Your First Foal

An open-sided barn or field shelter with access to grass and other mares and foals for company is a good environment for mares and foals as it can be adjusted to their changing needs. Photo: Chr. Slawik

Conventional stable yards, particularly those designed for riding horses are not really suitable for brood mares and foals. This is because, in the last third of pregnancy, the mare needs a quieter environment and an undisturbed retreat. She should also not be exposed to new horses on a regular basis as there is a risk of infection from them. For the actual birth, she needs a clean separate area with plenty of straw somewhere where the foaling can easily be observed. Even native breeds may require assistance and a muddy shared paddock is not suitable.

Foaling outside is ideal for hygienic reasons but it is difficult to observe. Mares, particularly maidens with a first foal, fiercely protect their newborn from other horses and people. A spacious stable gives them the necessary peace and quiet during this important bonding phase. However, locking up a mare used to living in a herd in a stable without visual contact with other horses is not a good idea. It causes far too much stress!

If you cannot offer your mare a suitable area for foaling and for the first few weeks after the birth, it is better to take her to an experienced breeder to foal down. Your foal will then also have playmates to grow up with. Understandably, every owner would like to see their 'once in a lifetime' foal being born and grow up and have it all to themselves. The welfare of mother and foal, however, should always be more important than the fulfilment of your own dreams. If you really do not wish to send the mare away for foaling a possible compromise is to alter your stable layout to suit her needs. Perhaps you could do it together with another local single-mare-owning breeder? Whatever arrangement you choose, the most important requirement is a large, high-quality pasture. A young foal should be turned out during summer, day and night! For this reason alone, most riding stables are not ideal for breeding.

Advice
Make sure there are no hazards in the vicinity of the mare and foal. No protruding nails, sharp edges, small gaps (under doors and partitions as well), no hayracks in which the small feet of a foal could get trapped.

The most important questions for new breeders are:

What do you want your foal to become?

Do you want an eventer, show jumper, dressage star, hunter, show pony, endurance horse or an all-round pleasure horse for the family? Set a specific goal and choose the sire and dam accordingly.

Are you going to keep your foal or sell it?

Do you want to ride your youngster yourself? Can you break it in yourself? Do you want to sell it as a weanling, a just-backed youngster or as an educated adult horse?

Do you have sufficient space to raise a foal and possibly keep it for 4 years or even the rest of its life?

Is the stable and pasture suitable for a brood mare and her youngster?

Have you got enough time to look after them properly?

A mare and foal need as much time as a riding horse, possibly even more!

Is your knowledge of how to handle and raise a foal sufficient to deal with all situations?

Do you know enough about breeding?

Or are you at least prepared to learn everything you need?

Are you persistent enough?

Horse breeding requires persistence. Success takes time, setbacks are common. It takes years before your dream of an adult horse becomes true.

Do you have enough money?

Attempting to breed your own foal can be very expensive. It is not a way to get a cheap replacement for your mare. Keep savings for additional vet's bills and extras.

What does your family say about it?

Not an unimportant question, especially if they are not as enthusiastic as you are.

Photo: N. Sachs

Because the ever-rising costs of everything from hay to vaccinations vary from area to area, and because the needs of a native pony broodmare and her foal are somewhat different to those of a thin-coated Thoroughbred or a finely-tuned Warmblood, it is impossible to give an exact figure in answer to this question. However, you must know your own accurate costings before you make the decision about whether or not to breed from your mare, so use the checklist below to help you compile the relevant costs.

Up until the time of weaning, you have to expect the following costs:

Insurance for mare and foal Feed

Hard feed, 1 ton

Hay, 1 ton

Straw, 2 tons

Food supplements, 50 kg

Pasture (fencing, fertiliser)

Covering (stud fee)

Transport

Electricity, water

Farrier for mare and foal

Breeding society membership and registration fees

Veterinary costs

Swab

Follicle check and ultrasound

Pregnancy test

Vaccinations

Examination of the newborn foal

Worming mare and foal

Contigency fund for veterinary costs

Contingency fund for other additional costs

Professional breeders also have to consider:

Value of the mare

10 years of use

Rates

Staff salaries and National Insurance contributions

Maintenance of buildings

Employers and third-party public insurance

Unexpected costs such as illness or injury can increase the total significantly.

If you want to sell your foal you should chose the mare and stallion especially carefully. A foal that fulfils your expectations regarding looks and conformation can usually be sold just through word of mouth. Other options are advertisements on the internet or in dedicated magazines and specialist selected auctions are also an increasingly popular choice. Your breed society (which is almost certainly listed in the addresses section at the end of the book) can usually give you information about these.

Successful breeding has to involve selection - choosing the best animals for your breeding programme and disregarding the bad ones! Photo: K. Kattwinkel

Try to be as objective as possible when deciding whether your mare is really suited to becoming a mother. You and your possible buyer will certainly enjoy owning a sound, talented and trainable animal much more than one that is unsound, unrideable or unmanageable as a result of a poor breeding decision.

The potential broodmare should have a friendly personality and should not display vices like weaving, crib biting, or kicking. This is not only important because these vices could be hereditary, but also because the mare would be a bad example to her foal if she showed them. There is also always the risk that the mare could hurt her foal if she became very ill-tempered in its presence.

It goes without saying that the mare should be physically healthy. If your mare can no longer be ridden for health reasons (e.g. it is lame or has a chronic cough) you must consult your vet first to find out if these problems might be hereditary. If they are, you should abandon the idea of breeding from her.

If a mare has had to retire due to mismanagement or an injury that is not the result of a conformational defect (e.g. a non-hereditary problem, the vet should establish if pregnancy and birth would be too demanding for her. If the mare has already had a foal when younger, using her again for breeding at a later stage is certainly an option. She should, however, not be older than 16 years when having her first foal.

In order to establish her sexual health, you can examine the mare's udder and her genital area initially yourself. The udder should be symmetrical and have two equally sized teats. Check the position of her vulva (indication of possible problems with the uterus) and its alignment (a gap increases the risk of infection). However, the examination of the internal organs has to be carried out by a vet (the first of many costs that you will encounter). Immature mares often give birth to small and weak foals.

Also, young mares may not have had time to develop properly themselves and their immature bones will be under a lot of stress from the weight of the foal /including the placenta) and also from insufficient calcification, as the growing foal is given a higher priority. Unfortunately, these processes cannot be compensated for even by optimal mineral supply in the feed and the consequences only show up later in life when the mare is being ridden and then shows early signs of wear and tear. You should therefore not cover your mare before she is three years old. Breeds that mature late should really be given another year before being put in foal and some stud books - especially those of the native pony breeds - refuse to register foals born to mares below a certain age to ensure that this happens. On the other hand, experienced sport horse breeders sometimes cover very tall mares at the age of two years old, as the pregnancy will usually stop their excessive growth.

50 per cent of a foal's genes, but 60 per cent of its behaviour, come from the mother. A brood mare should therefore have an outstanding temperament. Photo: N. Sachs

When choosing the future sire of your foal you should consider the following:

1. Do not just choose the stallion...