to show them that people can respect them as individual beings without wanting anything from them. The only other thing I'm doing is making minerals available free choice. They currently have a Redmond salt rock, free choice, loose, plain white salt, and free choice dolomite, copper, and sulfur powdered mix. 12/24/2011 Hand grazed Beauty and Maura 12/22/2011 Hand grazed Beauty 12/21/2011 Hand grazed Beauty 12/16/2011 Hand grazed Beauty 12/14/2011 Hand grazed both Beauty and Maura 12/12/2011 Hand grazed Beauty. 12/11/2011 Today, while I was working in the horses' enclosure, Beauty approached me and made it pretty clear she wanted something. I was fairly certain it was to go out and do more hand grazing, so I did take her out. As you can see by the photo - she was much calmer. I was very impressed that she is such a fast learner and understands that I listen to what she has to say. I think she has been waiting for someone to connect with her as a unique being. 12/8/2011 Until today I haven't done anything with the horses, other than feed Tiz Life aka Beauty 2 quarts of Strategy every morning. I have allowed them to just be horses and to settle into the herd. Today I took Beauty out to hand graze in the backyard. She was nervous but good. A little worried and jumpy, but she clearly enjoyed the grass! More Oysters aka Maura is a little more hesitant about approaching, so I will wait a few days before starting to work with her.Project Record
11/09/2011
Tiz Life and More Oysters were put in with the herd today! All went fine.
11/06/2011
Brought Tiz Life and More Oysters to Wild Dreams Farm
10/24/2011
Was contacted to ask if we were still looking for barren mares
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