Posted on website | Owners post on Northernhorse.com to match orphaned foals with nurse mares
When Amber Gendron’s mare gave birth to a foal that died, she offered it as a nurse mare on the Northern Horse website, Kijiji and Facebook.
She also donated the colostrum to the local vet clinic so it could save a foal in the future.
“Something good has to come out of it, maybe,” said Gendron, of Wetaskiwin, Alta.
There are few statistics about mare or foal deaths at birth, but it happens, said Dr. Katharina Lohmann, associate professor at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon.
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Trying to match a recently or-phaned foal with a mare that has just lost its foal is the best route to try, she said.
“It’s always worth a shot if there is a mare available,” said Lohmann, who believes the success of the matching generally depends on the mothering instincts of the mares and less with the foals.
“The foals tend to be less discriminating.”
Lynn Scott, owner of Northernhorse.com website, said they have been matching mares and foals since they started the website 15 years ago.
“We love doing it,” she said. She also puts the nurse mare postings on Facebook and Twitter sites.
“I just want to get it to as many people as possible. It’s time critical.”
Scott said she doesn’t know how many times a match from their site is successful, but matching a foal and mare is always better than bottle feeding orphaned foals.
“If they get a real mom they get a lot more stuff than we can teach them.”
Connie McNichol, whose horse also had a foal that died at birth, put a notice on the Northern Horse website that her mare was available to try and help another horse owner.
Because the mare was pleasant and well-behaved, she believed it would make a good nurse mare.
“It has to do with the disposition of your mare. They have to be particularly tolerant,” she said.
Peggy Johnson was too emotional to think clearly when her mare lost a foal, but her neighbour Bev Milne suggested she place the mare on the Northern Horse website.
“Maybe there is a baby out there that I could help,” said Johnson, of Fairview.
A few years earlier, Johnson successfully bonded an orphaned foal onto another nursing mare. Without the mare, it would have been difficult to keep the foal alive.
“The foal needed a mom.”
