Orphan Foal Bank Success Continues

The NIHB Foster Mare/Orphan Foal Bank continues to be a great success and is still very much in demand.

Charlotte Kirkpatrick of the NIHB said: "The tables have now turned, during April we had quite a number of mares on the website, now we have more foals needing foster mothers, so if any mare owners have lost a foal and are willing to put their mares onto our website we would be delighted to have them. There are great benefits to letting a mare foster a foal, not only will it help the mare get over the loss of her own foal, in many instances a foster foal will also help the mares breeding cycle return to normal, which could allow her to go in foal this year rather than miss a year.

Urgently Wanted Foster Mares. Any mare owner who has lost a foal and is willing to let their mare foster an orphan foal should leave their contact details the NIHB Foster Mother - Orphan Foal Bank page www. nihorseboard. org."

Charlotte continued: "We have been contacted by owners throughout Ireland, from Donegal to Cork. Please remember you never know when you may need this service. Mares will only stay in milk for a few days so we constantly need foster mares. We are a breeders co-operative and offer this service as one breeder to another, we take no financial reward for running this scheme and hope that in some small way this may help breeders when they need it most."

This facility is available free to all horse and pony breeders, throughout Ireland, whether non-thoroughbred or thoroughbred. Like most things the more widely known about and used the more successful this service will be. Please keep the web address handy it could come in very useful at any time. www. nihorseboard. org Anyone needing a mare can access the web page 24 hrs a day seven days a week. Orphan foal owners in urgent need of a foster mother then contact the mare owner directly.

Likewise if no mares are available anyone can put a foal needing a foster mother onto the website and hopefully a mare might become available If you don't have access to the internet yourself why not 'phone a friend' and ask them to put it on for you, anyone can access the NIHB website or you can phone or fax your details to the NIHB office Tel (048) 028 97 528 324 and we will put your details on the website.