the healthy foal, owners, vets should be able to recognize normal behavior

7/30/2019 The Healthy Foal, Owners, Vets Should Be Able to Recognize Normal Behavior

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The Healthy FoalOwners, vets should be able to recognize normal behavior

By Christa Leste-Lasserre

Photos by Anne M. Eberhardt

Y

our broodmare is in her final monthsof gestation and is approaching herterm. After a year of planning and

preparation, you, as her owner, must beready for what follows. The time has fi-nally come to prepare the way so that thenewest addition to your stable has everychance of reaching its highest potential.The mare, in essence, is in the startinggate. And when the bell rings, the racefor the healthy foal will have begun.

The right nursery

Ensuring the foals health begins beforethat babys litt le hooves touch the straw.According to Dr. Franziska Wohlfender,Swiss specialist in equine medicine and

surgery who has carried out research onmore than a thousand Thoroughbred foals

in Newmarket, its important to thinkabout where your mare will foal and whatteams will be available to assist her if nec-essary. Have a look at how the stalls andpaddocks are built, and check for hygieneand tidiness, she said.

Even though no foal can really be borninto a bacteria-free environment, it doesnthurt to make an effort to make its sur-roundings as clean and safe as possible.

Also, make sure the mare is healthyherself, well looked after, fed properly, andup-to-date on her vaccinations.

General husbandry and common senseare very important when it comes to se-lecting a birthing site for your mare, sheadded.

Youll also want to make sure you havea competent team monitoring the mare

and observing the actual birth. It doesntmean you have to interfereand in mostcases, you shouldnt, Wohlfender said.Her recent research in Newmarket showedthat foals were at a greater risk of infec-tion when non-veterinary stable personnelassisted in the birth. But you do want tokeep a close eye on her and know when to

call a veterinarian for help, she added.The team should also be knowledge-

able about dealing with the umbil icalcord, as its mismanagement is a commoncause of infection. Wohlfenders advice:Dont handle the cord at all; it will natu-rally break on its own. Just dip the stumpimmediately in iodine solution or 0.5%chlorhexidine solution.

According to Wohlfender, if you moveyour mare to a new stable for the birth, sheshould ideally arrive at least a month be-fore delivery. This gives the mare adequatetime to build up antibodies to any germs

that might be present in the new stable sothese antibodies can be passed on to herfoal through her colostrum.

Get that colostrum

Top equine veterinarians and research-ers agree: The best thing you can do foryour newborn foal is make sure its get-ting that antibody-rich first milk calledcolostrumand fast. The thick, yellow-ish colostrum is replaced by mature whitemilk within the first 24 hours after birth,and, meanwhile, a foal is confronted im-mediately by germs. Additionally, colos-tral antibodies can only be absorbed viathe newborn foals gut within the first 24hours after birth, says Wohlfender. So thetiming of colostrum is critical.

All newborns foals are like AIDS pa-tients; their own immune systems arejust not well developed, said Dr. Elisa-beth Hemberg, equine practitioner andresearcher specializing in fertility andfoal diseases, based in Hjortkvarn, Swe-den. They need absolutely to have a goodamount of colostrum in order to survive.

Without sufficient amounts of good-quality colostrum, a foal is likely to suc-cumb to essentially any infectious disease

its exposed to. Once infection sets in, in-tense (and generally expensive) veterinary

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care is required to keepthe foal al ive. But evenintense therapywhichincludes intravenous an-tibiotics, antibodies, andrehydration, to name afewis not always suc-cessful. Septicemiaor

infectionis the number one cause ofdeath in newborn foals.

