refore, the owner must help to minimize distress to the animals by handling them sympathetically.
Foals can be prepared for the final separation by being kept away from the dam for short periods. The mare can be exercised, for instance, while the foal remains in the stall with a companion and with food available. The eventual, full separation must be total for at least four weeks, the mare being kept off the premises if possible while the foal is kept in a deeply bedded and very secure stall. After a week the foal can be turned out for short periods in the paddock so long as the mare can be neither seen nor heard.
Good feeding for young stock is essential to good health, as is the freedom that allows them to develop naturally. By the time the foal is a yearling, it should be having no less than 7lb concentrate feed a day, plus salt, an appropriate mineral supplement, cod-liver oil and so on. Hay should be fed ad lib and ample supplies of clean, fresh water must be constantly available.
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Reference: The Ultimate Horse Book; Elwyn Hartley Edwards; 1991
Color photo of mare and foal courtesy of Kim McElroy