The Wheel Keeps Turning

One of the craziest things to me about breeding horses is how quickly we go from rejoicing over a new foal to fretting about getting the mare bred back for the following year. Because a mare's gestation is around 11 months we are working on a tight timeline to try to keep as many mares as possible foaling in the spring, on fresh grass, rather than in the heat, mugginess, and flies of summertime. We do have some summer foals and they always amaze me with how well they handle it but overall we prefer to have as many born in April/May as possible.

A mare will naturally come into heat and be ready to re-breed within the first 1-2 weeks after foaling. In the wild, it's not at all unusual for the stallion to breed the mare and keep the cycle going. In a managed breeding program there's a lot more that goes into the care and decision whether or not to breed on the 'foal heat.' We are looking at things like- was the delivery normal and uncomplicated, did the mare clean as she should have, does her uterus appear normal on the ultrasound, how long after foaling is she ovulating, when would she be due, is this a mare we even intend to foal out the following year, etc. If anything at all seems off we can skip the foal heat and breed on the next cycle, around a month after foaling, which puts the following foal due at around the same time of year.

As we grow our breeding herd and work hard to tighten up our foaling season this leads to a very hectic period of ultrasounding, managing and breeding mares that have recently foaled. This year, we bred 8 horses in the first 2 weeks of our breeding season. Although it's unlikely that they will all take on the first cover (but we're hoping for it anyway) if they did that would put nearly half of our anticipated 2022 foals due in that two week timeline! I'm tired just thinking about it...

In this crazy period it takes work to consciously slow down and enjoy the fruits of last year's hard work. It's easy to get caught up in the stress and micro-managing of trying to get another mare checked off for the following year, but the really amazing part is the foal we have on the ground and growing! The young foals are a little shy for the first week or two but as they mature and get a bit more independent from their moms we enjoy spending a few extra minutes loving on them and marveling at their unique personalities and looks. Life isn't likely to slow down anytime soon... there are more mares to foal, breedings and re-breedings to manage, hay to cut, pastures to mow, and the list goes on. But if you see us running around like crazy people you can remind us to stop and smell the horsey smells :)

Foaling Season is in Full Swing

Well we had to wait a couple of weeks longer than we expected but it seems that the mares have finally decided to get on board with foaling season! We currently have 6 foals on the ground, 5 of which arrived over the course of 10 days. It's been a good year for fillies which is always super exciting for us and also very tempting to find one or two to keep. Here's a little picture of what things looks like during this exciting time of year.

1. Foal Watch: This part involves a lot of waiting and wondering! We have a foaling alarm system that measures the mare's temperature every 5 minutes and compares it to her average temperature for the time of day. Prior to foaling mares will often show a temperature drop and this is the signal to send an alert that foaling is imminent. The system works well and the temperature drop is consistent, however we also get a lot of false alarms during the spring season when our daily weather does drastic swings. So there's a lot of sorting through the alarms to see which are legit! We're also watching for physical signs of foaling- udder development, softening around the tailhead, waxing (beads of colostrum on the teats), and attitude changes. When we see these signs we know to be extra vigilant because a foal is going to be arriving soon.

2. Foaling: Once the system alerts and we recognize that a mare is about to deliver we make it a point to attend the foaling. This allows us to recognize any problems and address them quickly. Ideally, we can sit back a little ways and just monitor but if something isn't right acting immediately is critical to increasing the odds of a good outcome. Our system generally alerts 1-2 hours ahead of the actual delivery so there is a bit of down time waiting and watching as the mare gets increasingly restless. Once her water breaks and active labor begins the process is quick- generally a foal should be on the ground within 15 minutes. To make things extra complicated, mares have a tendency to foal at night. Ours seem to prefer 12-1AM or else around 5-6AM. This means that even when all goes well the arrival of a foal usually means lost sleep and a day of being very groggy.

3. Foal Care: Getting a foal on the ground is great, but it's really just the beginning of our adventures with the new arrival. There are several steps to take after birth to make sure mom and baby are healthy and off to a good start. The 1-2-3 rule of foaling says that foals should stand within one hour and nurse within two hours, and the mare should pass the placenta within 3 hours. Getting the foal on it's feet and nursing is especially important as foals are born with no immunity and receive antibodies from the first milk that their mother produces (colostrum). Getting this colostrum into their system within the first few hours of life is absolutely critical to their long term health so we are sure to stick around and make sure the foal can stand and nurse before leaving mom and baby to bond. We also pull blood when the foal is around 18 hours old to see how well they received and absorbed the antibodies so that supplemental colostrum or a plasma transfer can be provided if needed. Another important step in the first few days of life is dipping the foal's umbilical stump in a disinfectant to help prevent bacteria from entering the body through the stump. These steps are just the basics for a healthy foal, any signs of trouble can involve temperature checks, extra assistance standing/nursing, vet checks, antibiotics, and other various steps. We do a lot of foal checks for the first couple of weeks to be sure our babies are active, nursing and happy!

In all, foaling season is an exciting but chaotic time of year. We love welcoming new arrivals but there's always a sense of anxious concern in trying to be sure that everyone is thriving. The start of foaling season is extra crazy because we have so many mares due at once. At the moment we are nearly halfway through our 2020 foal crop, with the remaining 8 foals spaced out a bit more over the next 3 months. We have been blessed with some very exciting babies and healthy deliveries so we're excited to keep going and get a few more on the ground!

Baby Shoes

Those who have been following our farm adventures are probably familiar with Thumper, our first 2021 foal who was born premature and had some leg problems at birth. Thumper was born with severely lax pasterns on his front feet which means that the joint between his leg and his hoof was too weak and rather than walking upright on his hooves he walked on the very lowest section of his leg. Lax pasterns are not uncommon in draft horse foals and generally correct over time on their own. In this case, Thumper's pasterns were so weak that they were actually on the ground when he walked which meant that he was not using (and therefore strengthening) the joint as he should be so we looked for ways to help with the process. When our vet visited she recommended a special type of shoe called an Ibex Baby Cuff that would prevent the hoof from lifting up and straighten up the leg while he moved so that Thumper could use the joint correctly.

I have to admit, at first I was skeptical! I just could not wrap my mind around how this shoe would be enough to hold the leg where it needed to be. The baby cuff shoe is a glue-on shoe that comes with extensions on all sides. This allows the farrier to use the shoe to correct a variety of leg issues by using extensions on the front, back, or sides of the foot as needed. The extra extensions are just cut off so the shoe is basically customized the the foal's needs. After a special order, overnight shipment and lots of calls around to find a farrier with the right tools we applied the shoes late one Saturday night. The difference was incredible! Although he still had a lot of extra slope to the pasterns when he stood the extensions on the back of the hoof provided greater stability and he was able to stand, move and nurse better almost immediately.

The shoes are designed to stay on for a maximum of 3 weeks since baby feet grow quickly and need room to expand. We ended up removing Thumper's shoes at 2.5 weeks when he seemed to be getting a bit sore. I took photos throughout the process to document how his legs were changing and you can see how far he came in that time. To me, the real sign of success was seeing him running, jumping, and bucking in the field once the shoes came off and we were able to turn him out without fear of him catching them on something. Seeing as he was a foal that required a week of nearly round-the-clock attention to get up, nurse, and stay hydrated the sight of him acting like a normal foal feels nothing short of miraculous.