BETTER WEANING FOR MARE AND FOAL
Understand Horses presents a webinar with equine scientist Dr Aline Bouquet on weaning practices and their implications for health and welfare.
A link to the recording of this webinar will be shared to registered users the day after the live event. The recording will be available for 3 days.
TUESDAY 1ST APRIL 2025 | 7PM BST
£15 | 1.5 HOURS
PresenterS
Aline Bouquet
HOST
Rosa Verwijs
BETTER WEANING FOR MARE AND FOAL
Artificial weaning - the human induced physical separation of dam and foal at an unnaturally early stage - is one of the most stressful events in a horse’s life.
In feral (or semi-feral) situations weaning involves the gradual cessation of nursing and transitioning onto a full solid food diet, but artificial weaning not only initiates the cessation of nursing but also breaks the dam-foal attachment and brings along additional nutritional, husbandry, and social changes.
In this webinar, equine scientist Aline Bouquet explains that a greater understanding and consideration of artificial weaning practices can empower horse owners and carers to make better informed choices.
Key topics covered:
What is the difference between artificial weaning and natural weaning?
What are the short and long-term consequences of artificial weaning on equine physical and psychological health and welfare?
How different management practices may alleviate or worsen artificial weaning stress
What happens to mares during artificial weaning?
Debunking myths: common misconceptions surrounding artificial weaning
Practical solutions: how do I wean my foal(s) to maximise short- and long-term welfare and what can I do to help their weaning stress recovery
This webinar is aimed at horse owners/carers, students and equestrian professionals.
After the presentation, Aline will answer questions
MEET THE PrESENTER
ALINE BOUQUET
Aline Bouquet PhD is an equine welfare scientist at the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) in London investigating the Quality-of-Life of older horses particularly when diagnosed with PPID (Cushing’s disease). Previously to studying older horses and during her PhD, Aline investigated the role of maternal behaviour and early life experiences in the development of abnormal oral repetitive behaviour and social behaviour in young horses. Aline has always been a horse fanatic, sat on horses before she could walk, and made it her life’s mission to improve equine welfare at the forefront of research, which led to her to move around the world to gain valuable practical and research experience.
MEET THE HOST
ROSA VERWIJS
Rosa is an International Association of Animal Behaviour Consultants (IAABC) Certified Equine Behaviour Consultant and registered with the Animal Behaviour and Training Council (ABTC) as an Accredited Animal Behaviourist. She sits on the equine committee of the ABTC and is the ABTC behaviourist representative on the British Horse Society’s Equine Health and Welfare Advisory Committee, and is a contributor on the Understand Horses online education platform.
She is a Senior Lecturer in Equine Behaviour and Nutrition at ARU Writtle (formerly Writtle University College) in Essex, where she leads the BSc (Hons) Equine Behavioural Science degree, educating future generations of equine behaviourists and conducting research in equine behaviour and welfare.
On-Demand Courses:
LIVE WEBINAR
A link to the recording of this webinar will be shared to registered users the day after the live event. The recording will be available for 3 days.
ARCHIVED RECORDING
A separate archived version will be available for sale afterwards. Archived webinars are available to purchase on-demand at any time and view for up to 60 days