Mare Monitoring Techniques to Save Your Sanity

Clydene Boots explores technology for monitoring the near-term mare.

by CLYDENE BOOTS

At large farms, night watchmen and/or a full-time foaling attendant keep an eye on the mares that are close to foaling. This is undoubtedly the best solution and is quite practical for the very large operation. At the other extreme, the person with only a mare or two may choose to have the mare foal somewhere else. But, a word of caution; farms provide foaling services quite cheerfully for mares who are being boarded there, or are going to be bred to the farm’s stallion. They may understandably decline if asked simply to foal the mare, for the foaling fee and the small amount of board involved really doesn’t cover the care that is given and the wear and tear on staff—especially on a small to mid-sized farm. And many farms prefer not to foal "transient" mares because of the risk of disease they may bring to the farm’s resident population. You may find a farm willing to take a mare for foaling only, just don’t take it personally if many of them decline.

Following are some ideas for the smaller operation that foals its own mares—where the night crew, the day crew, and farm management are pretty much one and the same. We’re the bleaky-eyed folk wearing a rumpled sweatshirt and an anxious look as we dash to the market or the post office. It isn’t the foaling that is the problem—it’s the watching and waiting for endless days and nights so we can be present in case the mare needs assistance. Due dates are simply an average. A mare’s prior length of gestation may be more helpful, especially if it is considerably shorter or longer than the average of 340 days. I find 340 days an awkward concept, and prefer to use 11 months, bringing the mares up a couple of weeks before that.

Since most mares instinctively try to foal in solitude, monitoring near-foaling mares can be a challenging task, especially for small breeding operations.

One technique that should not be relied on is the old hike out to the barn every couple of hours and check on ’em. Most mares instinctively try to foal in solitude, so there’s a very big risk she’ll deliberately foal in between checks. If you’re lucky, you’ll find a live healthy foal, but that’s a very dangerous way to approach foaling, and increasing the frequency of your visits based on the mare’s physical signs may not help much.

The textbook signs of impending birth are increased udder size, waxing (formation of drops of colostrum on the teats), relaxation of the vulva and the muscles around the croup, restlessness and pacing, frequent urination and defecation, and sweating. A mare may do all of those things, in which case she is probably going to foal in a few minutes, or she may show none of those signs and still foal in a few minutes.

High Tech Meets Mother Nature

Many mares only show physical changes a very short time prior to giving birth, if at all. For these mares, technology has come to the rescue with a variety of devices that are attached to some portion on the mare’s anatomy, and trigger an alarm such as a pager where the mare commits some act that is usually connected with foaling. For example:

1. A tampon-like device that is inserted in the mare’s vagina. When expelled by the mare’s contractions, the difference in temperature triggers an alarm. It is reusable, assuming you can find it once it has been expelled.

2. A device that is sutured to the mare’s vulva—the alarm is triggered when the lips of the vulva are separated by the amniotic sack. However, the mare may dislodge the device while scratching her rear-end against a tree or fence—something mares tend to do in the days just prior to foaling. And in a malpresentation, the lips of the vulva may not separate to trigger the alarm, just when help is needed most.

3. A device attached to the mare’s halter which transmits a signal when the mare lays flat out on her side in foaling position for more than a brief period. These operate under the theory that near-term mares don’t sleep in that position. Many do, right up to the time of foaling, so false alarms are frequent with this type.

With their various shortcomings, monitors are best used as a back-up, especially with the very short notice they give. (The tampon expelled by contractions probably allows the most time for you to reach the mare’s side). Some mares dispense with all formalities, simply drop to the ground, and out pops the foal. A client’s mare Charmed I’m Sure foaled here a number of times. She would bag up like a milk cow weeks early, relax and dilate days early, then challenge me to catch her in the act. In the middle of a mouthful of hay, she would stop chewing, walk to her spot, drop to the ground and give two or three good pushes, then finish chewing her hay while she admired her big gorgeous foal. When she was young with excellent muscle tone, she couldn’t have taken much more than a minute, though she slowed down a bit as she aged. Now that is the kind of mare that will make you spend a thousand or two on a monitoring device.

