Twins: Double Trouble

Twins: Double Trouble

Tuesdays with Tony

This past week has been a busy one at the clinic for me. All my paddocks have been full, and all my stalls occupied. I’m exhausted, but it’s been very rewarding to see all the foals frolicking in the paddocks. We are well into breeding season and have been performing pregnancy check after pregnancy check. These appointments are stressful yet rewarding. As the doctors are scanning the uterus looking for one little black dot, the suspense could be cut with a knife. As a cat, I can feel it as the mare’s owner, the doctors, and the technicians wait, then I hear it: the cheers that mean that a little black dot has been found! It’s heartbreaking when the dot isn’t found. And maybe even worse than not finding the black dot is seeing two black dots.

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

Twins

Double the dots does not mean double the fun. Two black dots on a pregnancy check means that there are two embryos developing, and two embryos means twins. Unlike many other animals, twins in horses is not a good thing. Fortunately, the development of two embryos is not super common, but when it happens, it’s important to know early on. That’s why my doctors always highly recommend a pregnancy check 14 days after known ovulation. There’s a very narrow window to deal with twins. Between days 14 and 20 of pregnancy is the only time that twins can be managed without major risks. We’ll talk about management of twins while in-utero and what can be done to ensure the birth of a single healthy foal, but first let’s discuss what happens when twins are not managed in-utero.

At your mare’s 14-day pregnancy check, your veterinarian will thoroughly examine your horse’s uterus and ovaries via transrectal ultrasound to find a pregnancy and ensure that only one embryo is found. If two embryos are found, the suggestion will be to “crush” or “pinch” one of the embryos. A mare’s uterus is not capable of carrying two healthy foals to term. The likelihood of a mare having twins that survive to foaling is extremely rare. If a mare does foal out twins, it’s unlikely that one or both of the twins will survive for more than a day or two.

If twins are not detected between 14 and 20 days of pregnancy, aborting the pregnancy becomes one of the options early on. To do this, a medication is administered to the mare which gets rid of the Corpus Luteum. The Corpus Luteum produces progesterone which helps maintain a pregnancy. Once the Corpus Luteum is gone, the embryos won’t be able to survive. After 150 days of pregnancy, the Corpus Luteum no longer holds the pregnancy and endometrial cups take over to provide progesterone and maintain pregnancy. If twins are not detected until after 150 days of pregnancy, aborting one or both of the fetuses becomes extremely difficult and dangerous. Transabdominal procedures are performed to abort a fetus, which puts the other fetus as risk for abortion as well.

Incomplete Ossification of Cuboidal Bones

If a mare carries twins to term and both survive, it’s likely that they won’t be developed completely. Despite being born full-term, when twins are born, they come out as premature foals. One problem that premature foals have is lack of bone development. More specifically, the small bones of the carpus (knee) and hock do not develop before birth in premature foals and in this case, twins. During the development process in-utero, the cuboidal bones in the carpus and hock start off as cartilage and turn into bone in the later stages of development.

When twins are born, their bones usually aren’t developed, and they have a significant amount of cartilage present in these joints. If foals were like human babies and laid around all day, having knees and hocks made of cartilage wouldn’t be an issue because they wouldn’t be holding up 200 pounds on cartilage alone. When the weight of a foal is placed on cartilage, it crushes the cartilage so that when bones develop, they’re misshapen and will develop arthritis before the foal is even a few months old. As you can imagine, this leads to a very painful, difficult life for the foal from day one.

Lung Development

To go along with the prematurity of twins is the lack of lung development at birth. The last thing to develop before a foal is born is their lungs. That’s why we never induce foaling unless we absolutely have to. When twins are born and have premature traits, one of the largest concerns is their lung develop (or lack thereof). When their lungs are not developed appropriately, they can’t get enough oxygen to survive. Without supplemental oxygen they will not thrive, not grow, and will be prone to illness.

Other Developmental Issues

Because twins have to share a placenta that can’t fully support them completely, they are born small and are more prone to developing illnesses. Being small in stature makes nursing difficult and increases the risk of developing aspiration pneumonia. They may require an indwelling feeding tube and being fed every few hours via the tube. The mare may not develop enough colostrum to supply both foals with enough antibodies to supply them with a strong immune system. When a twin does not get enough colostrum, they require treatment with intravenous plasma to ensure they have appropriate antibodies to fight off diseases and illnesses. Twins will require intensive treatment, they often require hospitalization, and they are not easy. Moreover, they are not cheap.

