FOALING

Foaling is an impressive and somewhat nerve-racking event.  The speed of the delivery is remarkable. Equally impressive are how quickly the mare recovers and how precocious the foal is.  Think about it.  The mare, in fairly short order, delivers a baby that is roughly 10% of her weight.  Within minutes she is up on her feet, attending to and protecting her foal.  The foal is generally up and trying out its legs a few minutes later.  Shortly after that, it is nursing and then ready to follow wherever mom leads.  As a prey animal, it is vital for the mare to work quickly and for both her and the foal to be able to return to the safety of the herd.  Domestication has not changed the mechanics of the foaling much.  As caretakers for the mares, there are steps we can take to encourage the process to proceed smoothly.  This article will discuss some worthwhile preparations for foaling.  Then there will be a review of the normal foaling process.

Preparation for foaling:

Environment Acclimation- The mare should be moved to the location (i.e. farm) where she is intended to foal 4-6 weeks prior to her due date.  Foaling is a very stressful event for a mare.  It is extremely important to encourage the mare to be comfortable and confident in her surroundings.  Fears and distractions can disrupt the process, a process that is designed to proceed powerfully and rapidly.  Moving the mare to the foaling location well in advance will allow her ample time to adjust to the sights, sounds, and smells of her surroundings.  It will give her a chance to become familiar with the people, other horses and whatever other barn animals might be around.  

This time will also allow her immune system to respond to varieties of pathogens that happen to found in that particular environment.  In turn, this immune response will be passed on to the colostrum and ultimately will provide the foal with protection from these pathogens.  

Schedule Adjustment- The daily schedule that will be enforced near the mare’s due date should be started 4-6 weeks prior to foaling.  This too is an effort to adjust the mare mentally and physically to her surroundings.  In addition to feed and turn-out schedules, this is a good time to introduce nightly checks.  Make the nightly checks regular, at the same times each night.  Begin with just one or two checks per night.  Gradually increase the number of checks per night as the weeks go by.  As she gets close to foaling, check on her every 2-3 hours if possible.  In general it does not help to sleep in the barn because that tends to disrupt the mare’s routine too much.

Foaling Stall- The stall should be a bare minimum of 10 ft X 10 ft, preferably 12 ft X 12 ft or larger.  The stall should be in quiet location.  Good footing is important because it will get very wet with the delivery.  The mare may be up and down several times around the time of the delivery, not to mention the gymnastics the foal will go through to get up on its feet.  With the delivery there will be a great deal of fluid discharged.  I prefer good quality straw for bedding over sawdust.  Straw doesn’t stick to wet surfaces as badly and it allows moisture to seep through.  Sawdust sticks to everything wet,  the mare’s perineum, all over the foal’s body, on the foal’s umbilicus and in the foal’s nostrils.  Thorough and regular cleaning of the stall is important.  This will help keep pathogen levels down, which will reduce the chance of infection for the mare and especially for the very vulnerable foal.  It is best to keep water buckets up off the floor so they won’t get knocked over.

Monitoring Progress-   As the mare moves onto the final stages of her pregnancy, there are various changes that can be monitored.  Generally in the last few weeks the mare’s abdomen seems to enlarge dramatically.  Growth of the foal accounts for some of this.  Another reason is that the mare’s ligaments are relaxing, resulting in a more pendulous abdomen.  The area next to the tailhead becomes much softer, spongier and sunken. 

Another important feature to monitor is udder development.  It is important to look at and feel the udder.  This is especially true for the maiden mare.  The maiden mare’s udder has never been stretched out before and it may not look particularly full until her milk lets down the first time, after the foal is born.  It will, however, become quite tight, hard and rather uncomfortable as it develops.  Checking her udder by feeling it regularly also helps her learn to tolerate contact in that area, which may be a big advantage when the foal needs to nurse the first time.  Check the udder carefully – don’t get kicked!  Once the udder development is well under way, then also check for wax.  This is the thick secretion from the teat that beads up and sticks to the tip.  The presence of wax indicates that the mare is primed for delivery and it could happen soon – anywhere from the next few hours to the next few days.  If she stays waxed for many days or if she starts dripping milk, call your veterinarian. 

You’re nightly checks will help too.  These nightly visits will help familiarize you to mare’s attitude, her expression, the amount of manure in her stall, the condition of her stall, etc.  These observations enable you to recognize when things look different, such as an anxious look in her eye, slightly flared nostrils, more numerous fecal piles, turned up bedding, etc.  Nightly checks should be done on a fairly regular schedule. 

Another monitoring tool that is helpful involves sampling the mare’s milk.  There are changes in the electrolyte levels in the milk that occur in final days of pregnancy.  Checking for these changes can help predict when the mare is likely to foal.  There are several commercially available kits that can be used on site for this purpose.  The predictive value of these kits generally is limited to the final couple of days of pregnancy.  It provides fairly reliable information on the likelihood that the mare will foal in the next 24 hours.    There is not much point in using these tests until the mare appears to be getting into the final week or so of her pregnancy.  It helps limit your sleepless nights and may help you decide when to stay home.  Check with your veterinarian about where to get them, how to use and how to interpret the results.

