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The Ugly Side of Nurse Mares
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When a foal is born dead, or dies shortly after birth it can be the stalling of a dream for many breeders. At least, until the mare can be bred and foal again - a process that could take over a year, if all goes well. A mare that loses a foal may go through something like a grieving process, and some physical discomfort. And losing a mare that leaves behind an orphan foal can feel like a tragedy as well, because not only have you lost a beloved mare, but now, have the responsibility of caring for a newborn infant. It’s a responsibility that most owners take on willingly, and it’s not an easy road. Foals can be raised on milk replacer, and a lot of attention. But, there are downsides and health risks to raising an orphan foal like this.
When a foal is orphaned, rather than trying to raise it ‘by hand’, a nurse mare can be used. It’s not always easy to find one, and once one is found, the mare may or may not accept the foal. Usually, with a little encouragement a reluctant mare will adopt an orphan foal, although there are rare cases where a mare is downright nasty to a foal that isn’t its own. For owners who want to find a nurse mare, or have a mare available, there are online networks that can make matches.
A mare that has lost its foal, and willingly accepts another sounds like a love story. But, there seems to be an ugly side to the nursemaid network. Providing nurse mares seems to have become an industry in itself. Its dismal secret is that in profiting from having nurse mares available, the foals of those mares suffer. Ideally, every nurse mare available would be one that has just lost a foal. But, this isn’t always the case. In order to sell the use of a nurse mare, a foal is taken from its mother leaving another orphan foal, or according to some sources, a dead one. Similar to the PMU industry, the foals of nurse mares are by-products that need to be ‘disposed of’ in the most economical way possible.
Why is there a demand for nurse mare within various breed industries? Certainly, within every breeding establishment, mares lose their foals or reject them, and foals lose their mamas. However, not every need for nurse mares starts with a natural cause. Within some breed industries, like Thoroughbreds destined for the track, breeding mares for a yearly foal is common. In order to produce a yearly foal, a mare will need to be bred during its foal heat - the cycle that happens shortly after the birth of its foal. Artificial insemination isn’t acceptable, so a mare must go to wherever the stallion is. If it’s a short trip, it may be fine for the foal at her side to go along. However, if there is a long trailer trip, it may be too risky to send along the potentially valuable but fragile newborn foal. And, insurance companies are unlikely to insure a very young foal. The most efficient way to avoid danger to the foal is to leave it home.
This is where the use of nurse mares come in. A mare of lesser value is bred to a stallion of lesser value. The mare gives birth to the foal, but the foal is taken away from the mare, leaving her available to adopt another far more valuable foal. In the best case scenario, mares are bred so they produce decent riding horses that can be raised, and later sold to good homes. But, rumors abound about foals left to starve, or are killed.
There are also rescues that specializing in saving foals of nurse mares. But unlike rescues that take mature horses the hours and dollars that go into raising orphan foals is drastically increased. And, to add insult to injury, anyone wanting an ‘unwanted’ foal must often pay for it. |
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Blue Skyy
This is horrible what Americans do if I where to get an orphaned foal I would take the time to care for it and feed not go kill another foal and use his mom if an orphaned foal and another foal get along then I would see if the mare would take in the orphan but if the mare refused or I saw a lack of food in any of them I would take back the orphan and feed him my self.
This is horrible what Americans do if I where to get an orphaned foal I would take the time to care for it and feed not go kill another foal and use his mom if an orphaned foal and another foal get along then I would see if the mare would take in the orphan but if the mare refused or I saw a lack of food in any of them I would take back the orphan and feed him my self.
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Aug 15, 2016
• 2,111 views
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