Smudge's Foaling Page

[Chanda]

I'm in Ontario too and it was snowing today ! I was worried that if my mare has her foal should I get a blankets or coat for him/her hehe

I wouldn't hurt.  Mini foal blankets can be hard to find; but dog coats will work (although measured differently than a horse blanket), goat coats and in a pinch a child's sweatshirt can be cut and used.  If you are any bit crafty, one can be made from an old fleece blanket.

[Dog coats are measured from neck to base of tail; horse blankets are measured around the side from middle of chest around to edge of tail.]

[Lnight89]

I love to sew  and I quilt alot so I'll get crafty tonight then and make some just incase this silly weather doesn't brake. Who wants snow in may?? So silly! Lol

[Chanda]

I'm a bit of a quilter, too, you can see some of my quilts on my foaling thread for HC Minis. 

[Lnight89]

Oh nice! I'll have to check them out my mother had me in sewing and quilting classes at 10 with her, I'm. So happy she did !

[dcwolcott]

As to the question about foal height prediction at maturity, I'm attaching a height prediction chart.  Stand the foal on something hard, and measure from the ground to the last bottom hair of the mane, or you can do a cannon bone measurement.  I always did both, and then used an average of the two.   

[paintponylvr]

I missed the excitement when he wasn't feeling well but I'm very happy for you that he feels better!!

I don't think I'd like it if it snowed in May.  But then our temps here in NC have been all over "the map" since Jan 1 this year, so who knows what "mama nature" is gonna throw at us next!

Diane - does measuring the cannon as a yearling and just using the actual " work in the minis? That is what we did with our larger pony foals.  Same measurement - we found that if the yearling's cannon measured 9.5" then the yearling matured to 9 1/2 hands or 38" at the withers.  I now need to check some of our current ponies (haven't done this on any of the ones we now have) and on our Arab mare and see if it's still accurate...  To see if their cannons = their mature heights.

[dcwolcott]

For large horses, I know, when you measure the canon....say 16"......just use the same number and convert to hands.  So, a 16" canon, will be a 16 Hand horse.  And remember, these are just averages.

I personally have never measured anything but foals up to 4 months old to judge adult height, but it sounds like your measurements are proving the HH table correct.  9.5" being a 9.5 hand horse, or 38".  That's fun to know!

[paintponylvr]

For large horses, I know, when you measure the canon....say 16"......just use the same number and convert to hands.  So, a 16" canon, will be a 16 Hand horse.  And remember, these are just averages.

I personally have never measured anything but foals up to 4 months old to judge adult height, but it sounds like your measurements are proving the HH table correct.  9.5" being a 9.5 hand horse, or 38".  That's fun to know!

Yes, but it only worked on the yearlings with the knees pretty much closed (no more cannon growth)...  On the ones that I followed.  I didn't follow all of ours.  Haven't even done it at all on the Shetlands since 2010 when we started getting foals - that's why I'd be curious to know if it matches now (cannon = height in hands).  Have quite a few that are now mature and shouldn't be growing any more... 

Was very surprised by a couple that stayed small, stayed small and then suddenly "SPROUTED" at 4/5 yrs of age!  Had one gelding that grew over an 1" between the 3 yr old measurement and the 4-1/2 yr old measurement that I did for a prospective purchaser that wanted not bigger than a certain height.  I lost that sale - he'd grown too much, LOL!

[Renée]

I am sorry I missed him being poorly, I have been very sick myself and had to take to my bed (not like me at all) Anyway I am back now and he is super cute. I love his colour and am curious to see how he turns out.

[Julia and Smudge]

He seems to be improving every day! Now he only "huffs and puffs" after running hard. But he seems to get pretty warm. Should we try clipping him? Or is he still way too young for that (he's just over a week). It's finally starting to get warm here and I'm worried the warmer it gets the hotter he will get.

[Chanda]

If you don't mind him looking funny, you can clip just under his neck and chest to help him cool off, these are the areas where they seem to hold the most heat, so clipping here helps to dissipate the heat.   If you have a cold snap you might have to blanket.

[dcwolcott]

I always clipped my foals, as here in Florida it would get beastly hot.  But if a foal was born during the early part of spring, and didn't start blowing their foal coat, I'd start out with a head, neck and chest clip -- including under the bottom of the belly.  This made them cooler, and made it easier for them to adjust to the heat.

[Julia and Smudge]

Finally clipped little Rebel today. Had to share this picture with all of you! I'm thinking we might be seeing some light skin/possible spots under that hair! Any guesses on colour? He's definitely not buckskin like we originally thought.

[Chanda]

Hard to tell real color in a clipped coat, as you clip off all the color.   Black-based and bay-based horses both look rather dark clipped, so he may very well be buckskin if that's what you thought before clipping. 

[Renée]

I agree Chanda, it is impossible to tell when they are clipped, we will just have to wait and see