Foaling Down Outside vs Inside

[mcnaughty]

Hi

Could I ask you all for a quick comment on this? Which of you prefer in or out for foaling and what reasons would you give for and against both?

Fi

 

[Ladylina83]

I would be really interested in this too - i guess if you mare goes out in the day there is nothing to stop her from foaling in the field. I did ask my vet back in feb about this she said the only reason to bring in is to A stop badgers getting the foal ???? and B for ease of checking on her on night watch. Some mares might just be more comfortable in their stable. oh questions questions questions - I'm going to leave it up to my girl I think.

Oh and thinking back an old YO had a mare that foaled then cow kicked the foal into the wall - I guess that could be an argument against foaling in maybe

I openly admit to not knowing enough.

 

[AmyMay]

I've been present at both.

On the ocassions that the mares have foaled outside - it's because it's very much what they wanted to do, choosing to foal in the day, rather than at night in their stable.

The benefits of foaling indoors are that obviously it is much easier to watch the mare and to be on hand to give immediate assistance if and when it's needed.

 

[JC1]

This is really interesting as was just about to ask the same question!

Last time our mare foaled it was outside and I think she might have had all foals with previous owners outside.

We're wondering if it will be best for her outside again this year.

 

[Beatrice5]

My mare foaled in her field shelter but she had the option of both. I have been told it's more hygienic to foal outside if the weather permits . I also know that when I was in labour I needed to move around and as such felt my mare would be better to have the space to roll, walk and just get herself into a comfortable position.

I know mares will seek cover from above as well as the sides eg a shelter / hedge / trees but can't remeber the reasoning apart from I suppose hiding them from predators and maybe sheltering them from the weather.

Good luck x

 

[Holly831]

I prefer to have them foal inside BUT that is only for my convienience ie easier to check them and if vet is needed ( I have one mare that always retains and needs the vet for manual removal). I also like to handle my foals in the first few hours and that too is easier in an enclosed space. Having the cameras in the stables means I can check my mares without disturbing them until I see (hopefully) thay are very close to foaling down. It also means I have light, running water and power on hand in case of emergency and I am not trying to find them in the dark in a 10 acre field.

Cons are it is less hygienic (I believe) and I am not giving my mares the choice of where they would like to foal. Foal could be squished in the stable too (although very unlikely)

Foaling outside feels more natural for the horses.

I don't think there is a right or wrong answer but I think the mares sometimes make the decision for us - ie foaling out during the day!

 

[Simsar]

Depends on the weather! Would never foal outside when to cold.

 

[Smile_and_Wave]

ive always been told foaling outside is cleaner and there is much less risk of infection from a dirty stable etc, i have little expereince of foaling outside though, i would say it would be tricky to assist etc and would worry about being able to handle and catch the mare after foaling especailly if she is very foal proud making dealing with them both much trickier

 

[KarynK]

Mine have a choice of a small post and rail paddock or shelter if foaling early and on only 1 occasion has the foal been born in the shelter. In the summer they all foal out in the gently lit floodlit paddock, this works for me, i don't like the idea of the foal's first breath being of spores from straw and it's much more hygenic outside on grass and I don't have to burn the bedding just chuck some disinfectant on it. It also gives the mare more room to foal and reposition if she has to and the foal has a much better footing to perfect getting up and down. You also have more room to move around should things go wrong and assistance be needed.

 

[Eothain]

We foal all ours outside. Much cleaner.

Funny story about last year. I had a mare up against foaling in the really good weather last April. Then there was 3 days of real heavy rain and I thought to myself that she'd never foal in that! Sure enough, she did!!! What's more, when I went to find the foal bag, I discovered it beside the biggest puddle in the field!!! The foal was then named Puddles

 

[Touchwood]

I would never purposely foal outside, as its just so much easier to assist when inside with lights, electricity and running water. All our mares are on camera overnight and we watch them from the house...that would be impossible outside. If you have a problem, it would also be nigh on impossible to deal with it out in a field, in the dark! IMO, it is also too cold for many less hardy breeds to foal outside at night in this country, so I would never leave something out overnight.
Having said that, if its a nice sunny day, the mare is out in the field during the day and happened to start foaling down out there, we would not drag her into a stable.

 

[KarynK]

With my set up I have as much lighting available in the paddock as I would in the stable, my pure TB foaled 2 1/2 weeks ago in her paddock (50'x50'), if I shut her in a stable she would stress herself into problems. The foal was not cold and for a few days simply had a little rug on just in case. I handle all mine at birth and have no problems handling the little man who is now in the big field.

Had she had problems I feel there is so much more room in a small paddock to help her reposition a foal and indeed she herself has the freedom and space to roll and reposition without the danger of a human being injured in the process, especially in a smaller stable. This mare like many is an expert at choosing the best weather to have her foals and last time when it was cold she had the foal in the shelter and after that we had a week of super weather. All mine have been very relaxed having them in the paddock.

I am actually considering CCTV next year and all I will do is invest in night vision capable cameras.

 

[Yorketown]

My mares are kept out all year with free range access to a large field shelter (rarely used), therefore come foaling time they naturally prefer to stay outside.

