Horses!!!!!!!!

[TherryChicken]

Oh btw, I agree pleanty of books and online stuff to help you out. We knew nothing about birthing etc and had it all looked up, printed out, and read by the time she delivered

 

[mindylee]

White bubble is a good sign when in labor.
Red bubble mean really bad news! That means red bag and you must rip it open to get to the foal asap!
Unlike calving, you do not pull on legs to get foal out. You could pull the mares uterus out and that is not good. Let mare deliver on her own and only assist if needed and mare is in distress.
I highly advise you to watch u tube videos of good and bad births so you know what to watch out for.
Also with the teats, they will wax within a month or so before birthing. That is normal. Watch her milk. It should be yellow and sticky the closer she gets. Currently it should be cloudy clear and sticky.
Clean her teats off also. Make sure all is nice and clean down there so baby dont get a mouth full of dirty nasty guck. I also say to shave all around her teat inside legs and belly area so baby dont get mouth full of body hair and choke on it.
Also u tube what to shave so ya can see exactly what to shave.
When baby os born do not cut umbilical cord right away. Let it come off on its own. If its hrs later and foal still has it attached, then cut and iodine and clamp off area. After baby is born, and standing, help guide foal to nipple to drink that colostrum. It must get it! Dry baby off but also let mare groom and bond as its important to both.
Also babys come out with slippers on bottem of feet. Dont freak out. Its okay and normal. They will harden and fall off. Lol!

Again please watch as many videos as possible. Dont matter the size of equine or donkey/mule as birthing is the same.

Hope this helps

 

[heartsizedfarm]

Your mare will need a larger stall for birthing and foal care. Foals are small but they rocket around like anything! Stall should be bedded with straw, not shavings. Foal comes out wet so shavings would stick to it. Yetch. They should probably hang out there for a day or two until the foal is a little stronger, then it can go outside for short periods, but not with any other horses than mum. It will need a securely fenced area, ideally a board fence, not electric, with the bottom board low enough to ensure it can't roll out. We left mum and foal together for a year, despite advice to wean early. Mum weaned the foal herself when she got sick and tired of it! By then the foal, we had a little filly, Hattie, will have found other occupations.

 

[Bunnylady]

White bubble is a good sign when in labor.
Red bubble mean really bad news! That means red bag and you must rip it open to get to the foal asap!
A red bag delivery means that the placenta is coming out first . In a normal delivery, the amniotic sac surrounding the foal is what you see coming out first ("white bubble"). The placenta is still attached, so the foal is still being supplied with oxygen, etc, through the umbilical cord. If the placenta is coming first ("red bag") it has already detached, and the foal is no longer getting oxygen. You must act quickly to save the foal.
When baby os born do not cut umbilical cord right away. Let it come off on its own. If its hrs later and foal still has it attached, then cut and iodine and clamp off area. After baby is born, and standing, help guide foal to nipple to drink that colostrum. It must get it!
Human babies get some antibodies transferred directly from their mothers' bloodstream, but horses don't do that. A foal hits the ground with no antibodies at all. All of the immune protection a foal has must come from the colostrum (i.e. "first milk"), and he must get it within about 12 hours of being born. If a foal doesn't get adequate amounts of antibodies from the colostrum during those first hours after being born, he is wide open to infection, and may need a rather expensive transfusion to get his immune system working properly.
Dry baby off but also let mare groom and bond as its important to both.
Also babys come out with slippers on bottem of feet. Dont freak out. Its okay and normal. They will harden and fall off. Lol!

Your mare will need a larger stall for birthing and foal care. Foals are small but they rocket around like anything! Stall should be bedded with straw, not shavings. Foal comes out wet so shavings would stick to it.

Another reason not to use shavings is that foals, like most kinds of babies, tend to put their mouths on everything. If a foal decides to eat the shavings (and some do) he can get an impaction. That can be a life-threatening situation.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Can't pass up a chance to share our girls

We have two at the moment - both are primarily pleasure horses, and my daughter uses them for 4-H.

Aero (aka Lady Brave Heart during her short and unsuccessful life on the track) - a 9 year old TB mare. She is my daughter's horse - the two of them have grown up together since we brought Aero home for my daughter's 12th birthday.



(in the background is Holly Hula, a mini mare we had who foaled out a beautiful filly for us - both of whom were later sold to allow the addition of our second riding horse)

This is them warming up at last year's 4-H show


Which brings us to my little short-round, Yahzi - grade mare, estimated age somewhere around 12-15

 

[heartsizedfarm]

Beautiful horses all of them! Really nice equitation from your daughter too!

 

[chickencrazy429]

I loooooooove Yahzi's colors!!!!!

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Beautiful horses all of them! Really nice equitation from your daughter too!

I loooooooove Yahzi's colors!!!!!

Thank you

 

[pollitos2013]

Are you serious about your pony? We are looking for a pony... but we live in northern Michigan. Where are you?

 

[PBGGG]

Aha! Finally got a nice camera so I got outside and took a few pics of the horses.