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

The moral of the story is, have your brood mares monitored early, monitored frequently, and appropriately cared for should twins be found on 14-day pregnancy ultrasound. While it might seem like you are getting more bang for your buck if twins are found, listen to your veterinarians and their recommendations if twins are found. It is, in fact, a life or death scenario for the foals and the mare.

Until next week,

~Tony

P.S. If you’ve ever read any of my post scripts, then you know about the Podcast and the YouTube Channel, and you’ve subscribed to both. You’ve also probably already scrolled down and subscribed to my blog. So, really, you’re plugged into all the things, and absorbing horse knowledge in every way that I have to share it. Pat yourself on the head, and give yourself a treat, becaue you are a good human.

Tuesdays with Tony is the official blog of Tony the Clinic Cat at Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic in Newberry, Florida. If you liked this blog, please subscribe below, and share it with your friends on social media! For more information, please call us at (352) 472-1620, visit our website at SpringhillEquine.com, or follow us on Facebook!

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More Adventures of the Horse Doctor's Husband
Starvation, Breeding, and Microchips

Starvation, Breeding, and Microchips

Tuesdays with Tony

 How, you ask, are starvation, breeding, and microchips related? What weird cat logic is this? Read on and find out. I’m dropping some serious cat wisdom this week.

Starvation

Recently Dr. Vurgason and Dr. Lacher had the daunting task of working with a group of 18 incredibly thin horses. Like, body condition score 1 out of 9 for a majority of these horses. Dr. Vurgason worked on one who was in such bad shape he was down for 24 hours because he didn’t have the muscle mass or energy reserves to stand. That’s bad! I hope to only be able to imagine how these horses felt. I’m the one starting to insist on dinner at 4:30 pm when it is never served before 5:30 pm. 

There were abrasions on hips because the skin couldn’t take the pressure of the bony points with absolutely no covering. Remember all that rain recently? Many of these horses have just about no hair thanks to horrible cases of rain rot. When I say this was a sad bunch of horses, I really, really mean it. Luckily they found their way to a great rescue (and, trust me, they aren’t all great). If these horses can handle the introduction of food over the next week or so, they’ll be ok.

 

Breeding

 

The rescue that has this herd pulls a lot of horses from very low level auctions. The kill pen kind of auctions. I asked what breeds they see most often. My guess was going to be thoroughbreds. Yvonne told me my fine feline instincts were wrong. At first I was horrified to be wrong, but then I listened, and learned. Most are Quarter Horses, followed by Standardbreds, and draft breeds. 

Why is it Quarter Horses? Because of the huge breeding operations that exist with little outlet for the ones that “don’t cut it.” Literally don’t cut it, since many of these are breeding for horses that work cows. I beg of you guys out there looking at pretty stallion pictures right now, anxiously awaiting the upcoming breeding season. THINK about whether this is something you really want and need to do. Could you find the horse you’re looking for without having to breed? Is your mare so special that it has to be her? 

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

I don’t mean to take away from your horse, I mean to have you think about breeding. There are tons of great horses in backyards starving, and in kill pen auctions. What would it mean to a horse to never have to end up there? How great would it be to check out the foals, weanlings, yearlings, or even two year olds at a great breeding program, and pick out the one that was the color and sex you wanted? Let me tell you, that never happens when you breed your own. Just ask Dr. Lacher, who prefers geldings, and got 4 fillies and 1 sweet but not-talented gelding.

 

Microchips

 

How the heck do microchips end up in this story? Simple. At one time, these horses were likely bred or owned by someone who hoped for the best for them. That’s not how their lives ended up. If those owners had microchipped these horses, they would at least have a way to be contacted. We talk about microchips most frequently when it comes to natural disasters, or downed fence lines, but what if you got a call about a horse you sold 10 years ago? I’m guessing most of you would want to know that horse would have a soft place to land. So microchip your horses. It can do way more than bring them back if they’re wandering lost after a hurricane. 

The unwanted horse is an incredibly complicated problem. They are big, expensive animals. If each and every person in the horse industry took a moment to be sure they were helping, and not contributing to the issue, we could reduce the suffering of horses. I have faith in you humans, even if I don’t usually come across that way.

Now be a good human and subscribe to my weekly drop of cat wisdom. 

