Miniature Horse Information Pages

• Foaling Sequence - Graphic photo story
• Foaling Out Mares - article

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This works really slick for those times when you may need to milk a mare to feed a foal. You take a large syringe (60 cc) and take the plunger out. Cut off the end that has the tip on it so the plunger will fit into that end (just reverse of the end it originally went into). Put the plunger into the end you cut off. Pull the plunger back about 1/2 inch to start the suction. Put the open end tightly against the teat and slowly pump the plunger back and forth. When you get about an inch or two of milk, pour it into a container and start over again. This works easy and fast (much better than doing it by hand). When I showed it to my vet the last time she was here and our colt wouldn't nurse, she was going to extract the milk by hand and tube the baby. Well I talked her into trying this and she was amazed !!! I really works well. Hope this little hint works for you, as it does save time and is so easy to make.
 

Testing RH factor in new born foals - "I would say that you have about a 50/50 chance of survival. That has been about the results of the ones that we have had with the same problem. I try to do a simple test, which you might want to do in the future....take a drop of blood from the foal (I get it when the umbilical chord breaks) and mix with a drop of colostrum from the mare. If it mixes and stays mixed, everything is okay. If it separates and appears to curdle, which it will do very quickly, do NOT LET THE FOAL NURSE but get the vet there IMMEDIATELY to give the foal IGG, or an artificial colostrum or colostrum from another mare. Then keep the foal with the mare, but muzzled for 48 hours and bottle feed with another milk source. Milk the mare so that she won't stop making milk. After the colostrum is gone the foal can start nursing without danger. It is only the antibodies in the colostrum that fights the foals immune system." (re-printed from L'il Beginnings Miniature Horse Forum)
 

Joint Ill - From Miniature Horse Forum - When a foal is born, if the umbilical cord becomes contaminated, then the infection goes straight into the bloodstream. Remember when a foal is born, the umbilical cord is still functioning as an artery and vein system to supply oxygenated blood to the foal while it is inside the womb. At the time of birth, the cord will break and the exposed area on the cord, for a few minutes, can get dirty with environmental germs and debris. That goes straight directly into the foal's bloodstream. The foal's immature immune system does not know what to do with this invasion so the immune system shunts the infection to a safe place away from the heart, brain and so forth....the safest alternative is the joints, and the farther away from the body, the better.
ANY time there is a lameness issue in a foal less than 2 weeks old , JOINT ILL (or navel ill or septicemia, same thing) should be the FIRST suspicion!
This is why we treat the navels with iodine. And keep the stalls clean.
There is also a theory that the immature soles of the foal's feet can transmit infection to the bloodstream as well so some people will dip the feet. My vet does not strongly believe this is true, but some vets do, so better safe than sorry!
And I have also been told that a foal can actually be developing navel ill before it is born. This would have to cross the placenta and be transmitted by the dam. I suppose anything is possible.
How does it present itself?
May or may not show a swollen tender joint, with heat in the joint.
Fever
Depression
Elevated White Blood cell count on a CBC blood test
Lameness!!!!
My filly had a NEGATIVE xray, and NO obvious swollen joint, NO heat, but mild tenderness in her knee area. She had a 102 temp, not too bad.
She was depressed, limping, and had a 12,000 white blood cell count--that is elevated. Needs to be less than 8.
Also the vet said that sometimes the foal will have an abnormally LOW white blood cell count but it is septicemia all the same and you will treat it just the same.
That is all I know, due to my recent run in with the dreaded JOINT ILL>

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