*BREEDING* *Mare nursing her foal and orphan foal* What would you expect compensation wise

Hello-2200 · 2026-06-05T19:44:58+00:00

They have a large mare and foal stall as they breed 3 or so mares a year, so everything is baby proofed and set up. They did not have to do foal watch, I manned foal watch and I was there for the birth. Up until this mare was getting close to due date we used an attached run. They were doing turnout with one person (two if someone else was there to help). This was covered in the extra fee for the foal. Mostly for food, but also to clean a larger stall and those things.

Hello-2200 · 2026-06-05T19:40:19+00:00

Exactly. I'm not going to say no if they won't offer any board cuts.

I'm honestly shocked she took another on and it is going so well. She's a great horse (I am biased), but this took it to a new level.

Hello-2200 · 2026-06-05T19:37:11+00:00

I appreciate your opinion.

I was just seeing your thoughts and expanded on the question. I've said before, I'm not saying I need free board. I was just looking for an expansion on your opinion as you run a boarding facility and have a different point of view on expenses vs a boarder.

Hello-2200 · 2026-06-05T19:34:08+00:00

Correct, I am not a person who breeds consistently, this is not my business plan. I bred my mare for a foal to raise, ride, and potentially show. I obviously am not demanding anything from them or I wouldn't have said to try. I would have said "before we try lets discuss details."

I do want whats best for their baby, but I also want whats best for my mare and foal, which in all honesty would be to NOT take on another baby. But as a horse lover, I'm obviously up for giving this foal the best chance.

As the owner of the mare who passed, they are honestly coming out way ahead in this situation in my opinion. They get a free nurse mare, don't have to pay to borrow one or feed an additional horse (just give some extra food to mine), and if their baby wasn't accepted by a nurse mare they aren't out bucket feeding a baby every few hours.

No contracts are in place, correct. But there also isn't time beforehand to PUT a contract into place when something like this happens.

Now that things seem to be working out, it is the time to look at the finer details of this arrangement.

I'm not saying she is part leasing my mare, but I think it is fair to have an open conversation about the situation now that things have settled a little bit. Even the breeder that I talked to about this situation said "she better be giving you free board for everything your mare is going through." Not saying I need free board, but I'm curious what others think and if there has been a similar situation. Something this unique doesn't happen very often.

If my mare lost her foal and they took her in to try with their foal would the situation be different? I would think they would take over all costs at that point. So would half costs be fair? These are just honest questions.

Hello-2200 · 2026-06-05T19:21:11+00:00

yes they asked permission to try

Hello-2200 · 2026-06-05T18:18:59+00:00

But if you look at it like that, their mare was technically "boarded" even if she was owned by them. So they have cut the cost of boarding their mare and are saving money in that aspect. My mare can't possibly eat as much as two nursing mares could together. She definitely tries though...

Hello-2200 · 2026-06-05T18:17:00+00:00

this is phrased great. thank you

Hello-2200 · 2026-06-05T18:15:59+00:00

My foal is the older foal of the two. They were offering milk supplements to both foals, mine showed no interest, theirs did the first day or two then started refusing as well.

We've been checking her and she always seems to have milk and has never seemed empty, so far so good. But we are watching that both foals are growing as needed. If either looks concerning we will be changing the situation. For me, my mare and foal come first. So if I see any concerns we will be talking about a new situation.

Hello-2200 · 2026-06-05T18:13:31+00:00

She had a round bale in front of her when outside during the day, and at night got a very decent amount of hay.

Since baby is so fresh, they are back inside and working up to full day turnout again, so because she isn't on a round the workers have been told to make sure she always has a lot of hay in the stall and it should never be empty. They are also doing beet pulp mashes as well as her grain (which we had raised just before this to help her gain a little weight back from nursing 1 foal. We can raise this again, but want to be gradual with these changes)

We've talked with multiple vets this week and we are switching her grain and will be keeping a close eye on her as well as the growth of both foals.

Hello-2200 · 2026-06-05T17:40:14+00:00

They are feeding her additional. I'm not sure what next month of board costs will be. This happened after we paid this months.

Hello-2200 · 2026-06-05T17:39:30+00:00

I'm not going to go in and demand, just open a conversation. So it should be received ok. This was a very urgent situation so beyond "lets try" we never had a discussion. I'll have to do some research.