Until next week,

~Tony

P.S. I know I usually remind you about the podcast that the humans do, which is pretty popular. You should definitely check that out. However, this week is a special announcement! The humans, or Dr. Lacher’s husband, in particular, have published a book called Adventures of the Horse Doctor’s Husband. It’s pretty good, and I’m not just saying that because I have a cameo appearance in it. Speaking of rescuing horses in bad situations, remember Highway, the horse that fell out of the moving trailer last winter? You’ll recognize him on the cover, and if you buy the book, you’ll be making a contribution to him. It’s a win-win for everyone. Just click on the banner below to learn more about the book. 

Tuesdays with Tony is the official blog of Tony the Clinic Cat at Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic in Newberry, Florida. If you liked this blog, please subscribe below, and share it with your friends on social media! For more information, please call us at (352) 472-1620, visit our website at SpringhillEquine.com, or follow us on Facebook!

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Should I Breed My Horse?

Should I Breed My Horse?

Tuesdays with Tony

As a cat, one of my many, many tasks is to humble humans daily. With breeding season coming up, I feel it’s my duty to have a heart-to-heart with you about what breeding actually means. I have come to this subject today because our 10th Annual Castration Clinic (where Springhill Equine has a ball… or two) is coming up soon. It’s important when thinking about your horse as a stallion, that good stallions make great geldings! Anyway, moving on to the topic at hand.

 

Should you?

 

Got a mare? Got a stallion? Make a baby. Sell the baby. It’ll be great.

Let’s start with the mare. I hear from humans all the time that they have a great horse, and they’re not wrong. However, look at your mare with a critical eye to determine if she should be bred. Sure, she does what you love doing, and she does it well (if she doesn’t, why would you breed her?), but do you want to pass on her conformation? Does she have personality quirks you have come to love, but would never, ever want in a horse you were looking at to buy? For many breeds, you should also have genetic testing done to see if she carries things like PSSM, OLWS, or other potentially life-threatening genes. If she does, you really want to make breeding decisions carefully. Need help deciding if you should breed your mare? Talk to someone you trust in your discipline. [This person should not own a stallion you may breed your mare to.]

For stallions, I have two words: perfect and money. If you’re going to keep your horse a stallion, he should have it all.  He should have the conformation your discipline is looking for, the personality, bloodlines, genetic testing, and a track record. That last part is the beginning of the money. If you don’t have the funds to campaign a stallion so that he can prove his value in your discipline, geld him. And after you campaign him, if you don’t have the funds to promote him, and his offspring, geld him. The sad truth is no one will promote your stallion and his offspring like you do. Don’t expect others to do that for you. This means advertisements, stallion auctions, showing babies, training fees for those babies. All of it. This often means stallions don’t even begin to pay for themselves for 10 to 15 years! All things to think about before leaving those testicles on.

 

But….

 

Your mare is amazing, so is your stallion. Let’s make a baby! Whoa, whoa, whoa! I have siblings. Maybe some of you humans have siblings, too. I don’t know about your family, but I’m the only one to turn out decent in my family. I have a job, a blog, a warm lap to sleep on, and minions to deliver me food and beverages. Just because you have genetic potential, doesn’t mean the kid is going to get those good genes. It’s still a roll of the dice. Do you have a plan for those 1D barrel horses you cross, and end up with a something that couldn’t win the 7D if that was a division? A better question is, do you have a plan for getting this foal raised and trained to its potential? This can work out well if you can do all the training, but if you need to send baby off for lots of training, or you do a discipline that takes years to master (I’m talking to you, Dressage), it can add up to a lot of dollars!

Eyes wide open

 

I’m not saying don’t breed your horse, I’m just reminding you to think about the entire process. I’m also going to ask that you visit a local horse rescue, and talk with them about the horses they have. Someone bred every one of those horses.

And now I’m off to prepare for the Castration Clinic. This year’s motto is Geldings: Ball-less and Flawless!

Until next week,

Tony

P.S. I’m sure that by now you’ve subscribed to my blog, so I’ll skip that part. Have you tried out the podcast that the humans do yet? It’s called Straight From the Horse Doctor’s Mouth, and it’s a half hour of amazing, free information about horse stuff that you can listen to while you drive, while you wash your horse, while you jog (you humans and your crazy exercise stuff), or even while you’re pretending to work. Hey, I’m a cat. We’re all about slacking. Don’t judge. You can listen right from our website by clicking the link, or you can download it on Spotify, Stitcher, Castbox, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

 

Tuesdays with Tony is the official blog of Tony the Clinic Cat at Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic in Newberry, Florida. If you liked this blog, please subscribe below, and share it with your friends on social media! For more information, please call us at (352) 472-1620, visit our website at SpringhillEquine.com, or follow us on Facebook!

