The High Risk Mare

Waiting for the birth of a foal seems to take an eternity but the day when your newborn foal will stand beside its dam and nurse for the first time is almost here. Most mares will foal without problems but if you have a high risk mare you should alert your veterinarian of potential problems early and monitor her closely during her pregnancy to protect your emotional and financial investment.
What constitutes a high risk mare? Typically mares with a known history of reproductive disease or trouble maintaining pregnancy or delivering live foals are collectively referred to as high risk mares. Some of these mares have acquired an infectious disease during pregnancy others appear healthy but habitually have weak or sick foals.

Early Introduction to the Foaling Environment
Mares should be introduced into the foaling environment one month before foaling. Doing so will minimize stress on the mare by allowing her to acclimatize to the environment and will expose her system to the pathogens in the area which will stimulate her immune system to produce antibodies. Booster vaccination of pregnant mares against common pathogens should be performed one month prior to foaling.
It is important that the foaling environment be as clean as possible to avoid a potential buildup of pathogens. Foals that receive an adequate timely amount of colostrum can still succumb to infection if the pathogen burden is very high in the environment.
The foaling stall should be a minimum of four metres by four metres in a quiet location and have good bedding and footing a water bucket off the floor and removable feed tubs.
Providing the weather is mild foaling outside in a sunny grassy paddock or pasture is an acceptable practice. However foaling outdoors carries additional risks as it makes careful monitoring more difficult other mares may try to steal the newborn foal fetal membranes may be lost or carried off by scavengers and foals may drown or be injured in fences. In addition cold and wet foals may become hypothermic and will not absorb colostrum as well or be as vigorous as foals born in milder weather as they will have to expend more calories for heat than for locomotion.
Prefoaling Mammary Secretion Testing
Fortunately ninety percent of all foalings occur without any intervention needed. However the other ten percent often result in problems where the lives of the mare andor the foal are at risk. Methods used to detect changes in