FOALING is in full swing across the country and while many mares will drop their foals by themselves without any need for human intervention, it’s always best to be prepared in case of dystocia (difficulties in foaling). When things go wrong with foaling mares, it tends to happen very quickly and timely intervention will ensure the best outcome.

Always have your veterinary surgeon’s number to hand and it’s also good practice to have your vet call out to check pre-foaling mares close to their delivery date. Any mares that need to be opened in advance of foaling will be done at this stage.

Have your foaling box prepared well in advance, spotless clean, with a deep bed of fresh straw evenly laid, make sure there are no holes or slippery spots in the bed. Remove any objects such as protruding hooks used to water or feed buckets that could pose a hazard to the foal.

Wrap your mare’s tail, and it’s a good idea to use white or light-coloured bandages which you will notice blood or discharge on more easily. Don’t wrap the tail too tightly around the dock as this could cause discomfort to the mare - remember the dock is a living structure and it is possible to unwittingly inflict damage on it via a very tight tail bandage. A good rule of thumb is to be able to slip a finger under the tightest part of the bandage, if you can’t, loosen it a little.

Observe your mare(s) closely and move a mare showing waxing and exhibiting fallen pins on her hindquarters into the foaling box in good time so she has time to quietly settle to her new surroundings. It’s a good time to wash down her hindquarters at this stage with warm water with an added drop of hibiscrub or a similar disinfectant.

Hopefully, foaling notes exist for the mare at hand that you can consult to get an idea of her previous foaling experience and if not, or if she’s a maiden mare, keep a record yourself, making note of the time of the three key stages of foaling - presentation, delivery of the foal, and placenta.

Knowing if the mare before you is a textbook old pro at her job or has presented with dystocia is invaluable so don’t neglect this often overlooked area.

Make sure your clean foaling kit is to hand and contains at least these essentials:

Post foaling, examine the placenta for any holes or tears, spread it out in a flat dry area in good light, note the gravid and non-gravid horn. Keep it in a bucket in case the vet wants to see it and report any suspicion of any retained placenta immediately as this will cause metritis in the mare and can be fatal.

The afterbirth should be tied up neatly with string attached to the mare’s tail and again, foaling notes should be kept of when it drops.

Foals should be up standing and suckling, ideally within an hour of birth. Make sure you observe the foal receiving colostrum which contains the antibodies necessary for immunity. Get your vet to call out to check the newborn foal and carry out IgG plasma checks to ensure adequate passive transfer has taken place.