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Pregnant Mare Care

Pregnant Mare Care

Tuesdays with Tony

Pregnant Mare Care 

Congratulations! You’ve got a bouncy baby horse coming in about 11 months! In my experience watching the humans around here, it’s a very long 11 months. There are important things to do during that time to make sure the baby arrives happy and healthy. In my experience, humans are really good at getting the heartbeat ultrasound check at 30 days, but not so good at the rest of it. Read on for Tony’s words of equine wisdom regarding pregnant mare care.

Ultrasounds

These are just so freakin cool! You get to see that baby go from a black dot on the screen at 2 weeks to having a heart beat at 30 days. At the 60 day ultrasound there are legs and something resembling a head! They grow so fast. My Docs are checking way more than just the baby when they’re ultrasounding, though. They are also checking the entire uterus and ovaries to make sure they’re doing what they should.

The most important thing they are checking is where the cervix and placenta meets. This is where the outside world meets the uterus, and it’s where problems often start. My Docs will check to be sure the placenta is tight up against the cervix, along with measurements to be sure it’s not too thick. A thick placenta can be an indication of infection. If infection is spotted early, it can be easily treated with antibiotics. On young mares who don’t have a lot of exposure to other horses, ultrasounds should be done at 5, 7, and 9 months to check for infection. On older mares (over 12 years), problem mares, or mares who see lots of other horses all the time, the Docs recommend ultrasounds at 3, 5, 7, and 9 months.

Vaccinations

Rhinopneumonitis vaccines are super, super, super important for pregnant mares. Most humans call this a Pneumobort shot. Rhinopneumonitis is a Herpes virus. Herpes viruses are nasty little buggers. Once a horse has the virus, they’ve got it for life, and most horses are infected in their first year of life. The virus spends most of its time hibernating, but stress (I hear pregnancy is definitely stressful) can make it wake up. Frequent vaccinations keep the immune system on high alert for this virus. This means that if it does wake up, the immune system is right there to tackle it.

Rhinopneumonitis vaccines follow the same rules as ultrasounds. If your mare doesn’t meet new horses often, she can get a vaccine at 5, 7, and 9 months. If she is a social butterfly, she should get vaccinated an additional time at 3 months. This vaccine can be what my Docs call hot (horses often get a mild to moderate vaccine reaction from it). The Docs recommend some Bute beforehand to help reduce the reaction if you’re worried.

At around 10 months of pregnancy, your mare will need all her “regular” vaccines. For most mares this is Eastern and Western Encephalitis, Tetanus, Influenza, West Nile Virus, and Rabies. This makes sure the baby has great protection against these viruses when it gets here.

Deworming

Don’t. Ha! That was easy. Seriously though, see my numerous blogs on deworming. Watch an entire presentation by my Docs about deworming here: Deworming Seminar  Fecal egg counts and targeted deworming is the way to go. Don’t go deworming all willy nilly like you humans are prone to doing.

Nutrition

Don’t go crazy. Again, easy! Have your mare on a good feed. If she gets skinny easily, then a mare and foal feed may be necessary. If she’s an easy keeper, then good quality hay and a ration balancer may be all she needs. This is not the time to get her fat. It won’t make foaling easier on you or her.

Exercise

Yes. Of course they tell me that too, but I don’t like exercise, so I don’t. Pregnant mares can go out and do what they did before they were pregnant with a few guidelines in place.

  1. Don’t do more than you did before she was pregnant. If you went for 5 mile trail rides, great. Don’t sign up for the 50 mile endurance ride.
  2. Watch how hot she gets in the early stages of her pregnancy. Being really hot can be really, really bad for embryos younger than 90 days.
  3. Listen to your mare. At some point, later in her gestation, she’s going to tell you she doesn’t want to work anymore. Respect that.

Before you know it, 11 months will have flown by and you will be anxiously awaiting your foal. Spend the time wisely by thinking up perfect baby names, and keeping your mare up to date on all her prenatal care! Bring her into the Clinic for her happy mom check ups and I’ll even throw in a free CAT scan by yours truly.

Now be a good human and subscribe to my blog. Scroll down a tiny, tiny bit. So easy a human can do it.

