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New mare, in foal... Help

14K views 117 replies 13 participants last post by  equus717 
#1 ·
I acquired a new mare today, she was given to me by someone who can't afford to feed her anymore, and she was on a dead pasture and the hay she was being given didn't look to be very good quality. She is a 15 y/o Standardbred, Arabian cross, and I was told she is in foal, for the first time, for an April baby to either a Paint or a Quarter Horse. I fully intend to be her last owner and the foals only owner, and naturally, I am concerned for her health and the health of her unborn foal. Can anyone point me in the direction of some information to help me find the right feed for her and to make sure this pregnancy is as smooth as possible for her and her foal.

Any help would be greatly appreciated... I'm going to be making a call to my vet to get her checked out and see how far along she is Tuesday morning, but I don't want to pay a consult fee for everything I'm going to have questions about...
 
#2 · (Edited)
I acquired a new mare today, she was given to me by someone who can't afford to feed her anymore, and she was on a dead pasture and the hay she was being given didn't look to be very good quality. She is a 15 y/o Standardbred, Arabian cross, and I was told she is in foal, for the first time, for an April baby to either a Paint or a Quarter Horse. I fully intend to be her last owner and the foals only owner, and naturally, I am concerned for her health and the health of her unborn foal. Can anyone point me in the direction of some information to help me find the right feed for her and to make sure this pregnancy is as smooth as possible for her and her foal.

Any help would be greatly appreciated... I'm going to be making a call to my vet to get her checked out and see how far along she is Tuesday morning, but I don't want to pay a consult fee for everything I'm going to have questions about...
Yes Skittle There is a book called "The Foaling Primer". It is by Cynthia McFarland. It is an excellent book to have. I have helped all my mares foal out. The fact that this is her first foal at 15 year might be difficult on her. I highly recommend this book for you to get. You can get this book at your local feed store like TSC which stands for Tractor Supply Company. With her being a maiden mare you need to get back with the owners of her and find out exactly when she was bred then calculate 343 days from that breeding. This will give you a more accurate due date. I know exactly the due date on my mares even though they go early but I watch them very carefully about 2 weeks from their due date. I would recommend that you be there for the foaling most likely everything will go smoothly just like nature intended but you never know. Has she ever been around any foals? The reason why I am asking is that sometimes first time mares reject their foals because they do not understand what to do next. I had a mare that did it she rejected her foal right after birth. You need to watch them for an hour or so to make sure that she is letting the foal nurse. As for feed I feed Omolene 300. It is specifically formulated for pregnant mares and developing foals. The foaling Primer tells you about some problems that might occur during pregnancy or even while the mare is delivering the foal. Where do you live at? If you were close to Kentucky I might be able to come out in help at the time of foaling. Definitely get your vet to check her out. There is also Legends mare and foal feed. It is similar to the Omolene 300. They both are 16% protein which is what you want to feed your mare. If you have anymore questions pm me and I will help you out. I have just weaned my 2 foals. Caddo 10 days ago and Maggie today. One other thing is keep her off of fescue grass it makes the placenta in the mare to thick for the baby to break through and they end up suffocating. I would dry lot her and feed her a good grain and timothy/orchard grass hay. These 2 hays are great for mares.
 
#3 ·
I asked her previous owner every question I could think of, but she couldn't even tell me which stallion caught her, let alone when she may have been bred, so I'm just going to watch her close. Fortunatly, I have a part time job and have lots of time to keep an eye on her so I can be by her side when the time comes to drop...

I got the impression that she's been bounced around from home to home, so I don't know if she's been around foals or not, and because of that there isn't much info on her and her history, but I've worked with cows all my life and know how to convince a cow to take a calf, so I'm hoping if need be I can coax her to take a foal... If not, I'm fully prepared to be able to bottle feed every couple hours...

Hopefully I'll get lucky, but the vet will be on standby, since I'm sure I won't...
 
#5 ·
Good on you for taking on this enormous task and I wish you all the best.

As a side note on rejection, a lot of maiden mares just need some help. When Zena came to us she had been severely abused and I'm not sure if that had anything to do with it, but she wouldn't let Zierra nurse when she was born. My grandpa said it was fairly common as the first nurse usually hurts them and they react to the pain.

After a few hours, it came down to nitty gritty because Zierra wasn't even trying anymore. We ended up twitching Zena and my grandpa crawled underneath her with Zierra and helped her nurse. After that she had zero problems.

The maternal instincts usually kick in and my best advice would be to give her a good amount of time with the foal before you start messing around. Imprinting can have it's benefits, but so often it's the direct cause of foal rejection because the dam doesn't have adequete time to be introduced to her foal naturally.

Best of luck!
 
