Advice please... Mare in foal/Foaling

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shandy133

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Hi, i was wondering if anybody could please give me some advice on what to look out for with my mare?
She is has been regularly scanned - she was in foal with twins, so we had one pinched - and I have been giving her lots of vitamin/mineral supplements, so feel i have been very confident up until this point.
She was found to have taken on the 6th June 2011... so should be due on 6th May 2012.
This is my first mare to foal at my yard - i have worked at yards where mares have foaled, and have seen births, but have not had first-hand experience with foaling.
SO...This is where i would appreciate some advice...
I currently have the mare fed on Simple Systems "green gold" chaff, half a scoop of calm and condition, ad-lib haylage, and for supplements, feedmarks "benevit, origional balancer and vita-sel" This is what i fed her when she was in hard work - dressage, but with more vitamins (added the benevit and vita-sel).
I should also add that she currently lives in 24/7 as refuses to turn out - gallops around and breaks through fencing to come back in - she has always been the same - have never been able to turn her out in winter - so she has 2-3 buckets fulls of ready grass, and a few simple systems "lucie bricks" to keep her tickinhg over. (not ideal - but cant be helped at the moment, i will aim to get her out as soon as it turns warm and she is happy in the field and wont hurt herself or her bump)
Would anyone advise to change this feeding regime closer to birthing or keep her on the same? She has never done well on mixes as gets highly strung, hence i have avioded stud mixes.
What should she be on after the birth - should we keep her on the same? - is calm and condition good for foals?
How accurate do "due dates" seem to be?
I will aim to bed her with straw around 2 weeks before birth, but has anyone else used a different bedding as i am allergic to straw, but would not compromise foal/dam health, but would be interested if there is an alternative.
How long after foaling would you keep the mare and foal on straw?
Would you turn out the foal in the morning? - obviously if all goes well during birth.
I have read so many websites and advice pages on what to do if things go wrong, and have vets on standby, but how often do things tend to go wrong?
The other major worry I have, is my mare has always been individually grazed - partly due to the fact I have not wanted to risk injury whilst she has been a competition horse, and she can be aggressive and erratic towards other horses/ponies, so what do you advise RE socialising the foal with others? I do not want to risk injury to any of the horses is the mare decides to be over protective if I turn her out with others - especially as she is not used to it.
The Mare means the world to me and I have competed her successfully for BYRDS and U21's in internationals and at the BD nationals, so i have everything crossed that the birth goes well as i would never forgive myself if anything happened to her...
I guess i am a little worried after reading how much can go wrong during birth, but want to be as clued up as possible.
Many thanks for reading, and i hope you can help me.
Sam (and Vimone - expectant mummy to be)
 
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Get yourself a copy of from foal to full grown by (I think) Jane or Janet Lepp, really good book and gives you loads of information...I used mine like a bible when my mare foaled a few years ago and have given book to a mate who is expecting first foals this year
 
I can only answer from the experiences I have - if the feeding regime is working for you thats fine, the actual nutrient requirements only really increase in the last couple of months as far as im aware. I would be making sure minerals were balanced, everything else (vitamins) the horse makes itself. I would avoid mixes, i believe high sugar etc can be bad for youngstocks development if fed too much, foal should be fine and will start to eat mares feed after a couple of weeks. Usually people leave foal in for first day, and turnout next day, depends on the horses and set-up though. I would always try and make sure there is other horses for foal to interact with, first over fence and you can gauge mares reaction. I wouldnt know about the bedding as almost all mares I know have been bedded for birth then lived out - that is the ideal. I believe maiden mares can be a week or two late if anything.
 
For a more full answer try posting on breeding.
I am sure it will all go well and there are plenty of books to read while you wait.
I think you will find the mare may become more relaxed in herself as the pregnancy progresses as she would obviously benefit from being out more when you can.
She is likely to become more difficult with others once baby is here so socialising will probably have to wait until weaning, unless she is able to go out with another mare and foal.
Make sure you have good cover at night from your vets ideally with their mobile numbers, they need not be on standby as such but an experience person/friend you can call at anytime for advice would help put your mind at rest.
Turnout next day if you can in a small secure paddock, with your mare away from other horses may be helpful.
good luck and look forward to photos in May.
 
The book 'From Foal to Full Grown' is by Janet Lorch. I have just given my copy to someone on here, but you should be able to pick up a second hand copy quite easily. Excellent book!
Best of luck with your mare and foal xx
 
first of the thing that jumps out at me is you are giving her to many vitamins as she only needs one multivitamin so i would say feedmark benivet is more than enough on its own. as for the feeding i feed my broadmares the same as all the other horses and the only change o do is that for the last third of gestation i give them suregrow this is a stud balancer in which case you wont even need your benivet. if she is loosing condition she can the have some stud cubes.

gestation period is between 320 and 370 days with an average of 340 days i have got one mare that goes without fail between 340 and 344 days and one maiden mare who nearly caught us out last year and foaled at 323days and caught her pacing in the field and brought her in and foal arrived 20 minutes later she was waiting on us bringing her in
 
She was found to have taken on the 6th June 2011... so should be due on 6th May 2012. Her 'due' date will actually be about 13th May - but 3 weeks either side of that is 'normal'.

I currently have the mare fed on Simple Systems "green gold" chaff, half a scoop of calm and condition, ad-lib haylage, etc Feed for condition - nicely covered but not too fat - until 8 weeks before foaling. Then she's benefit from the extra protein in a good stud balancer (I use Bailey's Stud Balancer) - and up the BSB after foaling. Mare needs extra potein - but go easy on the 'energy'.

I should also add that she currently lives in 24/7 as refuses to turn out - I would be a bit concerned about exercise - is she getting any?

I will aim to bed her with straw around 2 weeks before birth, but has anyone else used a different bedding Paper is excellent for foaling mares.

How long after foaling would you keep the mare and foal on straw? Or paper - at least a week - until the foal's navel is completely dried up - and until it works out what it should be eating!:rolleyes:

Would you turn out the foal in the morning? - obviously if all goes well during birth.IF foal is strong, and IF mare is bonded with it, and IF the weather is decent - then we turn out (alone!!) the morning after foaling! They don't get grouped up with other mares and foals until foalie is a week old.

I have read so many websites and advice pages on what to do if things go wrong, and have vets on standby, but how often do things tend to go wrong? I foal about 15 mares a year and, on average, one mare will give me trouble. But if you only have one mare, then I'd work on 50/50! You need to watch mare like a hawk, because a 5 minute delay in getting there can easily mean a dead foal - particularly with a maiden mare. But the things that can result in a dead foal are normally easily fixed by anyone who has common sense, has done their research - AND IS THERE!

The other major worry I have, is my mare has always been individually grazed - partly due to the fact I have not wanted to risk injury whilst she has been a competition horse, and she can be aggressive and erratic towards other horses/ponies, so what do you advise RE socialising the foal with others? If you don't have another mare & foal to put her with - then keep her on her own! Foal can be socialised after weaning - it can mean they become little *****s for a while - if Mum is too nice to them - but it works itself out.
 
thanks for the advice - I will definately get the book. I have also read that weather can affect their labour... so confusing, but i am very excited and looking forward to putting pics up in may...

And yes, JanetGeorge - we have her out every day in hand grazing and walking. She has even learnt Spanish Walk and other fun tricks whilst she has been off work as to keep her mind working. :) - Paper sounds a great alternative.
We plan to have cctv fixed into her stable and will do regular checks.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.329274954059.152623.508204059&type=3 this is her FB album with all her pics - i cant wait to have a mini Vimmy :)

Thanks again everyone - very much apprechiated. :)
 
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