Welfare of Equids: Guidance

Responsible Breeding

Breeding equids is a significant responsibility that impacts equid welfare across generations. Ethical and responsible breeding practices can ensure equids are born with good health, sound conformation and suitable temperaments, reducing the likelihood of welfare issues. Selecting breeding pairs based on healthy physical traits and longevity increases the likelihood that offspring remain fit over a lifetime.

Avoiding breeding from sires and dams with behavioural or temperamental issues, or genetic conditions such as joint problems, respiratory issues and metabolic disorders will avoid such issues and conditions being passed on to the offspring. Poor breeding decisions can lead to overpopulation, health problems, and unwanted equids.

Stallions have the same social needs as mares and geldings, with social isolation leading to stress, anxiety, and behavioural issues. By allowing stallions to interact with other equids, breeders can promote emotional well-being and ensure a healthy productive process.

Good practice:

• Owners and keepers should be aware of how their breeding practices may be contributing to equid overpopulation and neglect.
• Owners and keepers should ensure breeding decisions prioritise equid health and welfare over financial or aesthetic motives that may compromise the equids’ functional capabilities and well-being.
• Owners and keepers should provide optimal care for the equid and offspring throughout the breeding process, minimising stress and physical strain.
• Equids with severe issues should not be bred from, including equids with:
• heritable diseases or disorders,
• poor conformation that will lead to poor welfare, or
• behavioural or temperament issues that aren't pain related or improve with suitable management changes.
• Owners and keepers should focus breeding practices on long-term health to ensure that mare, stallion and offspring are physically capable of engaging in natural behaviours and adapting to their environment.
• Owners and keepers should base breeding decisions on careful selection criteria including good health and condition, age, pregnancy history, soundness, good reproductive anatomy, elimination of heritable disease and disorders and future demand for the resulting foal.
• Equids should only be bred from if there is a viable plan for the foal’s future and good prospects that the foal will be well cared for, including considerations if current circumstances change.
• Owners and keepers should have the necessary experience, facilities, welfare knowledge and financial resources to care for any mares, stallions, and foals in their care.
• Owners and keepers should maintain open and transparent communication regarding the health histories of breeding equids, disclosing known health issues and genetic predispositions to facilitate informed decision-making.
• Owners and keepers should consider advice from a veterinary surgeon regarding pre-breeding checks.
• Owners and keepers should consider the long-term retirement plan of breeding equids following their reproductive years, ensuring a long-term life of dignity and comfort.

Foaling

It is important to provide low stress surroundings for both mare and foal throughout the foaling process and early stages of development, from the perinatal period through to weaning. Newborn foals need to ingest adequate amounts of colostrum as soon as possible after birth, preferably nursing within the first 3 hours of birth.

Good practice:

• Mares having prolonged difficulty foaling should receive veterinary attention in a timely manner.
• Foals must be microchipped by the end of the year of their birth or within six months of birth, whichever is later, in accordance with the Equine Animal (Identification) (Scotland) Regulations 2019 for all Equidae to be accompanied by a passport.
• Owners and keepers should have a foaling plan in place made in conjunction with their veterinary surgeon.
• Mares should receive appropriate prenatal and postnatal care, including appropriate nutrition and veterinary oversight.
• Owners and keepers should be educated on foaling and foaling complications.
• Owners and keepers should continue to monitor the mare to be sure that the placenta has been passed within 3 hours from birth, and check to ensure it is complete. Failure to pass a complete placenta would require veterinary assistance.
• Foaling environments should be safe, clean, and well-monitored.
• Mares in late pregnancy should be checked at least twice daily for signs of impending foaling and more frequently as foaling time approaches. They should not be disturbed or interfered with unnecessarily. CCTV may be utilised to prevent disturbances and to increase frequency of checks, though should not replace in-person checks.
• Owners and keepers should ensure pregnant mares and jennets are appropriately vaccinated during gestation to project themselves as well as protect the foal after foaling through immunity transferred to the foal via colostrum. Vaccinations should be boosted three to four weeks before the projected foaling date to ensure optimal antibody concentration in the colostrum.
• Owners or keepers should ensure foals are immunised with primary and booster vaccines as this affects their vaccine response later in life.
• Mares about to give birth should be provided with a clean, hazard free area. This could be a well-bedded foaling box of a large size, or a paddock area that includes a sheltered foaling area in the event of adverse weather conditions. The mare should be allowed to become familiar with the foaling area several days before foaling.
• Unless medically required, foals should be allowed to start suckling naturally with unrestricted access to their mother.
• Owners and keepers should be prepared for having to care for an orphaned foal and have access to appropriate resources, including milk replacers and socialisation strategies.
• Owners and keepers should be prepared to provide support for mares who have lost their foals.

Weaning

Weaning can significantly impact an equid’s quality of life at physical, behavioural and emotional levels. Foals that experience inadequate early care or abrupt weaning may develop behavioural issues or struggle with adapting to new situations. Similarly, abrupt weaning will be stressful for the mare. However with careful planning and a gradual approach this process can be undertaken with minimal negative impacts on both mare and foal.

Successful care and management during these critical development stages will equip the foal with a robust musculoskeletal system, healthy selective grazing behaviours, good social skills and safe behaviours around human handlers while promoting a good quality of life for the young equid. Foals benefit from being gradually weaned into a mixed age group of youngsters to play with along with a familiar adult equid to learn from. Thoughtful handling and management from birth can improve their resilience later in life.

Development of stereotypies such as cribbing often start around the time of weaning. Such behaviours reflect poor welfare practices (that induce stress and nutrition too high in starch) and so if they occur the management of that individual/group should be reassessed to ensure their species-specific (Friends, Forage and Freedom) and individual needs are being met.

Good practice:

• Weaning of foals should happen gradually from around 9-10 months of age unless under veterinary advice.
• Weaning should be undertaken gradually, ideally with both familiar adult equids and youngsters in a group setting, to limit stress to mare and foal and encourage natural behaviours.
• Foals should not be weaned by being isolated.
• Foals should gradually move to a forage-based diet and supplementary feeding that include cereals should be avoided.
• The mare’s welfare should also be closely monitored throughout the weaning process, ensuring she does not become overly stressed.

Enhanced management measures:

• Start the process of weaning from 10 plus months of age to be more in line with the weaning age of free ranging, naturally living equids and therefore be more species appropriate to the equids’ natural needs.