#11 ·
Good on you for taking on this enormous task and Imprinting can have it's benefits, but so often it's the direct cause of foal rejection because the dam doesn't have adequete time to be introduced to her foal naturally.
What exactly is imprinting? I've heard the term before but never asked because I never dreamed I'd need to know...
 
#6 ·
I have every intention of just leaving them be when she foals, I'll watch and make sure everything goes ok then leave them be unless they need intervention. I have complete faith in mother nature...
 
#7 ·
That is great that you do have some experience with birthing. The avatar that I have is of Caddo at one day old. He is a great little horse so far. He was born on May 18, 2009. Also most foals are born between the hours of 7 pm and 7 am. If you have anymore questions please do not hesitate to ask.
 
#8 ·
That is great that you do have some experience with birthing. The avatar that I have is of Caddo at one day old. He is a great little horse so far. He was born on May 18, 2009. Also most foals are born between the hours of 7 pm and 7 am. If you have anymore questions please do not hesitate to ask.

Lol at birthing experience... When I was 11, my neighbor had me turn a calf that was breach because my hands were smaller then his, and when I was a senior in high school, my mom came home from work after a 12 hour night shift to find me cleaning off the first puppy in my dogs first litter, covered in amniotic fluid, and decided that she would take a paper into the school for me that was due instead of have me go to school and her have to deal with the terrifed dog... I think I'll be ok with a horse... I just don't know what to do with it once its on the ground....

Got to love learning experiences....
 
#9 ·
That is where this book will help you out. Some of the chapters are like The first 24 hours. The first weeks. One to three months. Four to six months. Weaning time farewell to mom. Weanling to yearling. So this book has helped me out a lot this year and I am already reading it again because Prancing timid a.k.a. PT is going to foal in Feb 15, 2010. She is a gray mare bred to my sorrel and white stallion. I am very excited about this foal as well. Take a lot of pics they change a lot in the first year. Caddo and Maggie are already getting their winter coats on. Keep us updated on the pregnancy and the foaling as well.
 
#10 ·
Thanks again for the advice, I'll be getting that book asap...
I'm pretty excited about the baby, I just hope he's put together a little better then his mother... She looks to be a little out of proportion, her head and neck seem to big for her, although I'm seeing her pregnant and with a shaggy winter coat... Regardless, all I want is a good trail horse, so looks are not important, I just want a healthy happy horse.

That foal in your avatar is gorgeous, I'm hoping my little one will be a paint, but again, as long as he/she is healthy, I couldn't care if its purple lol...
 
#12 ·
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.
 
#13 ·
Wow! My respect for taking her in! I can't help much with it, but wish you all the best!
 
#14 ·
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?
 
#15 ·
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
 
#16 ·
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
 
#17 ·
New Mare Pics

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...
 
#20 ·
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!!
 
#21 ·
That would be a great idea if it was possible, but alas it is not... What I'm planning on doing is watching her closely n when she starts to wax up, I'll take time off work until she drops, that way I can be with her as much as possible....

Won't be the first time I've fallen asleep in a pile of straw waitin on a baby... lol... Its just that last time it was a calf I was waiting for...
 
#23 ·
Hey Skittle have you had your vet out to look at Storm yet? Storm is a great name. My oldest boy Robbie named a cat at the barn today. The cats name was storm but Robbie said he didn't like it so I asked him what he wanted to name him and he said to name him Boots. I like that name. Robbie and Bret are excited about PT's baby because they get to help with the naming of this baby.
 
#24 ·
No, I haven't found a vet I like... There is one local that says she'll come look at her, but she bathed my boyfriend in Rabies vaccine when we took my dogs and cat in for their shots, so there's no way I want her anywere near my horses.... Besides that, Justin will be mad if he found out I had her out here...

Finding a good vet is the worst thing about living as far from a major city as we do... There's a few around here, but ones almost better off to not call them cause they just overcharge you to do something you could have done yourself... That's why I've figured out how to do a lot of the vet care myself...
 
#27 ·
I have a few mares that I breed every year and I leave them out on mmountain pasture untill they foal. I have had mares at home to foal but horses rarely have the same problems as cattle do. You can just about bet that the closer you watch her the more likely she will foal while you are at the store getting a pop or eating dinner. Another way to tell if a horse is getting close is to look at the vulva. When it gets big and loose looking then the time is near but this varies to particularly with maiden mares.
 
#29 ·
Yeah, I won't be dealing with that vet again. I do need to find out what shots Storm needs before she foals so I can get her up to date...

Storm had a little bit of a runny nose and watery eyes, but they've cleared up and she's looking very good now...
 
#30 ·
Have you gotten the book that I told you about? That book will give you the vaccines and when they need to be given to her. I will only have one mare giving birth next year my gray mare named PT.
 
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