If I could wave a magic wand and change one thing in the horse world, it would be the age and manner in which foals are weaned.

I’ve had the privilege of handling, training and owning a number of horses that have been naturally weaned and I can honestly say there is such a difference between them and their artificially early weaned counterparts.

Herd living is an important part of this. The ability to play and interact with others is an essential part of social, physical and emotional development.

But the support of mum is a very important part of that.

We now have a growing body of evidence to support this in horses, which added to the evidence across species, really shouldn’t be ignored.

I appreciate that it is difficult for commercial breeders, especially with the timing of the sales. But we need to create change some how.

As customers buying horses, there are huge advantages to buying those that are naturally weaned. So the customer can drive this by seeking out and choosing to buy youngsters that have had this.

Who doesn’t want a ‘better’ product?

I see so many behaviour problems that go back to the very early years of a horses development. If we could convince breeders to handle better, turnout more, have herd living, wean naturally this could make such a difference.

There is also a growing argument for castrating colts while they are still on the mare, so this cannot be used for an excuse for early artificial weaning.

Weaning method itself has also been shown to have an impact on those artificially weaned. But it would be great to see breeders being supported by buyers to take a ‘mother knows best’ approach.

Here is the latest study on the impact of weaning for those of you that are interested

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-66729-1

The study concluded “despite being housed in a socially enriched environment with age-matched peers and adult conspecifics, the neurological, behavioural and physiological development of foals are impaired when they are coping with the absence of their mothers.”

I posted the above on Facebook last week, this is a topic that I’m really passionate about. Normally I post on my blog first then shared to social media, but this one has gone the other way round!

For context, I worked on a stud when I was in my late teens and saw how both the Thoroughbred and the Sport Horse industry worked then. When in my twenties, I bought a mare who had severe separation distress. I felt that much of this had come from her weaning and life experiences. So when I bred my mare Rosie, it was very important to me that she should naturally wean. Since then I’ve been involved with a connemara stud that allows natural/ older weaning and runs the stock in herds and family groups and have had the pleasure of owning or training a number of horses and ponies that have come from this background.

The more I see of how they cope with change and challenge, the more certain it makes me that this is something we NEED to change.

If you are a breeder, or a producer, and would like to learn more about what you can do to give your youngstock a solid start in life, please do get in touch. Problem prevention is so much better than problem solving.

If you are interested in this topic, I have an online course on Learning in Young Horses and I’ve just made it available for FREE from now until the end of April 2026.