Post Parturition Guidelines: The 1-2-3 Rule The foal should stand within one hour of delivery, nurse within two hours, and the placenta should pass within three hours. If there are any delays, a call to your veterinarian is crucial, as this is a critical time for the mare and foal.
If the foal has not nursed within 3 hours, the foal may be weak and in need of assistance or medical attention. Delayed nursing past 8 to 12 hours after birth impairs the transfer of antibodies from the mare to the foal, which puts the foal at risk of not being able to ward off infections.
This might be due to anxiety, nervousness, fear, or discomfort. First time foaling mares may have a very painful udder. When the foal nudges the udder or attempts to suckle, the pain may cause the mare to refuse to allow the foal to nurse. The second type of foal rejection is avoidance of the foal.
Weather permitting, the mare and foal should be out for exercise the day after foaling. Exercise is important for both. A small grass paddock is ideal. They should be out until the foal lies down, which indicates it is tired.
Safe Turn-Out
For safety's sake, don't put a mare and a young foal out with geldings or mares without foals, as these pasture-mates may be aggressive toward the baby. All turn-out areas should offer shade/shelter so the young foal doesn't get overheated with no way to get out of the sun.
Geldings, while they no longer have the sex drive of a stallion, can still get an erection. Should a gelding mount and then penetrate the cervix of your mare, the pregnancy will likely be aborted.
Whether it's mares, geldings or a mixture of both, horses soon sort themselves out when they run together. I've seen mares and geldings running happily together on hundreds of occasions. Horses always run and snort and kick and play when a new horse is added to the group.
Remember the 1-2-3 rule.
1: Foals should stand by one hour of age. 2: Foals should successfully nurse by two hours of age. 3: Mares should pass her fetal membranes within three hours of delivery.
“If they are in a heated barn they may not need a blanket, but more often than not, foals born in the winter will benefit from blankets so as to not lose body heat,” says Waite. “Foals born in the winter in northern climates are typically kept indoors and turned out for short periods, usually with a blanket.”
Together, the mare and foal initiate weaning, and their bond remains close for some time afterward, sometimes until the mare's next foal is born. While the origin of early weaning remains unclear, most private and commercial breeders separate mare-foal pairs 4 to 7 months after birth.
"Foal rejection can be seen in all breeds of horses, with the highest rates reported in Arabians (5.1%), followed by Paint Horses (1.9%) and Thoroughbreds (less than 1%)," he said.
A mare corrects a foal by shoving it with her head, nipping it on the rear, squealing loudly (also works great with adult stallions), or applying a non-lethal kick or push.
Foaling with no bag or wax:
While one may wax up weeks in advance, its also not uncommon for maiden mares to foal with no wax and a very small/no bag. No wax means there's one less sign to look out for – so don't always count on seeing wax leading into your maiden mare foaling.
Foals that are affected with neonatal maladjustment syndrome (NMS), also known as “dummy foals”, appear healthy when they are born, but shortly thereafter exhibit neurological abnormalities. They are often detached, disoriented, unresponsive, confused, and have trouble nursing.
We often refer to the “1-2-3 RULE” of the newborn foal: A healthy foal should stand within 1 hour. Should start nursing within 2 hours. Should pass the meconium (first feces) within 3 hours after birth.
After a period of days or weeks, once the weaned foals have settled down and are eating well, they can be turned back out together in a group. Although the abrupt method sounds harsh, if done right it's easier on everyone involved: mare, foal and handlers.
The foal will get severely chilled. If you have a safe lot that's not slippery, babies will cope with the cold, as long as wind chill temperatures aren't 10 to 20 degrees below zero.”
Young foals tend to be more prone to heat stress and dehydration. Avoid riding a horse when the combined temperature and relative humidity is over 150.
If caught early enough in labor, your veterinarian may be able to reposition the foal for a normal delivery. Remember, a prompt delivery is crucial to the health of the newborn foal. Unless it is a dire emergency, do not try to pull a foal.
Groundwork can begin once a foal understands wearing a halter. This involves teaching the foal to lead, stand quietly for grooming and handling, and respond to basic commands.
Analysis of data showed that bigger, older, and multiparous mares had larger foals than smaller, younger mares foaling for the first time. The foals from larger mares were taller and heavier and had greater thoracic perimeters at birth and also at 7 and 30 days of age.
In order to treat for threadworm the mare should be wormed proactively with a dose of moxidectin (Equest) four weeks before the foaling due date or an ivermectin based wormer around foaling time - our preference if you're going to treat is to use the moxidectin wormer as we prefer not to give chemicals around such a ...
Simply put, horses are happiest in the herd, where they can touch other horses, push each other around and give each other comfort. There's safety in numbers and all horses know that. He feels safest when other horses surround him and he may only lie down to sleep if another horse remains standing.
“A mare will work harder for you than any gelding will” says Dominique Winpenny, SPILLERS Nutritionist. “I own both a mare and a gelding and although mares can be fiery and unpredictable, they are extremely competitive and brave.
They may try to breed mares, herd their mares and fight with other geldings. They may behave aggressively toward people and attack foals. Most of these “sexy” gelding are in their teens.