Youve got to make sure the foal is get-ting the right quality and quantity of colos-trum, ideally within the first four hours oflife, said Wohlfender. But, unfortunately,thats not always very easy to know. Itsimpossible to measure the exact quantity(ideally around 1.5 to 2 liters total) of co-lostrum a newborn foal ingests if it suck-les, but there are some signs that ownerscan look out for. Newborn foals shouldnurse within two hours of birth andshould be nursing several times an hour,

she says. And while mares might wax upbefore birth, they shouldnt be leaking co-lostrum. So if a foal is too weak to stand orsuckle, or if a mare has been dripping fromthe udders prior to birth, theres a goodchance the newborn is not getting enoughcolostrum. Colostrum quality can also beverified through the use of a refractometer.Equine colostrum refractometers can bepurchased at less than $75 and are worth-while investments for ensuring proper an-tibody protection.

Large stud farms can prepare for cases

of mares not having enough good-qualitycolostrum by taking advantage of frozendonor colostrum. If a mare loses a foal oris known to produce particularly largequantities of colostrum, that mare can bemilked (around 500 ml) and her colostrumfrozen up to a year in a normal freezer.Frozen colostrum should be defrosted in a

warm water bath and not in a microwavein order to prevent damage to the proteins,Wohlfender says. The colostrum can befed to the foal through a bottle or, if neces-sary, a stomach tube by a veterinarian.

Likewise, a foal thats too weak tosuckle can be hand-fed its own motherscolostrum if the quality is good. However,Wohlfenders research indicated an in-creased risk of infection in foals that aretube-fed, so this option should only beused as a last resort, she says.

Although colostrum intake cant bemeasured directly, the foals absorption

of antibodies from the colostrum can. Asimple blood test taken within the first twodays of life will reveal the IgG levelanumber that indicates the concentration ofantibodies in the foals blood and hence itscapacity for protection against infection.An IgG level of 8 or more is consideredgood; between 4 and 8 the protection levelis questionable, and 4 or below is insuf-ficient, Wohlfender says.

Ideally, most of these antibodies shouldbe absorbed within the first 12 hours, ac-cording to Hemberg, and a blood test takenat that time would allow treatment to be

initiated as early as possible if necessary.Hemberg and Wohlfender agree that ifthe antibodies are too low after the bloodtest, the foal should be given intravenousantibody-rich hyperimmune plasma.

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The foal wont suffer from an excessiveamount of antibodies, so if owners areconcerned about a questionable IgG levelon the blood test, and theyre willing tospend the money (often more than $300for one liter), then the plasma can be safelyadministered.

The blood test should be considered an

indispensable part of early foal care, ac-cording to Hemberg. Its easy to do andrelatively inexpensive, and theres just noreliable substitute. A very common mis-understanding is that if the foal is bright,behaving normally, and has had a gooddrink, it has had enough colostrum, shesaid. But I have done postnatal check-ups on several seemingly bright foals thatactually had not had enough colostrum.And they are really ticking bombs, be-cause they have just not been infected byany bacteria yet. So my advice is, abso-lutely, get the blood test and get the plas-

ma if indicated.According to Hembergs recent scientific

study on the long-term effects of early dis-ease, preventing infections in newbornsreduces not only the risk of death, but alsothe risk of poor performance later in life.Foals that survived bouts of septicemia(compromised foals) within the first 18hours of life frequently developed prob-

lems that ruled them out as sport horses.

Among the Thoroughbreds and trotters inher study, 47% of the compromised foalslater qualified for racing, compared to 75%of the healthy foals. None of the compro-mised foals had significant earnings, but16% of the healthy foals went on to wingreater than $7,500/year in racing events.And 29% of the compromised foals wereeuthanized for various reasons before two

years of age, compared to only 7% of the

healthy foals.If a foal develops an infection later in

life and then recovers, it tends to race withthe same performance statistics as otherhealthy foals, according to Hemberg. Theproblem really seems to be those criticalfirst hours, she said, Essentially, foalsthat are born healthy have a much stron-ger platform to stand on.

