A Soft Place to Land - Preparing for the Foal

The mare is restless. Her tail is sagging a bit, and her udder is swollen and leaking waxy drops. After eleven months, her time is finally here. She is nearly ready.

The foaling stall must be prepared as well. Basically, it is impossible to fully disinfect a horse's stall. Simply put, the area will be quickly sullied, when the mare makes the home her own. However, you can take several steps to prepare a suitable spot for her to have her foal. Six major factors come into play:

Give her some space.

A birthing stall must be roomy, so the broodmare may lay down and move around during the foaling process. A larger stall will also prevent her from stepping accidentally on her sleeping baby, once he arrives.

Privacy is paramount.

Mares prefer privacy, when the time comes. They may delay delivery for hours, while waiting for peace and quiet. Locating breeding stalls in a quiet section of the farm, away from nosy neighbors and peeping people, will add greatly to a broodmare's comfort and reduce the stress of the birthing process.

Strip the stall.

Before introducing the broodmare to the stall, the entire box must be thoroughly stripped and cleaned. Remove all bedding materials and mats. Scrub mats, walls, and all surfaces with bleach water (Mix one part bleach to five parts water.) Disinfect all buckets and feeders.

Allow the entire stall to air-dry overnight before filling with fresh straw bedding.

The birthing stall must be kept as clean as possible. Urine-soaked straw and mats can release ammonia fumes, which can cause infection and susceptibility to pneumonia in the foal.

Keep it soft.

Wood shavings, sand, and sawdust are simply unsuitable for baby horses. The birthing stall must be bedded with soft straw. This must be replaced more often than other beddings, but it is less likely to harbor bacteria or to generate dust, which might be harmful to a foal's new lungs.

A generous supply of straw will enable the broodmare to make a soft nest for her foal and to cushion the sides of the stall.

Make it safe.

A newborn foal is shaky on his wobbly legs. During his first hours of life, he will learn to stand and walk and nurse from his dam. A well-bedded stall with no loose boards, nails, or other impediments will allow him to bounce around without harming himself. Rough surfaces should be sanded. Buckets, feed bins, cross-ties, ropes, chains, box fans, bungee cords, and any other potential hazards should be removed. Gaps, holes, or crevices must be mended, so tiny hooves do not get caught.

Hang the broodmare's feed and water buckets high enough that the foal cannot reach into them. (Foals have actually drowned in water buckets.)

Be discrete.

As the mare begins to show signs of impending foaling, be ready to designate someone to check periodically (throughout the night) and surreptitiously on her progress. This may go on for several days. Have the veterinarian's number handy, in case of emergency.

Some breeding farms opt to install videocameras in birthing stalls, so mares may be watched without intrusion.

Wait for the surprise!

Occasionally, the best-laid plans (or stalls) become irrelevant. Healthy foals are sometimes born in the pasture, even as they were (for centuries) born in the wild. Fairly frequently, a mare will deliver early, before the breeding stall has become available.

Our first foal was two weeks early. The maiden mare came in from all-day turnout, as usual. Within a couple of hours, she was proudly nursing her handsome colt. Creation is a marvelous thing!