13th October, 2017 Weaning wild ponies

There are a lot of absolutists in the horse world and to some the thought of weaning a foal at four months is untenable, whilst for others, it is the norm. There are two souls to consider in the equation - the foal, who is generally thriving, and the mare whose biology diverts so much of her food into the mouth of her foal. For a mare living semi-feral on the New Forest the only way of making sure that she get through the winter is to wean the foal relatively young or otherwise to bring her in with the foal and to supplement her diet, particularly if she is pregnant again.

Hopefully Nelly is not pregnant because I brought her in advance of her foal heat and only let her out again when the stallions had been taken off the Forest. Nevertheless she isn't in great shape. She has a big, fat tummy from carrying the foal, but a slim neck and haunches. She will be spending the rest of the winter in on good grass and additional protein in the hope that I can keep Juma with her.

The hard part of all this, having watched this beautiful family group all summer, is that I need to 'wean' all the uncles, aunties, nannies and guardians that have congregated around Juma. I'm forever hearing that horses live in the moment, and whilst that is largely true, I do believe that all of these horses have an emotional connection to Nelly and the foal and will miss the two of them. Juma will still have Peechay to mind him, but not the collection of quasi-family members that he is used to.

The same holds true for Petra and Théoden who whilst enjoying their second honeymoon are quietly missing the kids and wondering if they are holding parties in their absence. There is a sense of waiting about the two of them.