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Mental Health and Safety

It might seem like strictly a training issue, but foal handling and education are important for the

horses well-being. A foals health isnt just about his body; we also have to think about his men-

tal health, said Dr. Dirk Langle. A foal that isnt used to being handled is easily frightened and is at

risk of injury when it comes time to handle him, for veterinary care, or loading onto a trailer, or for

picking up the feet. When I see a future sport horse that isnt used to human handling, I consider that

foal not to be in an ideal state of health.

Lady Carolyn Warrens foals would certainly not fall into this category. They are handled from the

day they are born, every day, said Warren. This makes them easier to manage, which means there

wont be some sudden, stressful moment when they have to be broken in. Its all sort of a natural

progression.

Dr. Elizabeth Hembergs foals are not only handled from day one, but haltered. When a foal is

born, I dry it off with a towel and touch it everywhere, and I put a halter on it on the first day, said

Hemberg. Then from every day on, I put a halter on him, and when I take out the mare and lunge

her, the foal is there, too. Then its no big deal for them, and you can go out to the pasture later and

just walk up with a halter, and they dont get upset about it.
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However, its currentlydifficult to prevent suchearly infections, as theymight actually beginbefore birth, she says.It could be connected tothe uterine dysfunctionsof certain mares with

infertility problems or to infections ofthe placenta. Her current research workaims to unravel clues to this mystery of thewhens and whys of early infections innewborns. By studying foal behavior inthe first hours of life compared to bloodsamples of mare and foal, she hopes her re-search will reveal whether compromisedfoals might already be compromised in theuterus. Until the answers are uncovered,however, the best guarantee she canoffer breeders is to ensure optimum colos-trum intake and watch for normal foal be-havior by testing and close monitoring.

One thing that does seem to be clearis that giving healthy newborns roundsof preventive antibiotics has no effect onthe frequency of disease, according toWohlfender. This relatively common cus-tom of prophylactic treatment of foals withantibiotics daily for the first three days oflife was first reported in 1955 by J.S.M.

Cosgrove, who noted significant healthimprovements compared to untreatedfoals. Since then, management practiceshave improved, and prophylactic antimi-crobial drugs seem to no longer be neces-sary in foal rearing, as Wohlfender foundin her research on Newmarket Thorough-breds. She recommends that prophylacticantimicrobial drugs are used only if thereis a clear need for it, such as a weak foal de-prived of adequate amounts of colostrumor complications at birth. Early interven-tion in cases of septicemia remains cru-cial, however.

The first few days and weeks

Breeders who educate themselves aboutwhats normal and not normal in theiryoung foals will go a long way in protect-ing their foals health, according to Hem-berg. Unfortunately, though, many breed-ers are not fully knowledgeable about thesigns of trouble.

Its very important for both owners andveterinarians to be able to recognize nor-mal foal behavior, she said, adding thatthe normal foal criteria first describedby Peter Rossdale in 1967 too often goesforgotten. The foal should be standingwithin one hour, nursing within two, andgalloping within four.

A good deworming program should alsobegin within the first few weeks. Ascaris(roundworms) are the ones that youreconcerned about in young horses, saidHemberg. She recommends an ascarisdewormer at about six weeks of age, re-

peated every two months until the foalsare weaned. After that, she deworms withivermectin to treat against other species ofworms as well. The mare is wormed theday of foaling to reduce significantly theamount ofStrongyloides westeri wormstransferred. These worms can cause diar-rhea in foals as young as five days old.

For German equine veterinarian, breed-er, and national breeding conformationjudge Dr. Dirk Langle, worming programsshould start even earlier. I deworm minestarting at eight days of age, followed byevery six weeks afterward, said Langle,

who has been judging sport horse breed-ing stock in Germany, France, and Swit-zerland for the past 15 years.

A good indicator of parasite infestationis the foals hair quality, he added. If itsunsightly, and especially if the foal has abloated belly with ribs showing and poormuscle development, this is a strong signof worms.

