From: Worried mare owner
Jessica,
I read your articles in Horse Sense and have a great deal of respect for your opinions and advice. I was wondering if I could turn to you for some advice.
We adopted a pony through a rescue program. The pony (12 hands) was approx. 300 pounds underweight when she was found last spring (she weighed a whopping 190 pounds). We have brought her back, but she still has a ways to go. But we just learned she is pregnant!! The best guess to her age is 18. The vet thinks she will foal around February. (Which explained the slow weight gain). My vet is very concerned but has not dealt with this situation. The only stallion we know she was around was an Andalusion found with her who had to be put down.
I am very concerned she is soooo sweet and loving and my son will be devasted if anything happens to her. ( and my husband because we have sunk a fortune into saving her)
Do you think she will be able to foal ok? Have you ever run across this? We have her on a Seniors pellet diet (most of her back teeth were rotted) is there anything else we should give her? And do you think the foal will be ok since the mare was in such bad shape?
I would appreciate any advice (I am sure my vet would too!) He is willing to spend the night with her when she goes into labor in case of a c-section.
Thank you so much.
Now, about the foal. First, as your vet has no doubt told you, foals in utero do most of their growing in the last three months of the mare's pregnancy. She's been with you longer than that - since you got her in the spring of 2001, and she's due to foal early in 2002, you probably rescued her shortly after she was bred. The good food and care she's gotten since then should have made her much stronger - quite possibly strong and healthy enough to carry a foal to term and produce a healthy live baby.
If all goes well, this delivery shouldn't be any more complicated than a typical delivery. Since she was around a stallion, it's probably a safe bet that the sire was the Andalusian stallion that was put down. This is important because it may speak to the size of the foal.
Andalusians aren't enormous horses - even in the USA where we are all size-mad, they're usually in the 15-hand to 16-hand range, and 15hh is more common than 16hh, so the size of the foal at birth may not be a problem. In any case, the size of a foal at birth is limited by the capacity of the mare's uterus, and if this mare hasn't had foals before, or has had only one or two, her uterus is probably small enough to keep this foal from getting too large to deliver normally.
So the size of the foal probably isn't cause for concern. The mare's strength and flexibility, however, could present a problem. If the vet can determine whether the mare has ever foaled before, THAT would be very useful information. Most breeders wouldn't hesitate to breed an 18-year-old mare, as long as that mare had had at least one previous foal. An 18-year-old maiden mare presents more of a risk, because she's more likely to have difficulty with the birth.
I think that your mare was probably in good enough shape to produce a healthy foal. After all, she was with you for at least six months, probably longer, before the foal began placing any significant demands on her body.
Your vet is undoubtedly helping the mare catch up on her necessary vaccinations and such, and I'm sure that he'll be ready to help the foal when the time comes. What YOU can do while you're waiting is to put your foaling kit in order (see the HORSE-SENSE archives for more information on this), start foal-proofing your fences so that they'll be ready when mare and foal are ready to be turned out (usually a couple of days after the birth), and read one or two useful books so that you'll be ready to deal with all the complicated fun of having a foal around the barn. The two best books I know on the subject are "Blessed are the Broodmares" and "Blessed are the Foals", both by veterinarian M. Phyllis Lose. They're easy to read, very clear, and extremely helpful.
Since the foal is due in February, you'll probably want to have a heat lamp in the foaling stall if you're in a cold part of the country. Your vet can give you advice on setting it up so that it can do its job safely. Since foals can appear early as well as late, you had better get a supply of clean straw bales by late January, and begin bedding the foaling stall with it (remove all sawdust and/or shavings) the week before you think the foal could possibly arrive. ;-) If you don't fancy staying up all night for a week or two, and especially if you are hoping to have your vet in attendance, by all means buy and use a Foaling Predictor Kit. You can get these from most large vet supply houses (United Vet Equine, Jeffers, Valley Vet, etc.). They are relatively inexpensive - downright cheap if you compare them to the inconvenience of sleeping in the barn and hoping that the vet will be available when you ring him - and the tests are simple, non-invasive (you're basically checking the calcium level of the fluid in the mare's udder), and easy to perform. I suggest that you buy two or three kits so that you won't run out - people who haven't used these before tend to get very excited about them, start testing the mare very early, and test her several times a day. It's perfectly understandable, and it's not bad for the mare - in fact, it gets her used to having her udder bumped and handled, which is important - but it can result in the owners running out of tests three days before the foal arrives. I like these tests for many reasons, and the older I get, the more I like them for one MAJOR reason: I don't mind spending ONE night in the barn when I know a foal is coming, but spending seven or eight nights there is exhausting - and unnecessary.
Whilst you make your other preparations, you should also prepare for a worst-case scenario, just because it's always best to be prepared for the worst when you're getting ready for ANY new foal. Your vet can help you locate the nearest colostrum bank and get some frozen colostrum to have on hand, just in case your mare loses her colostrum before the foal can nurse. A nurse mare is a great help to a foal whose mother is dead or dry, but nurse mares aren't always easy to find, so it's a very good idea to have a bucket of mare's milk replacer on hand, together with bottles and suitable nipples (get the small nipples designed for lambs, not the large ones meant for calves).
You say that your vet is thinking about performing a C-section. If he has reason to think that a C-section may be necessary, you'll want to take every precaution to ensure coming out of the situation with a mare and foal rather than just a foal. The safest method would probably be to take the mare to the nearest vet hospital before she goes into labour, and plan to leave her there until she and the foal are ready to come home. Alternatively, if there is a fancy breeding/foaling facility anywhere in your area, you might be able to persuade the owners to board your mare there for a month or so. Some posh facilities have huge, warm foaling stalls with cameras, a resident veterinarian, and medical/surgical facilities as clean and well-equipped as those at some hospitals! But if there is no such place near you, or if there is one but the owners don't have the space (which is quite likely at that time of year), or if the high probability of a C-section is more than they are equipped to deal with, then the vet hospital will be your best bet.
Good luck - I'm wishing you a routine foaling, a relieved vet, a healthy, happy mare and a lovely, healthy, strong half-Andalusian foal. ;-) Please keep me posted and let me know how it all turns out. You'll be in my thoughts. And give my regards to your vet, who sounds like a great guy. No matter what happens and how it turns out, your mare was VERY lucky to be rescued by you.
Jessica
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