Is That Newborn Foal All Right?

After eleven long months of pregnancy, your mare has finally delivered her foal. Everything looks fine with mother and baby. What will the first hours, days, and weeks be like?

The foal should stand within about an hour after birth, nurse in the first two hours, and be able to gallop by four hours old. These milestones may come more quickly, but should not be delayed in a healthy foal. Even newborn foals that appear to be healthy should have a veterinary examination and IgG check (measures colostrum intake) at 12 to 24 hours of age. Foals that are dull, extremely sleepy, lame, or slow to progress definitely need to be examined by a veterinarian.

Problems can occur following difficult or prolonged deliveries, and infection, broken ribs, or the effects of oxygen deprivation may not become apparent until several days after birth. Abdominal pain is often seen if the foal has not passed meconium, the sticky black bowel contents that accumulate during gestation. Less common conditions such as a ruptured bladder will need prompt veterinary intervention, so owners should monitor foals to be sure they are eating, drinking, and moving around normally.

Parasites can cause diarrhea, a rough hair coat, and a potbellied appearance. Deworming can start as early as a few weeks of age. Your veterinarian can advise on the particular parasites that are present as well as the products, amount, and frequency that will be right for your foal as it grows.

As a rule, healthy foals benefit from being outside as much as possible. Free exercise is extremely important for proper development of the musculoskeletal system, and natural interaction with other horses helps a foal with normal socialization.

Young foals don’t need a lot of grooming and should not be bathed. Their dense coats and fat-rich skin usually offer good protection against weather and insects.

Many foals are born with leg conformation that is less than ideal. Some defects will self-correct as the foal grows, and turnout with free-choice exercise is important in this development. Other deformities may require early intervention from a veterinarian or farrier beginning at a very young age.

Newborn foals are often skittish and shy, hiding behind the mare when a human approaches. They may jump and rear when handlers try to restrain them. It’s tempting to put off haltering and leading until the foal grows up a bit, but even a few weeks of growth can make the foal so big and strong that haltering can’t be done without a serious and potentially dangerous confrontation. Have a foal halter on hand as soon as the foal is born, and arrange to get help from more experienced foal handlers if you have not dealt with very young foals.

Likewise, also with the help of another experienced person, begin to handle the foal’s legs and pick up its feet from the time it is about a week old, as farrier care should begin at about four weeks of age. Early corrective trimming is essential to correct some leg conformation faults, but it must be started when the foal is very young in order to achieve soundness as the horse matures.