EZEE Wean - Main Page View Product Details Factors to Consider Before Weaning What Really Happens When The Force Separation Method is Used? Warnings & Advice

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Most often the caregiver is reluctant to start the weaning process because of the undesirable symptoms that occur when using the abrupt separation method. The heart wrenching whinnying is very disturbing for the passionate caregiver. If the animals are in close proximity, the mother and foal will constantly vocalize to each other and pace the fence line or box stall. Separation causes anxiety (for both animals) and can lead to self-inflicted injuries (veterinarian costs), cause scaring (unsightly blemishes), and even death.

The separation method has been around for centuries, ever since man captured his first herd of wild horses with the intentions of using them for winning competitions and selling them for money. Throughout history competition and money have been the cause for many inhumane procedures to become acceptable. Over time the acceptable practice becomes a standard, with little or no thought given to its real affect on the animals.

What really happens when you chose the force separation method in weaning foals?

Weaning foals by using the least natural method (force separation) has generally been viewed, in the past, as having little or no harmful affects to the animals. However, researchers have found that to be the contrary.

Important internal changes occur when horses are separated from one another. According to findings of UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, a distressed mare and foal experiences a measurable decrease (loss) in the infection fighting T-cells.

Ripping a foal from a mare and moving one or both animals to a new location is so stressful that it can be life threatening to both. A suppressed immune system is the result of such action. Incessant vocalization (frantic whinnying), pacing the fence line or stall, biting, and chewing are high stress symptoms of separation. Both animals become susceptible to colic and various eating disorders. The mare can experience a serious udder distention. Also, your action is causing the mare foal bond to be broken at the same time your weaning the foal. This is very unnatural. Many negative behavioral patterns and traits may develop, and some may last a lifetime.

Is the "good ol' boy" attitude still out there?

Many horse owners believe, a brood mare should be producing a foal annually (a baby factory) and often view her as nothing more than a milk bag with legs. This point of view has been held and perpetuated by many breeding operations and horse owners. I have heard over and over farm hands or horse owners state, “They don’t have to worry about weaning because they sell the foal as soon as it is old enough to be weaned.”

These comments indicate to me how little the person really understands the nurturing behavior of a mare and the necessity of the mare to continue to be there as the foal continues to mature. From a business perspective, a caregiver with little knowledge of nature is missing a major component to producing a finer performing animal. I feel the application of “natural horse savvy” to a foal will increase the animal’s marketability. Horses that have been imprinted at birth and with continued handling using natural horse savvy techniques are commanding and obtaining high prices. Implementing imprinting techniques and the use of horse savvy are more common.

Data and statistics resulting from using natural horse practices are being collected. Owners of these animals are expressing a high level of owner satisfaction. The first time horse owner has a greater chance of having a positive riding experience when natural horse techniques are understood and practiced. Owners using their animals for competition have reported a greater improvement, overall, believing the results are directly related to the use of natural horse techniques.

Why is it important to keep the animals together during the foal weaning process?

Using a more natural weaning process will have a positive impact on the foal. For years, little thought and understanding had been given to natural behavior of horses and the total mare foal relationship. The interaction between the mare and foal during and after the weaning process is vitally important! This is the time when the young foal actually mirrors its mother. Many of the learned traits are developed at this time. Selecting a mare with the desirable traits is as important as choosing a brood mare for its excellent conformation. The foal mirrors mother’s body movement and attitude. With the foal at her side the mare exhibits attitude as she interacts with the rest of the herd, like pushing her way to the water hole first or backing her butt in first, to be ready for the first kick if the boys don’t move away when she wants. Mother plays the protective and supportive roll for her baby. The tone of the nickering and whinnying indicates the seriousness of the event and is used to give fair warning. Circling movement is an indication that something is amidst and the mare is not sure just what is wrong. Mentoring continues for several months after the weaning process has been completed. The mare is needed to finish teaching life survival skills. She teaches her foal about herd etiquette, submission, aggression and dominance. Under certain circumstances an older mare (granny) will step up to the task of mentoring, if mother is not available. Typically, the true boss of a band of horses is a domineering mare that displays leadership to the rest.

What happens when you break the mare foal bond too early?

When separation of mother and baby is too soon and granny mare was not available, I have found the foal will typically mature having a personality of either extremely aggressive or extremely timid. As an example, can you remember your horse be attack by another horse for no apparent reason while you were moving along peacefully on a trail ride? Your horse didn’t make a single wrong move and the other horse came, ears pinned and bearing teeth. That’s an aggressive personality. Can you remember when you had to hand feed a horse separately? It stayed off to the side and it would not move up to the feeding area with the rest of horses. This is a timid personality. I believe both of these examples are typical of horses that were forced from their mother to soon. Neither horse type is very desirable and the aggressive horse is dangerous. Many times a timid horse is thinner (ribs showing), stays in the background and freaks at any sudden move. Both types cause its owner a lot of concern and extra work. Both types are limited in their dependability and performance capabilities.

There is a new revolutionizing method and product for foal weaning!

A new method of foal weaning has been developed to allow the animals to stay together, eliminates separation. The mare actually does the weaning, just like in nature, and the mare foal bond is not broken. The product is titled EZEE WEAN and is produced by Linda Bateman, owner of Horsing Around, LLC. Linda has a life long passion for horses and actually developed this method of foal weaning over twenty years ago. She studied the way mares and foals interacted with each other and did not want to separate her animals in order to wean.

The EZEE WEAN functions on the principal theory of comfort and discomfort, the same principal theory being used every time we move, or touch our horse. Each animal has its own level of comfort and discomfort. When the baby attempts to nurse, both animals are made uncomfortable because there are several soft flexible prongs (blunt ended) that touch the mare in the flanks and it also bumps the baby in the nose. When the baby stops its attempt there is an immediate rewarded, behavior reward method. Pretty neat, don’t you think? Mother determines how quickly the weaning process will come to a halt. When mother’s tolerance limit has been reached, she gives fair warning. She will ring her tail, pin her ears back, move sideways, stomp her hind foot (horse can’t kick forward with hind leg while standing) and finally she will nip the baby in the butt. A mare will not intentionally kick to injure her own baby. If a brood mare exhibits such a mean spirit, she should not be bred back. Generally the weaning process takes six weeks, depending on the persistent personality of the baby, and the length of time for mare’s bag to dry up.

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