Advice please! New horse in foal and due very soon :-/

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Benefice1

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Hi everyone, a little bit of background....I keey horses at my dad's home and had a spare stable. I asked around if anyone wanted it and met a lovely more mature lady*who had had horses in the past but had had a long break and was looking to buy a safe sensible horse to hack.

We looked at lots of horses and finally in October found "Armani", a 7yr coloured cob mare. She is everything and more that the lady wanted and has proved to be a lovely gentle safe girl. She keeps her with mine but I do the stable side of things as she works fumny hours and its easier just do everything at once. Everyone was happy.

Anyway, when we bought her she had a bit of a tum but she'd been out of proper work and just looked as though she needed fittening up. She wasn't vetted.

Over the last few weeks she has literally ballooned, even though she's only on hay...I thought it prudent to get hold looked at and the vet came out yesterday. And yep she's in foal and quite far gone!

Spoke to prev owner who said they had no idea?! And that they'd had her 8 months before my friend brought her which would take us back to February. This means if she was covered before then that the foal will be here in the next month or so :-/

Has anyone else had an unexpected foal or has anyone had a winter foal?!

Although I've had horses for a long time I have very light experience of pregnant mares, foaling and foal. Our vet is amazing and so we can ask him for advice/help at anytime but wondered whether top tips people had leading up to the birth and for those first few weeks after. I'm just concerned about the cold.

Sorry its so long! Any experiences or advice would be amazing x
 
Your best bet is to re-post this in Breeding where there is a wealth of experience and advice. If you want to read Janet Lorch "From Foal to Full-grown" is very useful.
 
Find all the threads last year from tessbear! That was a BOGOF and everyone gave so much advice! It will be a long read but well worth it!

Make sure you put pictures up :)!!!!
 
I've only ever had mares foal April onwards, however it was at a yard where a surprise foal was born 24/12! It had the thickest, wooliest coat from day 1 and coped very well. Your friend might want to invest in a large dog coat for the baby for chillier days. Providing they have access to a large stable during the worst of the weather I think they will be fine - horses are a lot more durable than we give them credit for. I would recommend individual turnout - have a careful look at your fencing - try to make it 'foal proof'. Good luck x
 
I would pm JanetGeorge who posts on here she immensely experianced and will advise you .
Clearly it's not ideal but as there are excellent foods and balancers etc available for the mare than in the past it not quite the disaster for the foal it used to be.
If possible use the biggest stable / shed you can as may need to stable more than usual when the weather is bad .
You will need get proper advise on the diet to make up for the lack of grass.
Your vet practise will probably have a vet who specialises in breeding get them to advise you in advance.
These people who allow mares to get into foal by accident are a disgrace.
 
Thoroughbred mares intentionally foal in January and February so don't panic. Is your friend pleased or upset? I hope you get a lovely foal. From Foal to Full Grown was my Bible, it is easy to read and very interesting.
 
The same happened to me nearly 3 years ago now. Discovered the mare was in foal in late October and she eventually produced in March. I was like you, a bit surprised and rather worried about my lack of experience especially with a maiden mare but I got lots of help from this forum and the mare produced a very healthy happy foal who is now 2 and a super star!

I kept my mare in at night from Christmas onwards and once the foal was born I turned them out in a safe paddock during the day and in at night until May when it got warmer. I didn't put a rug on the foal but didn't turn them out for long if it was raining.

I did have a friend who was very experienced with foaling who came and helped when she foaled and helped with afterbirth etc, something I wouldn't really have known anything about, so might be worth seeing if you can find a friendly expert in your area who would be prepared to come and offer some advice.

Good luck, it is great when they arrive and huge fun trying to work out who Daddy might be!
 
I you are really worried about the cold (as I would be, but I'm not that experienced with foaling having just been there at one), then I would think about sending the mare to a local stud for foaling. They will have facilities such as heat lamps to ensure that the foal is warm enough and also that experts will be readily at hand. It is very hard work in the run up to foaling as ideally, the mare's signs of foaling (such as udder filling, teats waxing and vulva loosening) should be monitored. We took photographs most days so we could see for sure if there'd been a change. I also allowed the owner of the mare to stay in the yard annex so she could get up through the night and check on her mare. She did this for 3 weeks, getting up every two hours during the night.
 
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