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

Tuesdays with Tony is the official blog of Tony the Office Cat at Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic in Newberry, Florida. For more information, please call us at (352) 472-1620, visit our website at SpringhillEquine.com, or follow us on Facebook!

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Warmblood Fragile Foal Syndrome

Warmblood Fragile Foal Syndrome

Tuesdays with Tony

This week we’re going to talk about a tough topic: Warmblood Fragile Foal Syndrome. I apologize to those who enjoy my feline brand of sarcasm, but it will be largely missing this week. Even a cat can’t be snarky when it involves death, and Warmblood Fragile Foal Syndrome causes foals to die soon after birth, which is even worse.

What is Warmblood Fragile Foal Syndrome?

Springhill Equine Veterinary ClinicWarmblood Fragile Foal Syndrome (WFFS) is a point mutation in the PLOD1 gene. I’m going to get a wee bit nerdy here because I can’t help myself.  A point mutation means that in the DNA for this gene where a Guanine should be, there’s an Adenine. PLOD1 is responsible for helping raw collagen turn into something that can support all the stresses skin, tendon, ligaments, and blood vessels undergo every day. That single change from a G to an A means the skin can’t handle shear forces. That’s it: one letter. It can also be a cause of abortions in pregnant mares because of umbilical cord ruptures. The umbilical cord grows from the foal side of things, so if the foal has WFFS, the umbilical cord will be made with defective collagen. You know those bubbles you see in a water hose before it bursts? That’s what blood vessels made with defective collagen do. And once the umbilical cord bursts, the foal can’t survive.

I tell you, the more I learn, the more amazed I am that life even happens. There are so many places where one tiny little error makes the whole system fail.

How does my foal get it?

WFFS is an inherited genetic mutation, and specifically an autosomal recessive condition. Every foal gets one copy of genes from the sire, and one copy from the dam. For an autosomal recessive condition to cause problems, the foal has to get two copies of the gene. This is a good news/bad news scenario. It means that most foals won’t be affected with the syndrome. However, autosomal recessive is a great way to have a gene silently make its way into a population.  For example, let’s say we cross a mare that is A/G (this means she’s a carrier) with a stallion that is A/G (so he’s a carrier too). With this cross, there is a 25% chance we get a G/G foal (not a carrier and normal), 50% we get an A/G foal (normal but a carrier), and a 25% chance we get an A/A foal (fully affected). This means it is very, very important to know the status of your mare and stallion if you are breeding!

How do I test my horse?

First, if your horse is a gelding there is no reason to test unless you are curious. WFFS carrier status will NOT affect performance.

Ok, now that that’s out of the way. UC Davis and Etalon Diagnostics are the two places my Docs recommend. Many, many warmblood breeders are testing aggressively right now. This means there may be a wait to get your results, but both labs are trying to get results out as fast as they can. Both labs have submission forms on their websites. You will need to pull about 25 hairs, being sure to get the roots, and mail them in along with the submission form. That’s it.  

And if my horse is a carrier?

That depends on you. Responsible breeding would mean removing carrier horses from the gene pool by not breeding them. I do understand that’s easier said than done. At the very least, avoid breeding two carrier horses. As I said, many stallion owners are trying to determine the status of their horses. Hilltop Farm has done an excellent job getting information to mare owners. They have also said any mares bred to carrier stallions must have proof of non-carrier genetic status. This is a great start. It gives me hope for you humans.

Now be a good human: scroll down just a smidge further and subscribe. It’s the only way to be sure you see all the wisdom I have to offer delivered directly to your Inbox.

Until next week,

Tony

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

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Tuesdays with Tony is the official blog of Tony the Clinic Cat at Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic in Newberry, Florida. If you liked this blog, please subscribe below, and share it with your friends on social media! For more information, please call us at (352) 472-1620, visit our website at SpringhillEquine.com, or follow us on Facebook!

Breeding and Foaling

Breeding and Foaling

Tuesdays with Tony

Breeding & Foaling

Thank you to everyone who came out to my Breeding Seminar last Thursday. You didn’t see me because I was inside. In my bed. Where it was warm. Obviously. Why would I go out in the freezing cold to huddle around a space heater just to learn about how baby horses are made? I did, however, lay on the computer while the docs were working on their powerpoint presentation, so I am intimately familiar with the information they presented. Oh, you want a recap you say? Well, I’m happy to oblige!

