New mare, in foal... Help

What exactly is imprinting? I've heard the term before but never asked because I never dreamed I'd need to know...

Imprinting is where you handle the foal right at birth. This can be a good thing or not so great. Caddo and Maggie both were imprinted at birth. Caddo is doing great at being touched but Maggie is not. You will want to put a halter on the new one before you let them out by themselves. Like I was saying imprinting didn't work very well with Maggie because she had too many people trying to handle her at once. In some ways it scared her but it didn't help though that she had a really close bond to her dam as well. I should of been the only one handling her. Then at a week old Maggie got ran through a fence and cut her leg up so when I called the vet out he had to put her totally under to sew her leg. So she has had a rough start but now she is doing great especially since I have weaned her from mom. Caddo on the other hand excepted human contact from the beginning but it helped because I was the only one handling him. If you are unsure then just let nature take its course. You want to handle the foal right after birth like put the navel cord in novascan. You also want to make sure that the foal has broken through the placenta and is breathing. I cut the placenta as soon as the head and shoulders were clear. Most mares deliver when there is noone around. I am thankful that I was around because caddo would of ended up dying because cinnamon delivered next to the wall even though her stall is 12X14. If I had not been there to get Cinnamon up and get her to lay down in the middle of the stall Caddo might have died from suffocation or a broken neck. Something else that you want to think about is the fact that she is older she might get tired giving birth Dee did with Maggie and I ended up helping at the end mostly just talking to her and coaxing her to push. I held onto the front legs and only pulled when she pushed. It was all over with 2 more pushes but I wonder though what might have happened if I hadn't of been there to help her. I would try your best to see the birth of the foal and to see the birth. I am not trying to scare you skittle just letting you know what could happen. Take care my friend.

Wow! My respect for taking her in! I can't help much with it, but wish you all the best!

I'm not to worried about the actual labor, my concern at the moment is making sure she is healthy enough to carry and deliever a healthy foal...

Were can I find the info I need to research what she needs now so I can get everything she needs ASAP?

Skittle another thing that you need to do to insure a healthy mare and foal is to have your mare vaccinated at 5, 7, and 9 months. The book will tell you all the vaccinations that the mare needs. I used a 5 way on the mares. Go pick up Omolene 300 or the Legends mare and foal at Southern States not sure if they have the legends there but the Omolene is made by Purina.
"pocomoonskyeyes" here: Dottie's other half. Sorry but for some reason I can't sign in on our computer??
What I wanted to add is that there are a lot of universities and state agricultural extension services that can give you a whole lot of nutritional information for your mare. This is a pdf file that has nutrition for pregnant/gravid broodmares.
http://www.uky.edu/Ag/AnimalSciences/pubs/asc112.pdf
or
Managing Your Pregnant Mare and Her Foal, EC 1476
These are from college/Universities which is my first preference For information of this type, as I am leery of businesses trying to "hawk" their wares over other sources. Not saying they don't provide good feed, just saying I want knowledge before I look at brands of feed. Here it is probably a little different as for vet questions... no consult fee. Our Vet's are used to all kind of weird questions from us. If you have a question that you would like us to ask,without paying a consult fee just let us know. Our Vet is always just a phone call away(during business hours). And they are used to some "off the wall" questions coming from us! LOL

Thanks a lot, I'm sure I'll have lots more questions as I get time to think about them...

Now, if I could just convince my mares that it is ok to be tied long enough to eat and theres no need to destroy their run in because of it, we'd be set...

My mtn mare, in my avatar, has always been tied to eat because I don't have stalls yet, without a single problem until we brought the arab cross home...

They sure like to keep a person guessing don't they

Here's some pics of the new girl.. You can tell lookin at her that she's carrying... If it'd been my choice, I would not have had her bred, but...

Now she needs a new name...



And a pic of Sand Dollar...

She looks like a Dee to me. She looks really sweet. You could also call her Belle.

She is a sweetie... My little cousin named her Storm today, and I'm happy with that...

Since you work full time, as she approaches her due date I would recommend (if possible) stream a cam thru places like MareWatchers.com and others will help you watch your mare for you online so you can take breaks and get some rest. Should she go into labor while you're resting, someone will call you asap.

If you're online at work, you can watch her from there this way as well. Wonderful thing you taking her in!!