Q:I have an unusual problem. I have raised several foals in the past, some from birth, some from weanling/yearling age. I have a 2 1/2-year-old half Friesian mare that I have had from birth. I purchased her dam already bred and owned and rode her for a year. Her dam had a wonderful temperament and had no vices. Her filly was born on one of the hottest central California days, at 113 degrees at 11 p.m. I was present and other than some panting the first day due to the heat, her birth and health were normal.

I weaned her at 3 months, which I typically do because I ride the mares. She was weaned with another foal one month older and simply separated from her dam by a shared fence. The two dams shared one pen, the two foals shared another. It was uneventful for all and was done gradually.

When this filly was 7 months of age, I sold both dams and the other filly she shared a pen with, and I moved this filly in with my remaining older mare, then moved them both to another state. They bonded well. In fact, the filly suckled on her frequently for several months until she was about 1 year old. As there was no milk from my mare, and they were turned out together, I let it go. About this time, the filly started to suck on her own tongue occasionally.

She stays outside (70-by-120 pen), but she comes into the barn to eat for three hours in the morning and three hours in the evening. She is handled regularly, and I can take her away from my other mare without a problem. Both horses are on alfalfa only with occasional grain. I do not have a pasture