Ready Mares in Fall for Foals in Spring

Reproductive health, vaccination status, and nutrition are key to readying your mare to care for her foal.
Share
Favorite
Close

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT

Some might consider it a bit premature to be thinking about spring already (winter’s not even officially here yet!), but if you’re a horse owner expecting a foal out of your mare or hoping to get your mare in foal, this is the perfect time to start planning.

In this article, Igor Canisso, DVM, MSc, PhD, Dipl. ACT, ECAR, an equine theriogenologist at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine, shares some helpful tips for the diligent mare owner looking to jumpstart the breeding season. He breaks down the preparation into three basic steps: fall reproductive health workup, nutrition planning, and lighting management.

Basic Reproductive Health

“(Fall) is the most critical time to evaluate any pregnant mares for signs of placentitis, one of the leading causes of pregnancy loss,” says Canisso. She should be monitored for premature bagging up, vulvar discharge, and “sucking air” through the vulva.

Air sucking indicates that the integrity of the seal formed by the vulva or internal parts of the vagina has been compromised. If this issue arises in your mare, your veterinarian might elect to perform a Caslick’s procedure or expand an existing one. This simple procedure involves suturing part of the vulva together to lessen the risk of fecal and urine contamination and to reduce air sucking

Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.

TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com.

Start your free account today!

Already have an account?
and continue reading.

Share

Written by:

Related Articles

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

How much time do you usually spend grooming your horse?
439 votes · 439 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

Sign In

Don’t have an account? Register for a FREE account here.

Need to update your account?

You need to be logged in to fill out this form

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!