1.The mares waters have broken and the inner membrane that surrounds the foal start to bulge out. At this stage the expectant mum may be standing but it will not be long until the major contractions start taking place and she will have no choice but to lay down. She may walk around in circles and still may be relaxed enough to have a brief nibble at some grass.
If there is no sign of the foal after this happens and the mare continues to strain, a vet should be called.
2. Soon after the inner membrane starts to show, usually between 5 and 15 minutes the mare will have several large contractions while lying down, presenting with the lifting of her tail, stretching out of her legs and sometimes accompanied by deep groans. Her body will appear stiff as the involuntary contractions push out the foals first fore leg.
3. The foals other leg will appear and then his tiny muzzle. Quite often the mare will get up and walk a few paces and the foal will slip back in the mares birth canal. This is quite normal and should be nothing to worry about, particularly if you have already sited the foals front legs and his nose and they are facing downwards towards the mares hocks. The contractions will take hold again and the mare will lay down with a sense of urgency for the remainder of the birth.
If at this stage you do not see the foals front legs and nose it would be a safe bet to assume all is not well and call a vet. Safer still to have your mobile phone so the vet or an experienced person can talk you through what you can do to help the situation and potentially save the mares and foals life.
4. A couple more strong contractions will push the foals head out with the force of the foals legs pushing through the membrane, allowing it to break. Immediately after the shoulders will be born which is the largest part of the delivery over. By this stage the membrane should have moved from the foals airways and this would naturally occur with the movement of the delivery and the breakage the foals legs have made .
The membrane can be calmly torn away from the nostrils should the mare fail to do so or it has not happened naturally during this stage.
5. The foal will be quite still until his hind quarters are delivered and his back legs have slipped out. The foal has now been delivered but there is still a bit of work for the mare to do before she will want to relax.
6. In this case the mare immediately got up once the foal was completely out in order to remove the membrane from the nostrils and break the umbilical cord. She reached around and with her teeth gently pulled the membrane away from the foals face. The movement of her tugging on the bag, which was still firmly anchored to the placenta inside the mare, stimulated the foal into breaking free.
The umbilical cord should remain attached to the foal and the placenta for as long as possible. This will allow all of the allocated blood to be transfered to the foal from the placenta.
7. The mare continued to tug gently on the membrane with her teeth until the foal was able to break free. She licked the area of the navel stump, to ensure it was clean and then began to sniff and lick her foal all over. Bonding with him and encouraging him to get up by gently nudging him.
8. The foal stood for the first time and all the while the mare did not rest until he was completely dry and actively looking for her udder.
Should the foal fail to stand within the first hour a vet should be called as this is a sure indication that the foal is not well. The same applies if the foal does stand but fails to drink or show any signs of the suckling reflex.
9. The mare still had the after birth to deliver which in some cases can take up to 5 or 6 hours. In this case it was within twenty minutes. The mare was distracted from her foal for the duration of a couple of strong contractions then the birthing process was complete.
If the membranes and afterbirth has not been delivered within six hours from the time of birth vetinary advise should be saught.
10. The mare rose to her feet again and continued with her efforts to entice the foal to take his first drink. Patiently she guided him in the direction of her flanks. Gently nudging and quietly talking to him. Soon he had taken his first drink. The mare knew how important this was for her foal and she immediately appeared relaxed and content that her work, for now, was done. She laid down for a rest and allowed the foal time to become more accustomed to walking and strengthening his balance while she rested for about twenty minutes.
11. The foal passed his first bowel motion and hinted to his mum that he wanted some more to drink.
12. The mare allowed him to suckle some more then she was adamant that he must start moving around to keep his circulation going and to keep himself warm. She new it was imperative that the sooner her foal learned to keep up with her the safer he would be from predators and those pesky humans that also wanted to stamp their mark on him. It is important to respect the mares space and allow her to do what her instincts tell her. Quite often a mare owner will experience a ‘silly’ mare who would not let her foal drink or who foaled on the bank of a dam allowing the foal to struggle into the water and drown. In many of these cases the mares behavior is an indirect result of mans interference. She may be in an over crowded paddock being bullied by the head mare and not having adequate space to foal down quietly and uninterrupted. There may be dogs sniffing around her making her feel uneasy and lacking in confidence to take control of the situation. The well intending owner may have left the spotlight on in her yard all night making her feel vulnerable and exposed or the owner may have just brought her in from the paddock to the stable and for the first time in her life she has been confined also making her feel uneasy.
Keep it simple when observing a birth and do as little as possible to allow for the natural instincts of the mare and foal to take place.
After the mare and foal have settled you can approach the foal for a pat. The amount of time given to the new foal will vary and is sometimes detrimental in the overall friendliness of the young horse. If the mare is relatively people friendly you can be sure the foal will have no hesitation in becoming human friendly as well. If the mare is ‘stand- offish’ and prefers to be left to her own devices then timing is very important in determining when to start familiarizing the foal with human contact. In this case I would have the mare and foal housed close to the house to allow regular short visits to the new foal. While very contrary to this article, imprinting from birth is another good way in ensuring the foal has a healthy attitude towards humans. This method is not preferred with my miniatures as it can lead to an over friendly foal with little respect for his human handlers.
Beware, even the quietest of family pets can turn nasty when it comes to protecting their babies. Care must be taken, it is all to easy to take a miniature and what they are capable of for granted, particularly when it comes to children.
There is no greater joy then waking in the early hours of the morning to witness the birth of a new life. We choose to watch from a distance, allowing the mare to do what will come naturally to her.
A couple of hours after the birth, your foal will be happy to come up to you and introduce him self. A careful watch must be taken over children with an interest in the new foal. The most trust worthy of mares can turn into a diligent, over protective mother.
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