My mare will be foaling outside this year, advice please.

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Doncella

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Apart from pitching a tent. Tetenus jabs next week and then somewhere around the middle of April she should foal.
As a rule she bags up, waxes then out it pops within 24 hours.
The reason she is to foal outside is because she lives out 24/7 and frankly there is no one round here who I know well enough to ask for livery for a broodmare and foal for me.
Any help gratefully appreciated.
 
Foaling outside is fine - if the weather is nice which in mid April it can still turn very cold and wintery, you have shelter for her near by if needed and the mare is easy to catch and the rest of the herd she is with are nice and calm.
Is there any way you can get a field shelter put up? - the kind that has a gate on it and you can put a straw bed down - just incase the weather is bad or something goes wrong and you need a vet - as I'm sure dealing with a mare in trouble in a rain storm is not much fun and quite risky for mare and foal!!
Failing that maybe find a stud local to you that you can send her to for a few weeks to foal down - well worth doing to get peace of mind especially after waiting that long for a foal and spending all that money getting the mare in foal!!

Also don't be fooled by how a mare normally foals, as they really can catch you out - we've had one or 2 of ours be very predictable for a few years with text book signs each year, then they suddenly foal without warning or even waxing up at all - one minute they're munching calmly away, I trundle in to make a cup of tea and come out 15mins later and there is half a foal sticking out!!!:D
 
What type of mare is she? Does she have access to shelter? Are there other horses in the field with her?

Natives with shelter you can get away with, but it is not advisable for TB's & their crosses if there is a risk of rain. Foals chill very quickly from lying on wet cold ground. The mare can hold off by releasing a chemical which postpones foaling. But I have known a mare foal in a storm! The foal was fine, but he was from hardy stock. Mares do foal outside without problems, but there is always that one time & it is harder to monitor them, so is it worth the risk?
 
We foal all our mares down outside.... i know that's in Australia.. but it does get down to -5c... and it does rain and get wintery!!!! They are thoroughbreds that we are foaling too!!! they do fine.. maybe make sure you have a little rug if the weather is bad.. but its so much nicer to foal outside!!!

***** I have to say though.. we are set up to foal outside though.. with floodlit areas to foal in... easy access if we need a vet to help deliver.. access to stables should we need to put mare and foal inside!!!!
 
This is a field in Wales with a good thick hedge round it. The mare is 3/4tb/1/4aqh and is quite a toughy.
There are no studs around me and I don't know anyone with facilities to take her.
My field is reasonably clean and well drained and in a couple of weeks there will be a good sward of grass on it.
 
My mare foaled outside last year, not by my choice, each time she waxed up I kept her in and she crossed her legs, wax dissapeared I left her out overnight, turned up the next morning and foalie was standing beside her to greet me, she was out with her usual field companion who was standing a few feet in front of the mare and foal "on guard" all was well with both of them, so she was given the choice and chose outside, she does have a huge field shelter and natural tree shelter too. Good luck.
 
Don't worry too much my TB foals out, there is no way she would tolerate being in she would get in a real stressed state if I tried. I do have a field shelter but she only used it to foal once that foal was born on 25th March but was up an out as soon as the sun came up. Last year she foaled on the 4th April out in the paddock, If you can confine them to a small area that is much better. I have a small post and rail paddock for when they are born, with free access to the field shelter if they want to use it but they seem to prefer the grass and the space outside.

Mares that live out get very in tune with the weather and all of mine have foaled at the beginning of a spell of good weather. I monitor their milk to gage when they will foal and camp out in my old caravan or my horse trailer. I have solar spotlights around the paddock lights in the shelter and head torches which give plenty of light to monitor them and take any action if necessary. I have small rugs for the foals and my foals wear them if they are born early, but they manage just fine.
 
Rachi0 - I did a breeding diploma years ago and I found that you Aussies were practising stress free weaning using electric fences. I've taken it a bit further leaving my foals on mum where possible through the winter but it was an inspiration from down-under. I'm really pleased to hear you foal out, are there any stats to say that instances of dystocia are reduced by this I wonder??
 
All ours foal outdoors but April can be iffy re weather which is why ours never start until May.
You should be fine unless something goes wrong in which case you do need access to a stable not too far away.
When ours have been born in terrible weather we have carried the foal inside leading the mare (who is going mental of course) rubbed them down and used a heat lamp or hair drier if necessary. Our mares are old timers in the main so don't get uber protective over the foals.
I think if you can't build a temporary sort of shelter (think giant straw bales fastened securely together and a tarp as a roof) go and ask a few nearby yards if they could help if you have an emergency, too late to ask on the night.
Ours mostly cope perfectly well, the most difficult thing if they catch you on the hop is catching the foal and treating it's navel, leaving it too long is asking for trouble and for that reason you would be better sleeping in your car or borrowing a caravan or horsebox so you are on site even if you just check several times through the night. (then the mare will choose to foal middle of the day when you are at work!)
 
I've foaled in and out. Whilst I prefer to foal outside, you have to bear in mind that there are those mares, who given a 10 acre field, will still foal up against a fence, and if it isn't stock proof, then you can have a foal, the wrong side of a fence, and in a ditch. Not what you want, if you miss the event.

Alec.
 
Alec Swan said:
, you have to bear in mind that there are those mares, who given a 10 acre field, will still foal up against a fence, and if it isn't stock proof, then you can have a foal, the wrong side of a fence, and in a ditch. Not what you want, if you miss the event.

Alec.
Click to expand...

As in the time I looked out of the window at 6am, thought "Oh wow, there's an albino deer in the wood there" then realised to my horror it was actually a foal. It was a first for me to be retrieving a foal in dressing gown and wellies (didn't wait to get dressed)

We don't have ditches, what we do have are coyotes which would have helped themselves to a bonus breakfast if they'd been around at the time.

In? Out? I think whichever way works as long as you have everything to hand and are prepared for all eventualities then whatever suits you and your horse is best. Foals are pretty tough creatures.

These Morgans (2011 foals pictured) live in a herd and although they have a barn they spend an awful lot of time outside. We have, shall we say, inclement weather currently, and temperatures average about zero right now.

107.jpg
 
My mare foaled outside last summer but it was a very warm July evening 2 weeks early

I had decided she would foal out anyway as I had read about the benifits of being able to move about freely if the foal is stuck. It took her 30mins with all her mates watching over the fence and all went well - I was very lucky ( her mates did a little victory dance when he stood up for the 1st time it was amazing to see ) She cleaned him up but then we struggled to get him feeding as she was really touchy so then the stable was a godsend

Good luck with your mare
 
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