Foaling

[GOldendestinyx]

Do you guys prefer to foal at home? or take them too the vets to foal. Any information is helpful, also if you choose to foal at home do you use foaling alarms/ cameras ect??

 

[crabbymare]

I would foal mine down at home, but I used to do a lot of work sitting up and watching the mares that were imminent. At the yard where the mare I have on loan is they have cameras (I watched my foal being born online) and I think a birthing alarm plus the yard owner seems to either get sleep deprivation or turn nocturnal at foaling time. I think if you know what you are doing, know when something is wrong and when to call a vet its fine to faol them down yourself but if you have not got the experience or are worried its better to let them go somewhere experienced 2-3 weeks before they are due and let someone else have the worry.

 

[Old HorseBreeder]

Speaking as a stud groom/manager of 40 years plus I would say to you don't try to go it alone. Especially if the mare hasn't foaled before. A lot can go wrong, not just at the time of foaling, but latching the foal on after birth, some maiden mares can be very clumsy, and even aggressive to their foals. To go to the sometimes considerable expense of getting a mare in foal and then lose one or both through inexperienced handling and missing a vital sign is not intelligent. If you can afford to send her to a stud or vet then do, or if you want to foal at home maybe there is a professional in your area who is prepared to foal her for you, with the aid of a foaling alarm so as not to miss it. I have foaled mares locally for people who have wanted to be there and have them at home, it takes a bit of organising, but can work well. Foaling at the stud I used to like mares to come in at least 4 weeks before their due date, it gives them time to settle in their new surroundings and also to build up immunity to the new place and its bugs. With foaling, unlike calving, lambing, kidding, whelping (I've done all) there is not a lot of time to sort out a malpresentation, things can go very wrong in a short space of time and you need to know what is normal and what is not. Also expulsion of the afterbirth correctly needs experienced monitoring and examination, the quicker it comes away naturally the better, and the slightest tear in the placenta needs to be checked, just a scrap of it left stuck to the uterine lining can cause a lot of problems and worst case scenario toxic laminitis and/or death. People who leave their blood mares (native ponies are more equipped to cope) to foal alone in the field are taking a huge risk. Just my opinion!

 

[popsdosh]

Speaking as a stud groom/manager of 40 years plus I would say to you don't try to go it alone. Especially if the mare hasn't foaled before. A lot can go wrong, not just at the time of foaling, but latching the foal on after birth, some maiden mares can be very clumsy, and even aggressive to their foals. To go to the sometimes considerable expense of getting a mare in foal and then lose one or both through inexperienced handling and missing a vital sign is not intelligent. If you can afford to send her to a stud or vet then do, or if you want to foal at home maybe there is a professional in your area who is prepared to foal her for you, with the aid of a foaling alarm so as not to miss it. I have foaled mares locally for people who have wanted to be there and have them at home, it takes a bit of organising, but can work well. Foaling at the stud I used to like mares to come in at least 4 weeks before their due date, it gives them time to settle in their new surroundings and also to build up immunity to the new place and its bugs. With foaling, unlike calving, lambing, kidding, whelping (I've done all) there is not a lot of time to sort out a malpresentation, things can go very wrong in a short space of time and you need to know what is normal and what is not. Also expulsion of the afterbirth correctly needs experienced monitoring and examination, the quicker it comes away naturally the better, and the slightest tear in the placenta needs to be checked, just a scrap of it left stuck to the uterine lining can cause a lot of problems and worst case scenario toxic laminitis and/or death. People who leave their blood mares (native ponies are more equipped to cope) to foal alone in the field are taking a huge risk. Just my opinion!

So much sense until the penultimate sentence , I have over the years had many 100s of foals in all situations and by far the less likely to cause complications is foaling in a field they are used to and leaving them alone. Blood mare or Pony makes no difference they all do it easily . Unnecessary human intervention causes more issues than ever leaving them alone does. Young proud mares have very few issues if left alone for a while as most of the problems are caused by stress at the extra attention.
It is a very careful balance to be struck and experience is the best way forward all I know is in the last 15yrs the only foal we have lost was from a mare sent to us by the vet because the inexperienced owners would not leave her alone she was already 28 days over and we lost the mare as well soon after foaling. Just to be clear the mares are left alone in their normal paddocks however are monitored by cameras if needed ,however human intervention is only a last resort . It works for us and the result is in the mortality figures even with highly bred racing mares. It was brought about by us also having cattle and sheep and the fact that when both of these species give birth outside they need so much less intervention ,Mares if anything in the wild are more in need of seclusion at birth so its working with nature not against it. It is counter intuitive to how most studs work and its a difficult transition when your used to being there all the time however they still lose mares and foals and a lucrative industry has built up around it. ! We may be lucky but its 15yrs with no reason to go back.
Just for the OP I would send to an experienced stud every time over sending to a vets practice for two very good reasons . One a lot of vet practices are only covered overnight by inexperienced vet as far as foaling is concerned and studs have far more experience with foalings in general. Two is possibly more important in that most vet yards will have all sorts in and out including those with highly infectious diseases that have not even been diagnosed until in the yard.

 

[Equi]

Ive foaled at home. I'd done extensive research for a good year and completed a breeding course it also helped that all my neighbours are studs so I was in a pretty lucky posisiton. First two went with no issues third sadly went wrong but I was quick to notice and got the vet out to save the mare. I have Cctv and without it I wouldn't contemplate breeding. I watched it all day and woke up every 30mins at night. As pop says I'm a firm believer in letting them get in with it alone until you need to be there. I arch Cctv until the water breaks then go down to peek over the door and watch for that critical bubble and legs. Again if it looks ok I just wait. Last foal, bubble came but no foal and five mins later I went inside and felt the foal was breech so que panic And vet calls. Attempted to get it out myself with stud owner instructions but foal was dead an solid and I didn't have the strength to get it out. Thankfully vet got it and no injury was done to the mare either who was just glad it was over and never once cared about the foal although she did have some depression afterwards due to the stressful birth I imagine.

 

[cyberhorse]

It really depends upon your mare. We had a maiden mare and it was our first foal. However we had backup from friends who own a stud which I worked at when a teenager so seen plenty despite not being the hands on person and we had excellent vets nearby. The reason we chose not to send away was due to our ordinarily chilled mare being extremely stressed out when she was sent for AI and stayed away for 3 weeks. She was like a different horse when we went to pick her up and she had lost a considerable amount of weight. I did not want to risk her not settling again, as she is so calm at home. She was used to wean a foal so she'd had some experience at least. She foaled unassisted on night 320 and just got on with it. She didn't require any help or input and was fully bonded and had a happily drinking foal at foot when we first entered the stable. Was quite sweet as she moved behind her foal and looked at us like come and have a look at this. He got up staggered a few paces and lent on my leg at which point she happily went off to start munching her net as the babysitters had arrived! You can't have enough cameras (different angles) as it will let you keep out of the way, they need quiet time to bond and no distractions. Also worth having cameras accessible online for experienced eyes to be able to login and watch too to advise. My husband and I both have medical backgrounds so not squeamish, knew what to do in the event and I had also done a lot of lambing and calving as a kid so had no qualms about recognising red bag and abnormal presentations etc... we also had full emergency kit including resuscitation and oxygen. If you can get someone very experienced on site and not move the mare that would be ideal, it is a service I am sure a lot of people would be happy to pay for. I would have given the investment to that point anyhow. If not I think I would want to move much earlier to ensure fully settled.