Caring for Mares & Foals

Lesson 3: Preparing For the Foal

Monitoring Temperature

My position on evaluating a good instructor or teacher is one who continues to learn. I think it is exciting to know that a teacher is open-minded enough to seek new knowledge. That is what has happened as I began to write this course. I have learned a new and potentially more accurate way of predicting a mare’s foaling time. Recent research has confirmed that a temperature change, though relatively small, is significant enough to be a very useful predictor. Beginning at day 300, using an electronic digital reading thermometer, take the mare’s temperature at the same hour every morning and evening. Record the temperature on a chart. Remember that a temperature can be elevated if the mare is ill or was just exercising. It is also important that you take it the same way every time. Lubricate the tip, insert it gently the same distance, and angle the tip so it rests against the ceiling of the rectum. Read the thermometer when it ‘beeps’. Within approximately eighteen to twenty-four hours before foaling a mares temperature will drop, usually about .5 degrees but could be as much as one degree. Even if no other change has occurred, like waxing, or milk dripping, do not ignore the temperature drop. If you have “The Complete Book of Foaling” by Karen Hayes, see page 18 for a copy of a chart used to determine a mare’s foaling time.

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