Where do baby horses come from?

Well kids, when a daddy horse and a mommy horse love each other very much…their owners run genetic tests to make sure they don’t have any heritable diseases, pay lots of money to have semen collected, ship it cross-country, time the mare’s ovulation, artificially inseminate the mare, patiently wait 14 days, confirm the presence of ONE embryo, monitor the pregnancy with at least 4 more ultrasounds and Rhinopneumonitis vaccines, measure the mare’s milk pH to determine when she’s going to foal, and voila! That’s where baby horses come from.

It may sound simple, but a problem at any of these steps has the potential to create a roadblock to your hopes and dreams of having the perfect foal. Let’s start at the beginning: choosing the parents. Stallions may look sexy in their ads, but remember to look at their offspring’s conformation and performance records, their First Heat Conception Rate (a marker of fertility), and make sure they are free from any breed-associated genetic disorders, such as HYPP, PSSM, HERDA, OLWS, or SCID. If you want to know what these letters stand for, or if your breed of horse is at risk for them, ask one of the docs. I’m just a cat; you’re lucky I know the letters. If you are the stallion owner, it’s time to think about training him to the phantom, and scheduling a blow-out collection and semen evaluation prior to breeding season.

The next roadblock usually comes from FedEx. We here at Springhill have a love/hate relationship with FedEx. Most stallions are collected on Monday/Wednesday/Friday. Unfortunately, those Friday collections require overnight shipping on a weekend. Semen doesn’t live very long in a box with an ice pack. That means any shipping delays on the stallion end translate to a missed breeding opportunity on the mare end, and we have to wait another 2-3 weeks before trying again on her next heat cycle.

Even once the docs have gotten the semen into the mare, there is a chance her body will have an inflammatory reaction to the semen and excrete fluid in her uterus (really, it is a wonder these things ever successfully reproduce in the wild). Barring that scenario, you still have to make sure there is one and ONLY one embryo at the 14-day check. If there are twins, the docs have between Day 14 and Day 16 to pinch one of them while keeping the other alive (this is much easier said than done).

What do I do with my preggo mare?

Now that you have worked so hard to get that beautiful 14-day-old baby embryo, you may as well put in the work to make sure she keeps it. On your part, that means making sure to schedule her 30-day, 60-day, 90-day, and 7-month ultrasounds, as well as Rhinopneumonitis (a.k.a. Pneumabort) vaccines at 3, 5, 7, and 9 months of pregnancy. You may think this is just my way of seeing you more often in the hopes that you might give me snacks; but in actuality these are all aimed at making sure your mare doesn’t drop/slip/abort/lose or otherwise spit out her foal before it’s due date!

Even if you ate a tub of Ben & Jerry’s single-handedly every night of your pregnancy, this does NOT mean you need to fatten up your mare just because she has a baby on board. In fact, depending on her weight and body condition score when she became pregnant, you may not need to increase her plane of nutrition at all until the last few months of her pregnancy. The true calorie demand will come while she is nursing her foal, but that’s a topic for another day.

When is the stork coming?

When the docs tell you your mare’s ESTIMATED due date, that’s exactly what it is- an estimate based on 340 days past her date of conception. In real life, she can foal anywhere from 320-360 days of gestation, and it’s not unusual for a mare to carry over a year! So, how do you know when your cute little bundle of joy is going to hit the ground?

In our opinion, the best way to tell when your mare is going to foal is by measuring the pH of her milk once a day until it reaches a magic number. Here’s what you need to know: If her pH is >6.4, there is a 99% chance she is NOT going to foal that night. If her pH is <6.4, there is a 97% chance she WILL foal within the next 3 nights. And now you know when to start sleeping in the barn aisle/watching cameras/checking your mare every hour, or whatever it is you are doing to make sure you don’t miss the big event.

If I haven’t talked you out of breeding your horse yet, remember that I offer Breeding Packages at a very reasonable set price per cycle. And if you buy your package before Valentine’s Day, you will receive 1 free night of board for your mare…our little secret! We also perform stallion collection, semen evaluation, phantom training, and semen shipment right here at the clinic. I quite enjoy the extra company around breeding season.

Happy baby making!

-Tony

 

Tuesdays with Tony is the official blog of Tony the Office Cat at Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic in Newberry, Florida. For more information, please call us at (352) 472-1620, visit our website at SpringhillEquine.com, or follow us on Facebook!

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