Parenting 101
Maternal behaviour in mares
by Karin Apfel
Normal behaviour
Exactly how maternal behaviour is
triggered and controlled is not yet fully known. Hormones and physiological
changes cause the series of instinctive actions to begin. The hormones released
during the birth process, suggests Sue McDonnell, Phd.,
the founding head of the Equine Behavior Program at the University of
Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, stimulate the mare to want to
“mother” something and the foal is the first thing she sees. Later, she will be
able to identify a particular foal as “hers”, but initially, it doesn’t matter
what satisfies her need.
Bonding
Recognizing her foal as uniquely hers, a process called
selective bonding, tends to evolve and strengthen over two to three days. It is
based mainly on olfactory recognition (smell), as well as other indicators.
Once the foal is born, the mare will begin to lick the foal. The licking has
two functions: first, it dries off the foal and stimulates the blood supply to
the skin. Second, the mare begins to taste and smell the foal. In addition,
both mare and foal will respond to one another’s vocalizations, usually soft nickers. Suckling is also important here, as the mare is
rewarded by the relief of pressure in her udder and the foal receives its first
meal. McDonnell explains that in the first two to three day, a mare is more
likely to accept another foal as hers, but once the bonding process of frequent
touching and smelling has taken place, she will reject other foals.
Suckling
It is important that the foal suckle as soon a possible.
However, it is not so urgent that the foal needs to be helped to find the
udder. Some mares may seem to be pushing the foal to the teat area, but usually
the greatest help the mare can give is to stand still and allow the foal to
find her. The mare will also contract her belly in a wincing motion, which may
have something to do with milk let down and also makes the udder more obvious
to the searching foal. As little interference as possible during this time is
recommended. Even if you will be imprinting the foal, wait for an hour or so,
until the foal has had that all-important first meal of immunoglobulin-rich colostrum. If the mare is disturbed before the baby
suckles, the bonding process may be impaired.
Guarding
Very quickly, the mare will show a tendency to keep her body
between the foal and any perceived threats. At the same time, the foal tends to
put the mare’s body between himself and anything
unusual. Close contact is maintained for the first few weeks with the foal
generally found within 10 feet of the mare. This close association is related
to the relatively frequent suckling (more than calves and fawns). In the first
weeks, the foal will not even interact much with other foals. The result of
this is a very close bond between mother and baby which, in the wild, aided in
the survival of the foal.
Back to work
If it is necessary to return the mare to work after a few
weeks, it is recommended that the duration of separation be no longer than the
time between suckling bouts. According to Dr. Marthe Kiley-Worthington, who runs an equine behaviour
consultancy in
In the wild, the duties of parenting can be shared by the stallion. He will vocalize with the foal and stand guard while the mare is resting. Stallions will also play with foals and bring them back to the herd if they wander too far. In a domestic situation, there may be some shared parenting between mares. This allows the mothers to take breaks and satisfies the fascination that the rest of the herd often shows towards new foals. It also acts to integrate the foal into the herd.
There are variations within normal behaviour
parameters. For example, the distance the mare will allow between herself and
her foal is affected by the personality of the foal. Bolder foals will be more
exploratory and will test the limits quite early, whereas the shyer foals will
stay closer for longer. So, don’t worry if your foal and mare don’t follow
exactly these tendencies. As long as both are healthy and appear to be
stress-free, nature is probably taking its course.
Abnormal behaviour
Inadequate or abnormal mothering behaviour
of mares is, thankfully, relatively rare. However, when problems do crop up, the
issue is urgent. The abnormal behaviour usually
occurs immediately after parturition, but in some cases can emerge after one or
several days of normal behaviour. The task is then to
determine the specific nature of the problem while maintaining the safety of
the mare and foal.
Nursing problems
This is probably the most common aberration in maternal behaviour. It isn’t usually a rejection of the foal, but a
reluctance to have it nurse. It typically occurs in mares with udder swelling
and sensitivity to touch in the udder area. It is largely preventable by
getting the mare used to having her udder handled before she foals. If she gets
really swollen, she may even need to be milked to relieve the pressure. If the
mare still objects to the foal nursing, mild restraint of the mare and/or
nursing chute should solve the problem. If the foal is repeatedly prevented
from nursing, it may be well conditioned not to try again.
Over-protectiveness
Some mares become aggressively protective of their foals, to
the point of being dangerous to humans or other animals. They may even accidentally
injure their foals in the rush to get themselves between the foal and a perceived
threat. If the foal is crushed against a wall or trampled, it may be seen as an
attack, but there are differences in the injuries sustained (see Foal
rejection). The intensity of the protectiveness usually subsides after a few
days, but in some cases may persist through weaning. Solutions include keeping
potential “threats” away from the mare along with training to increase the
mare’s acceptance of intruders. The mares are rarely able to injure foals in a
large open space, so moving them from a small stall to corral or to a larger field
would also help.
Lack of interest/ambivalence
This absence of bonding and protective behaviour
is often seen in sick, weak or medicated mares and/or foals, or in mares and
foals that have been separated or overly handled at birth – for example, a mare
that has had a difficult birth or a foal that has been withheld from the mare
for various reasons. In most cases, normal mare-foal behaviour
returns as the strength of the weakened animal returns. If it is due to
interference, it is best to try to revive the bond by keeping mare and foal
together with minimal disturbance. According to Kiley-Worthington,
in “The Behaviour of Horses”, there is an increase in
the number of these types of “rejections”, especially in large breeding
operations, mostly due to increasing manipulation and interference. Isolating
mares from other horses can also contribute to the problem.
Fear of the foal
Some mares, particularly maiden mares, can appear to be
afraid of their own foals. They seem not to recognize them as horses even, and
attempt to escape the foreign object in their stalls. Although they can become
accustomed to the presence of the foal, as they would any other strange object,
they never truly bond with their offspring and will avoid the foal’s attempts
to nurse. Hand-rearing or adoption by another mare is usually required.
Foal rejection
True foal rejection is very rare, but life-threatening to
the foal. The dam may bite, lift, shake and toss the foal against the stall
wall or a fence, or stamp on it and pin it to the ground. The savage behaviour often follows one or more days of seemingly
normal mothering and, so far, no one has determined the cause. Injuries caused
by the mare can be distinguished from accidental injuries by the location of
the wound. If a foal has a bite mark on the crest or withers, it will not be an
isolated incident. There are often multiple broken bones as well. The only
solution is separation of the mare and foal. Foal attacks usually repeat with
subsequent foals, so if you have a mare that truly rejects her foal, it is
wisest not to breed her again.
Foal stealing
This is a rare, but interesting behaviour
problem in which an expectant mare (usually within one or two days of foaling)
tries to “adopt” another mare’s foal. Once she gives birth to her own foal, she
usually loses interest in the stolen foal, but at that point, the youngster mat
not be re-accepted by his own dam.
Abnormal maternal behaviour is
more common in first-time mothers and there is a slight chance that there is a
genetic predisposition in certain bloodlines, however, mares often become
better mothers with experience. So, if you have a maiden mare, especially if
she is of a nervous or excitable nature, ensuring her first foaling is a calm
and safe experience will improve her chance of becoming a good mother.