>>>> To the person who said it is wrong to separate 2-week old foals from >>>> their mothers is ill-informed, as foals cannot be evaluated until they >>>> are 4 weeks old. From what I observed, when foals began to panic >>>> because of the separation, they were quickly reunited with Mom. That's >>>> not to say I approve or understand everything I saw at the Georgia >>>> evaluations, but we might as well stick with facts. Annie
You know, I'd bet that most people couldn't discern the difference between a two-week-old foal and a 4-week-old foal. I've raised several and I doubt even I could tell the difference if I didn't have foals of that age in front of me daily. It's sort of the same thing as raising a child - I often have trouble telling a 4 month old from a 6 month old baby unless I'm around children of that age regularly, even though I had a baby once myself. What I'm saying is, I think it's fair to say there simply isn't THAT much developmental difference between a two-week-old and a four-week-old in this context ... and I own two one-month-old foals RIGHT NOW. My point - it wouldn't change my opinion one whit if the babies were SIX weeks old, and probably not even if the foals were 12 weeks old, so I think in effect, whoever might have said two-weeks was close-enough that they shouldn't be lectured for being "ill-informed" or for not "sticking to the facts" - no matter how old those babies actually were. Karen Thomas, NC