Owners should also be on the lookout forother potential health problems unrelatedto infection, such as contracted tendons,ruptured bladder, and colic, according toHemberg. Usually, the only solution tothese kinds of problems is rapid veterinarytreatment once the situation is detected.

However, owners can help preventmeconium-related colic. This is the mostcommon cause of colic and happens whenthe foal has difficulty passing the firstbowel movement called meconium. Re-tained meconium can easily make a foalgassy, and it is likely to stop suckling. Aveterinarian can perform a simple enemaif the foal appears constipated to preventthis kind of colic.

Get them outside

For Thoroughbred breeder Lady Caro-

lyn Warren, who along with her husband,John, runs the Highclere Stud in Berkshire,

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England, the key to the healthy youngfoal is raising them as close to natureas possible.

The horse is not designed to livein stables, said Warren, whose studproduces approximately 35 foals peryear. They are happier out. Lettingthem be as close to nature as possible

is what we feel is the best way to rearhorses.

Foals at Highclere Stud, the leadingconsignor by gross sales for Book Oneof the October 2010 Tattersalls yearlingsale in Newmarket for the fourth yearin a row, live outdoors on rolling greenacres from a very young age. Gener-ally, ours will be in a nursery paddockfor the first two to three weeks andthen progress to joining up with oneother mare and foal, and then into alarger group from about four to fiveweeks old, Warren said.

However, Warren adds that althoughthis works for Highclere Stud, it might notbe ideal for horses in other environmentsand conditions. And in any environment,ensuring the foals health and safety mustbe priority. We are extremely carefulabout the amount of exercise they haveas young foals, she said, as they can soeasily get tired and incur injuries.

Wohlfender agrees. Its a bit of commonsense thing about what is best, she said.

Skin and hooves

A foals coat needs no special care and, in

fact, shouldnt be washed or overbrushed,according to Hemberg. Foals normallyhave very good coats and good fat in theskin that protects them against insects,she said. To ensure optimum protection,its best to leave it alone.

Hooves, on the other hand (or foot), area completely different story. Farrier workis very important, starting at about onemonth old, Warren said. Foals can beborn turning out, turning in, or have otherconformation problems. These problemsneed to be constantly reviewed.

For Hemberg, 14 days old is a good timeto check for soundness. Hoof care doesntstart at weaning; it starts much earlierabsolutely!

Many hoof or leg conformation prob-lems will work themselves out in the firstfew weeks, especially if the foal has ac-cess to large pastures, according to Lan-gle. But if the problems persist, a veteri-narian can order corrective resin shoes tobe placed by a qualified farrier. But itsimportant to do this when the horse isyoung, he warns. Usually, by the time thehorse is two years old, its too late.

This means teaching them to be com-fortable with hoofcare very young, he

added. I recommend starting them pick-ing up their hooves at about one week old.

When to call it quitsDespite our best efforts, at times a foalshealth can be poor enough to give it lit-tle hope for the future. The responsiblebreeder should be able to recognize whenits necessary to make the call, however,difficult, for euthanasia. You might havea foal that cant extend its legs, or thathas a significantly deformed jaw that will

prevent it from grazing properly evenif it can suckle as a foal, said Langle.This kind of horse has no future.Keeping horses for the sake of keep-ing them alive isnt professional. Wehave to be responsible for the horseswe produce.

Fortunately, it doesnt happen

every day. But maybe one foal outof forty will come up with a seriousproblem. And in that case, its best tolet that one go and make room for an-other horse with a better chance for afuture.

Take-Home message

According to Warren, when itcomes to proper foal care, you cannever stop learning. When you thinkyouve learned it all, you never, everhave, she said. So the path to thehealthy foal is one of always reading

and listening to the latest research andnew ideas. When we breed racehorses,we constantly strive to improve geneticsto have the most successful Thorough-bred in history. Foal care is much thesame. From the time theyre out of thestarting gate of life, we must constantlystrive to improve our methods to havethe healthiest foals we can.

Farrier work should begin when a foalis about one month old

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