They are brought into a foaling paddock which has a 20'x15' field shelter (and new solar powered light just fitted by clever me) which they can use and I can close them into if the weather is bad, but to date it has never been used. I have to go out and check the mare on a regular basis during the night which I have to admit is not as nice as sitting on my sofa with all my mod cons watching my mares on my TV!! I was tempted to install a camera in my stables but as they are restricted in size (12x12) and I prefer my mare and foal to have more space, I have not gone for this option (but yes, the temptation is still niggling at me).

As all my mares are well handled catching/handling them and their foals has never been an issue. I live in North Wales and breed warmbloods and have one Thoroughbred broodmare and so far they have not found it too cold to foal outside (although they don't usually foal until May/June). If I had them foaling earlier I would agree that it would probably be better for them to foal indoors. Also if I ever had a mare that had previous issues foaling I would foal her inside.

As with all things there are pros and cons with both but when making a decision to foal inside or outside take into account your mares normal routine (is she normally out/in), temperament, foaling history, your facilities, and time of year before trying to take in all the advice/opinions you will get.

I have probably forgotten some major considerations, so anyone please highlight the ones I have missed!!

 

[trumdella]

I think it depends on the circumstances!

If you have adequate fencing to foal down outside - and light so that if there's a problem then you can step in and help then outside would definately be the way to go!

In Australia you would very rarely hear of a mare foaling down in a box! and bearing in mind their Thoroughbred breeding season starts in August in their winter where temps do drop to -5c! - (where i am) the mares still get on with it and the foals are ok! where i work we rug foals for the first night but after that.. they are fine!!!
Outside is much more natural, the mare can walk and pace like she would in the wild, she'll have more room to roll so she can turn the foal (without so much risk of getting cast!)

after we foal we lime the area to disinfect it so to speak! as we have a 10 foaling yards and about 200 mares to foal down! this just helps with hygiene!

However i do think that if the weather is horrible, it's probably nicer to foal inside - for the new foal..

i think its personal preference and until i came to Australia I'd only ever foaled a few mares outside mostly in boxes!!!

 

[Touchwood]

Everyone is allowed their personal preferences. Between my husband and I, we're on over 500 foalings now, with probably around 99% of them having foaled down in stables. Having seen lots of various scenarios, I know where I would rather be to deal with them.
Of course it is more natural for them to foal outside, but with the majority of modern breeds, we are taking them out of their natural environment anyway. We foal down for clients so have to take every precaution to safeguard their animals....I would not be very popular with one of my owners if their newborn foal died from exposure having been foaled outside on a March night (which this year we happened to have a foot of snow of the ground)...extreme scenario, but you get the gist.

To add...the people successfully foaling outside do sound like they have the facilities that make that easy - most people do not have night vision long range cameras to scan over their larger fields which the mares are grazing in.

 

[chrissie1]

I'm in total agreement with Gemma on this, yes we have had mares that chose to foal outside in the daytime, and that is fine as long as they don't choose a muddy patch, or to brace themselves against a fence etc.

One who did it outside last year we brought in as soon as possible as there was a very cold north wind blowing and I simply felt that the foal would be compromised by lying there wet and shivering.

What about should you need the vet? Trying to sort out a bad presentation at 3 in the morning outside in the dark doesn't sound like much of a good idea to me.

 

[ruby1]

I personally prefer to foal the mares inside. Two of our foals were born at livery yards were we had to sit around in the cold all night waiting on the big event but still we had her foal in the stable. We are now fortunate enough to have our own small place with the stables just outside the front door and our last foal,foaled inside. I know of many mares who have foaled outside and never had any trouble and all went well but on a personal level i would not take the risk foaling outside.
We all spend alot of time and money hoping to have healthy strong foals born and i couldn't live with myself if she foaled outside and it all went wrong.

It is very much a matter of personal preference but i just like the fact if the mares in the stable she's at hand for any emergency's that might but hopefully won't come up.

Wishing healthy foals to all those foaling inside or out.

 

[kira]

I used to foal down in stables when I lived in the UK, but since moving to the Southern Hemisphere have foaled down outside. With the better weather here I would never go back to foaling indoors now. I have had a maiden mare with a bad presentation that managed to fix the foal position herself as she was able to move around better. I have foaled in quite large paddocks too with no problem catching mare or foal. I find the foals do better outside and the mares are much happier, even (especially!) the mare that I imported that had only ever foaled indoors and was very much used to being in a stable.

If you have the choice and the weather is not bad, I would definitely recommend outside foaling. I always have a foaling alarm on the mares too, so CCTV is not necessary, but lights are.

 

[Enfys]

All my horses live out 24/7, but mares come in at night about a week before their DD, depending on individual progress, out all day, if they foal outside during the day all well and fine.

Reasons I prefer my mares indoors at night:

a) Even in early Spring we can still have snow on the ground and minus C temps, if I got caught out on a -15C night I could have a dead foal by morning. It would be foolish to risk it.

b) My barn has large stalls, electricity etc. My paddocks do not have lighting and are not set up for foaling, or complications, we also have a healthy local coyote population.

c) My Vet appreciates lights, hot water etc at 3am when he is pulling a foal and fighting to save the mare, especially if it is -silly C outside.