Vaccinations-  A good time to vaccinate the mare is 4-6 weeks prior to her due date.  This timing will help ensure that immunity to these diseases will pass onto the foal through the mare’s colostrum.   Consult your veterinarian about just what vaccines to use.  All mares should be vaccinated for influenza, rhinopneumonitis, and tetanus.  Other vaccines to consider include encephalitis, strangles, and botulism.

Caslick’s-  If the mare has one, it should be opened soon enough to allow the tissues to heal before foaling.  Try to have this done 2 to 4 weeks prior to the mare’s expected due date. 

Supplies-  Have a tail wrap ready that will extend through the upper half of the tail.  Use a stretchable material that won’t shrink or constrict when wet.  A lot can happen with the delivery and a tail wrap can easily be left on for a long period of time.  It would be awful if the circulation was cut off and she lost her tail.   An ace bandage or 6 inch khaki gauze are suitable.  Have a large, clean stainless steel bucket, roll cotton, and disinfectant soap ready for cleaning the mare’s perineal area and udder.  It may be necessary to clean your own hands and arms if the mare needs assistance.  Provide plenty of clean, dry towels.  It is wise to have a hemostat available, but it should not be used routinely on navel stumps.  The hemostat should be employed only if the stump is hemorrhaging excessively.  Alternatively umbilical tape could be used.  Plan on using a proper an umbilical dip such as dilute chlorhexidene or dilute iodine solution – 7% iodine solution should not be used.  Have a clean scissors or knife on hand as well. 

The foaling process:

Veterinarians love to divide things up into stages.  So it is not surprising that foaling has been divided into stages too.

Stage One-  During this first stage, coordinated uterine contractions begin.  Mares generally do not demonstrate many outward signs of these contractions.  The mares undoubtedly feel them but it is as if they’d rather not let anyone know.  This probably is related to the fact that they are prey animals and they’d rather not attract attention.  There may be subtle signs of discomfort, such as pacing, tail swishing, poor appetite, restlessness, slightly flared nostrils, frequent sighing or yawning, etc.  Another sign is frequent defecation – often there will be more numerous but smaller fecal piles.  A foaling night watchman I knew named Gene liked to call this “emptying out.”  It makes sense too.  Might as well make all the room possible in the pelvic canal for that 100-LB plus foal by emptying out the colon and rectum.  She may drip milk or occasionally stream a bit of milk.  She may have a distracted look in her eye.  This stage may take hours and expect the discomfort to gradually intensify.  Toward the end of this stage, the mare shows more obvious outward signs of labor.  The veins under her skin may stand out more.  She will feel warm and usually break out in a sweat.  Once these signs show you know it won’t be long.  Glance at your watch when this begins.  She should break water in 10 or 15 minutes, which marks the end of stage one. 

Stage Two-  The placenta is actually made up of two sacs.  The outer sac has a rather scarlet red color on the outside and grayish color on the inside.  As the uterine contractions become more frequent and intense, the pressure on this outer sac becomes so great that it ruptures.  This releases all the “water” it contains.  This “breaking of the water” marks the beginning of stage two.  As the mare breaks water, she generally buckles in her hindquarters and then the water is released.  This differs from posture she assumes when she urinates.  The color of the fluid is not the same as urine but has a reddish or rust color.  After the water breaks, check your watch and expect the foal to be born within the next 15 - 20 minutes.  The first thing seen should be a pearly white sac, the inner sac, bulging from the vulva.  Shortly after that, the feet and legs should appear.  The mare may be up and down frequently during stage two.  She may even roll over repeatedly.  This is all natural and likely assists it getting the foal in the correct position..  Eventually the mare will lie down and stay down.  She generally will roll onto her side and lie flat out to do the incredibly forceful final pushes to deliver the foal.  Usually she can do all this on her own without any interference.  The attendant should remain a quiet observer in the shadows, ready to intervene if there is a problem.  Often after the foal is delivered and the pushing is over, the hindlegs of the foal are still in the birth canal.  I think is sort of a natural encouragement for the mare to stay still and rest.  As she rests, vital blood pumps from the placenta back into the foal before the cord breaks.  Avoid doing anything, even breathing, to disturb these critical few minutes.  There are only a couple exceptions.  One is if the placental membrane is covering the foal’s face, occluding its nostrils.  In this case, gently, calmly enter the stall and lift the sac off its face.  Another is if the mare is experiencing tremendous pain and she starts roll violently.  She could seriously injure the foal and it may be necessary to try and move it out of her way.

Stage Three-  The delivery of the placenta is stage three.   It may take only a few minutes or it may take a couple of hours.  It generally takes longer if it is a maiden mare or if it was a difficult delivery.  After stage two, the mare will eventually roll up onto to her chest and hopefully rest some more.  Soon she will get up and search for her foal.  At some point it is helpful to go in towel the foal off and to check and dip the navel.  This is a good time to throw in a little hay for mom; she is probably pretty hungry.  If possible, gather up the portion of the placenta that is hanging out of mare and tie it up so it is not dragging on the ground to be stepped on.  Avoid intruding very much.  It is vital for mare and foal to bond.  The less that confuses this process the better.