A Solution to the Problem

Milk-testing strips are a much less expensive aid, and more useful in many ways. Around the mid-eighties, some genius discovered that the calcium level in mares’ milk rose drastically shortly before foaling and this could be measured with the Merck Quanticative Hardness Strips used to measure the hardness of water. According to the research article, when all four squares turn pink, 95 percent of the mares foaled within 12 hours. Immediately I was on the phone tracking down a Merck distributor . . . emancipation was at hand. The price was right and the procedure was simple. Just mix two cc of milk with 12 cc of distilled water, (a shot glass works great), immerse the strip for one second, shake off the excess, and read after one minute while still moist. Start doing this when the mare starts bagging up, or a couple of weeks before her due date. Take only a teaspoon or so, and there should be no problem. From reluctant donors, I’ve gotten by with as little as a half cc (keeping the six to one ration). Initially I was skeptical, when the strip showed four squares on a mare who was showing none of the physical signs other than a modest bag. But the arrival of a foal that night made me a believer, and in the years since, I’ve found the strips to be very accurate. (With a long shelf life if kept cool and dry—do not refrigerate.) An occasional mare will show a high calcium level and still not foal for several days, just as some will show the physical signs and wait a while to foal. I found the strips especially useful for those mares who are past their due date but showing no physical signs. When the milk-test confirmed that foaling was nowhere near, I could comfortably go do errands without having an anxiety attack in the grocery checkout line. Some farms use the strips to screen the mares then schedule someone for night watch when it appears a mare is getting close to foaling.

A very expensive brand-name version of the strips came on the market later. Gradually their price has come down and they are now available through a couple of the major mail-order discount equine supply places.

What Works at Westview

I use a combination of devices to accomplish my goal of being able to monitor the mares effectively day and night, get enough rest most nights to be able to function during the day, and to be able to live in the house, not the barn. Since most of my mares dislike confinement in a stall, my near-term mares join me at the house. At night they are right next to the house where I can see and hear them without even having to sit up in bed. Physical changes along with the milk test strips give me a good idea as to who may foal that night. I have the halter-type monitor as a back-up, and since I can see the mares, false alarms aren’t as much of a nuisance as they would be if the mares were in the barn. Some farms use a video camera in the stalls to watch the mares from the house, but I prefer having them just outside my window. (Throughout the year I use this pen for a horse that seems crampy or off, so I can watch them during the night.) While I also have a newer monitor with a pager, I much prefer my old Magic Breed, whose receiver lets out an ear-splitting scream. While working outside I can set it on the steps where I can hear it if a mare decides to foal while she is turned out.

If heavy rains make the outdoor arrangement unworkable and a mare is getting close, the mares and I grudgingly move to the barn or the mare shelter, along with the monitor. I seldom foal more than a dozen, so even in wet years the rains haven’t generally been a problem. My dream house would have an attached foaling stall, along with the outside observation area.

Since the mares are generally up for a couple of weeks, we become very well acquainted and I can easily notice changes in them. They learn my routines as well, and may try to pull a sneak foaling during the race replays or while I’m in the shower, but the scream of the foaling alarm lets me get there for the action.

The barn has a nice foaling stall where I can take the mare when she is actually ready, but if weather permits, I prefer to foal them outside. I like the tiny pasture in front of the house that is used for newborns, but it has no lighting. Then I found an answer—eyeglass-type frames with a penlight at each corner. It worked great, as it left my hands free, and of course the lights always pointed the direction I was facing. However, the horses were sure it was a huge beast of prey with glowing eyes coming at them out of the darkness, especially since the lights moved with each movement of my head. Unable to convince them it was just me with headlights, I had to give up that bit of technology.

The maternity pen is a 50’ x 50’ V-mesh sand pen, which receives soft light from the living room, and has floodlights if needed. On this footing the foals get up quickly and easily, and if they crush into the fence in their efforts, no harm done. Both the mare and I benefit from the space, and most will foal near the center of the pen if I place an armful of straw there. The sun and fresh air help make it more hygienic than a stall. The foaling mare’s buddies are in adjoining pens where they can observe and comment, but are out of the way. Ideally, I like for a maiden mare to see one of her buddies give birth, so she won’t be upset by the creature that suddenly appears when her turn comes.

Mares who have foaled a month or two earlier are in the adjoining pasture, and their foals press close to the fence—curious about the new little guy who is staggering around the pen. Those of us whose lives are devoted to the farm take pleasure in this sort of thing. In the middle of a soft, quiet Southern California spring night, the experience of watching a strong healthy newborn get to his feet and begin exploring the world makes the stress and fatigue of foaling season seem a small price to pay.

Editor’s note: The public is invited to attend a refresher course on the basics of foaling at the Jan. 28 meeting of the California Thoroughbred Farm Managers Association in Temecula. For more information, call (909) 677-6571.