Equine Health

Foaling Quick Tips

The birth of a foal is a wondrous event. Usually over in three quick stages (pre-labor, expulsion of the foal, and passing of the afterbirth) the whole event takes less than half an hour if all goes well. However, things can and do go wrong occasionally and owners should be prepared. We recommend coming to the office to get our “Fundamentals of Foaling” video and foaling pamphlets. Also keep in mind these important facts:

• If your mare has been in labor over one hour without producing the foal it is an emergency and our office needs to be called.
  
  
• Foals need to be up and nursing within a few hours of birth or they risk serious health consequences from lack of colostrum.
  
  
• We recommend an examination of the mare and foal within 24 hours of birth. This is extremely important and can identify failure of passive transfer, retained placental membranes, herniations, and other potentially life-threatening situations for both mare and foal.