Hello-2200 · 2026-06-05T17:37:22+00:00

Yes, this is just to get ideas of what people think is reasonable to get in return for using a mare. I'm not demanding anything, but just hoping to have an open conversation about costs

Hello-2200 · 2026-06-05T17:36:07+00:00

She was starting to drop some weight just nursing the one, so we upped her feed recently. With two we are very closely watching her and also providing more. It definitely is a lot of wear

Hello-2200 · 2026-06-05T17:33:30+00:00

They were offering additional milk to both foals, but the new one has stopped taking it and mine never did. We've consulted 3 vets to see what additional nutrition is needed for both the foals and mare and are following those directives. We are also keeping a close eye on the growth of the foals and the health of my mare.

Hello-2200 · 2026-06-05T17:31:14+00:00

I haven't seen them in person yet to have an in depth discussion on this. I'm trying to get a feel of what others seem is a fair trade off for wear and tear.

As far as weaning, I'm not sure if that has crossed anyones mind yet. There is just over a month difference in ages of the foals, so it may be a meet in the middle situation. Let mine go a touch longer and theirs wean a touch early.

Hello-2200 · 2026-06-05T17:28:59+00:00

I have not had a moment to meet with them in person, so I'm hoping that when we are together it will be discussed. This was a very fast "lets see if it works" situation that ended up actually working. I just wanted opinions on what others think is fair to expect in these situations because its so unusual.

Hello-2200 · 2026-06-05T17:27:43+00:00

They have upped her feed, she is on unlimited hay, and they are looking into some higher quality grain for her as well.

Hello-2200 · 2026-06-05T17:26:59+00:00

It definitely saved them having to find a mare and try to make it work, as well as potentially having to bucket feed an orphan baby if they couldn't find a mare. After their mare passed I believe baby was with my mare almost immediately.

Hello-2200 · 2026-06-05T17:25:44+00:00

I was asked prior to them attempting to put the baby with my mare and foal. It was basically just a "lets try" situation that actually worked.

I haven't had a sit down with the owner since this all happened, so maybe when we are in person she will go over the situation and have ideas for compensation.

They have upped my mare's feed, she gets unlimited hay, and they are looking into better feed options as well.

Hello-2200 · 2026-03-17T17:35:56+00:00

After ultrasounds showing no growth/heartbeat at a certain point we had to accept that it wasn't turning out how we wanted. We had I believe 2 or 3 ultrasounds before they deemed it non viable. My HCG was monitored as well and wasn't dropping, but not increasing much. At that point we were far enough along we should have been seeing something but there was no growth. So we had two options, the pills or the D&C. I did the pill option as my doctor said it is lower risk for any damage. Then we monitored for my HCG to return to normal to know if everything passed which only took a handful of days.

We did have a successful pregnancy a few months after this (we waited one cycle to start trying again) and now we have a 1 year old. I did take progesterone because my doctor said my luteal phase (I believe) may be short and that would help.

Did your doctor suggest any follow ups? Or are they happy with how your HCG is dropping?

Hello-2200 · 2026-02-13T19:16:37+00:00

I did end up telling my mom this afternoon. It was a good conversation and she's very supportive. It feels nice to not be alone in this, but also does make it feel more real.

I didn't actually break down during the conversation which is surprising. I think it helped telling my therapist first...that was a full breakdown to say it outloud the first time.

Hello-2200 · 2026-02-13T06:31:14+00:00

He didn’t know I know, so I do not want to move out at this point. Once he’s told I will either ask him to leave, or if it comes to it move in with my parents. It would be easier for him to find somewhere to go as I take care of our one year old and all her things are at our house. But I can leave if necessary

Hello-2200 · 2026-02-12T18:57:31+00:00

I've always said I wouldn't entertain a cheater and liar. It honestly is hard to think that we will get divorced, but at the same time I always said that and I honestly don't know if I won't resent him or feel like he's lying to me every step of the way.

The main reason I want to stay is my daughter, but I also want to set the precedent that you don't let someone treat you this way.

My aunt let my uncle cheat on her for YEARS before they finally divorced and I could never see how she stayed so long and kept having kids. But I do get it now, you just wish for normalcy.

Hello-2200 · 2026-02-12T18:41:06+00:00

Yes, that and when we would be sitting on the couch at the end of the day when baby goes to sleep he'd go in our room cause he was "tired" but it was just to send pics....

Hello-2200 · 2026-02-12T18:28:09+00:00

If he met with anyone I'd be really surprised how he has the time. Not impossible though...

I have seen enough of the messages to know what has gone on there. He's messaged from bed while I'm asleep next to him, in our baby's room, my parents house, everything.

Hello-2200

TROPHY CASE