Caring for Mares & Foals

Lesson 4: Foaling

Phase Two: The Actual Birth

Hopefully as your mare progresses into the stage of actual delivery, she will lie down and begin to push. Sometimes she may wait until she has actually pushed out the legs and even the head before she lies down, but few mares remain standing for delivery. This would be unfortunate because that is a long way for the foal to drop, and furthermore it would cause the umbilical cord to rupture prematurely causing the foal to lose a lot of blood. If your mare refuses to lie down, consider that she may be uncomfortable in your presence. Try to ‘disappear’ from her sight while keeping her in view. Once she has laid down and given a few obvious pushes she will probably not care if you approach her. Try to, however, allow her to deliver the foal by herself. If by some outside chance she is determined to not lay down, you should go to her and catch the foal as it is born, holding it as close to the vulva for as long as possible, at least five minutes. (This may require the strength of two people.) Warning: Even the sweetest mare can become aggressive concerning her foal. If she has not laid down this is already a sign that she is extremely nervous. Be careful of aggressive behavior such as biting or kicking.

As the delivery progresses, you should first see two feet emerging, one slightly ahead of the other. This is to angle the shoulders to ease their passage. Nestled between the legs should be a small nose, considered the diving position. If at first the feet appear to be upside down, don’t be concerned. Many times the foal doesn’t achieve the diving position until about halfway out. The foal begins this phase actually on its back, and the first contractions rotate him/her into the delivery position. See pages 100, 101 “Complete Book of Foaling” by Karen Hayes. Then the contractions change from rotational to expulsion, ones that will actually push the foal out. At this point if the foal has not turned, the mare may assist it’s turning by repeatedly lying down and rolling up onto her back and getting up again. Avoid assisting at this time by sticking your arm into the mare’s vagina because this triggers those expulsive contractions before the mare is truly ready.

I want to clarify the position of the front legs. While one leg, called the leading leg should be ahead of the other, it should not be more then three to six inches ahead of the trailing leg. If there is too much of a space, the trailing leg may actually start to flex at the elbow and get hung up on the mare’s pelvis. If you feel the need to assist you should be aware that the two legs need to remain in this position, one slightly in front of the other.

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