My mare was almost at her due date. i got a call from the people I am boarding with yesterday morning telling me that my mare had delivered her foal, but when they went out to feed in the morning, I was laying in the stall with mom, dead.

I was just with Mom earlier in the afternoon before she delivered & there was no sign that she would deliver for what looked like almost a month. The foal hadn't even moved back into the birth canal. I went over as soon as I got the call, I. I know that it was an early birth.....my vet said it was probably about 2 weeks early. I know it had just rained here, but was sure that if everything was ok with the baby, it would have made it no matter what.

I feel so sorry for my mare. It is important to allow the mare to work thourgh the fact that her foal isn't alive but watching her nose around her dead foal was horrible. I had my vet come over as soon as he could. He checked out mom, the afterbirth, & nothing looked out of the ordenary. He took blood & cleaned her out. When we took her out of her stall for the vet, she couldn't part herself for the foal lying on the ground. We had to put it close to her & he gave her something to quiet her down while he worked with her & I was able to mild about 1 liter of her first milk with the colustrum in it.

I went home & took a hot shower, about the only thing that seems to calm me down on top of the meds that really don't work when a situation messes me up.

I got a call just after that from the lady I board with letting me know that her husband was having the back hoe from his work was on its way. I went over & they were finishing up buring the foal next to my mare's stall. She was standing in her stall & watched her neighing & could hear the calling for her foal in her neigh.

I am in so much shock that it doesn't seem real & is just added onto everything else that doesn't seem real. I knew that it was always an iffy pregnancy with this mare, but her last foal was my Izzabelle....so thought she might have gotten over her problems....but guess the answer to that is no. First try was miscarried twins.....second was a live birth but had to have the foal put down at 2 weeks after an infection separated her leg bone from the hoof.
Third was another miscarrage, forth was Izzy, & then aborting this one.

We were running though possibilities & there were too many to count, but what seems to have happened is that the baby wasn't back far enough when she started the labour. It probably took too long for the foal to be birthed & was probably cut off from oxygen during that time & she was probably not alive at the point she was born.

I know in my mind that this was very real possibility considering the past experiences, but I can't get over this after having a successful birth of Izzy 1 1/2 years ago.....I was so praying for a filly just like Izzy. I am having problems dealing with this even though my mind tells me that if the foal had lived there problaby would have been so many vet bills because of some problem from the premature birth, but it doesn't stop the horrible feeling that are going on inside of me & watching my mare grieving for her foal is so hard to deal with too.

I guess it just wasn't meant to be, but it doesn't take away the pain of loosing my foal so close to having another successful birth.
Debbie