Equine Pediatrics

   Avon Animal Hospital

     East Coast Equine Reproduction Center

Be sure and have your newborn tested for Failure of Passive Transfer..... You may save your foals life!

It is wrong to think of a foal as a "small horse".  The nutritional needs, care requirements, disease conditions and their treatments are completely different than those of the adult horse. We have created this page to provide our clients with reliable information on foal care. All articles have been carefully reviewed by our equine veterinarians for content. From the very basics in foal care, to the latest in equine pediatric disease, prevention and treatment, there is something for everyone. Even the experienced breeder will hopefully find this page a useful bank of information.

Picture Right: Just minutes old, this warmblood filly (created via embryo transfer) meets her surrogate Morgan Horse mom. This is an important bonding time between mother and foal when human contact is usually not advised.  The entire placenta has been passed during the foaling. When this does not occur, the mare should be monitored to make sure that the entire placenta is passed within 3 hours of foaling. It should then be gently set aside (in a clean bag) for the veterinarian to examine later.  If the placenta is not passed during this time, please contact your veterinarian.

Picture Right: The foal is now ready to stand within 15 minutes of birth.  Most foals will stand within 1 hour and begin to nurse within 2 hours of birth. The umbilical cord which travels from the foals umbilicus (belly button) to the placenta will break naturally after the foal stands. Never cut or pull this structure. Once the cord breaks off, there should be minimal bleeding and the remaining umbilical stump should be drenched with a navel antibiotic solution. Drench the stump several times daily during the first 3 days of life. The foal should not pass urine from this structure, instead, the umbilicus should dry up completely in a few days.

Unlike humans, foals are born without protective antibodies. Foals must nurse good quality colostrum during the first 12-24 hours of life in order to obtain these vital immune components from the mare. When there is inadequate transfer of antibody a foal is said to have "Failure of Passive Transfer". Many foals with FPT succumb quickly to infections from bacteria in the environment and often die. All foals should be tested for Failure of Passive Transfer at 12 - 24 hours of age, or sooner when a problem is suspected. The test only requires a small blood sample from the foal.

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Expecting Company?

 Relax, We'll let you know when they arrive

Birth Monitoring Systems by Foalert, Inc.

We install Foalert transmitters

The titles below in red have been reviewed and selected from The Horse Magazine archives for the purpose of client education. In order to view any of these articles, you must be a subscriber to the magazine. By subscribing to the Horse magazine you will receive a monthly issue by mail plus you will have access to any of the archived articles below as well as any of the other 3,000+ articles on the site. You will be linked to the registration/subscription page when you click on any one of the articles titled in red below. Once you have subscribed simply type the Article # into the Article Quick Find box and click on "GO".

The titles below in green are free to read and do not require subscription.

Monthly issues of The Horse are provided free of charge to Avon Animal Hospital clients and can be picked up at our office. Supplies are limited and are on a first come first serve basis.

Gestation

Fetal Development and Foal Growth The Horse, Article # 276

Late Gestational Mare Management The Horse, Article # 784

Preparing for Your Foal

Preparing For Foaling The Horse, Article # 747

Clean Environment and Preparation Key to Successful Foaling (Joseph Hahn, Information Specialist, Univ of Illinois, College of Veterinary Medicine)

Prepartum Foaling Checklist with Vaccination Schedules for Mare & Foal (Jeannine DeLuca DVM, East Coast Equine Reproduction Center)

Predicting Foaling The Horse, Article # 441

Neonatal Care (Dana N. Zimmel, DVM, DACVIM, DABVP, Member AAEP)

Foaling

Fundamentals of Foaling The Horse, Article # 284             

Help Your Mare Have a Safe Delivery (American Association of Equine Practioners)

Foaling Problems The Horse, Article # 317

Premature Foals The Horse, Article # 587

Without Warning: Dystocia The Horse, Article # 880

Evaluating Placentas Can Pinpoint Potential Problems The Horse, Article # 874

Neonatal Care (Dana N. Zimmel, DVM, DACVIM, DABVP, Member AAEP)

The Newborn Foal

Neonatal Care (Dana N. Zimmel, DVM, DACVIM, DABVP, Member AAEP)

Evaluation & Care of Newborn Foals (L.R.R. Costa, MV, MS, DACVIM)

Assessment and Care of the Newborn Foal (Thomas J. Lane, B.S., D.V.M., Extension Veterinarian, College of Veterinarian Medicine, Large Animal Clinical Sciences, Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville)

Newborn Knowledge The Horse, Article # 428

Nothing Better Than Mare's Milk The Horse, Article # 869

Administering Foal Enemas The Horse, Article # 9

Assessing Foal Health

Foal Emergencies: what is "normal" & what is not (Terry C. Gerros, DVM, MS, Diplomate, ACVIM. 
Assistant Professor, Large Animal Medicine,Oregon State University)

Failure of Passive Transfer The Horse, Article # 604

Failure of Passive Transfer and Use of Plasma  (Veterinary Dynamics, Inc. San Luis Obispo, CA)

Neonatal Care: Fetus to Foalhood (Dana N. Zimmel, DVM, DACVIM, DABVP, Member AAEP)

Handling Your Foal:

Foal Handling & Restraint The Horse, Article # 160

Imprinting Foals The Horse, Article # 81

Transporting Foals The Horse, Article # 724

Feeding Your Foal:

Feeding and Care of Orphaned Foals (Kathy Anderson, Extension Horse Speicalist, University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension)

Help Your Foal Grow with Proper Nutrition (American Association of Equine Practioners)

Foal Growth: Special Care and Nutrition  (American Association of Equine Practitioners)

Collecting Colostrum (Fairfield T. Bain, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM, ACVP, ACVECC, Member AAEP)

Weaning Strategies The Horse, Article # 531

Foal Vaccinations:

Baby Boosters - Vaccinating Foals (D. Paul Lunn, BVSc, PhD, MRCVS, Diplomate ACVIM, Member AAEP)

Baby Boosters (D. Paul Lunn, BVSc, PhD, MRCVS, Diplomate ACVIM, HorseTalk Magazine Article)

Parasite Control in Foals (Sarah Probst, Information Specialist, Univ of Illinois, College of Veterinary Medicine)

Foal Feet:

Trimming Foals Feet  (Stephen E. O’Grady, DVM, MRCVS, Northern Virginia Equine, Member AAEP)

Building a Foundation of Foot Care in Foals (Stephen E. O’Grady, DVM, MRCVS, Member AAEP)

   Building a Foundation in Foals - Part I (Stephen E. O’Grady, DVM, MRCVS, Northern Virginia Equine, Member AAEP)

   Building a Foundation in Foals - Part II (Stephen E. O’Grady, DVM, MRCVS, Northern Virginia Equine, Member AAEP)

Disease Conditions in the Foal

Colic & Abdominal Conditions

Meconium Impaction The Horse, Article # 282

Abdominal Emergencies in Foals (Sarah Probst, Information Specialist, Univ of Illinois, College of Veterinary Medicine)
 

Bladder Rupture (Rolf Embertson, DVM, Dipl. ACVS, Member AAEP)

Diarrhea

Foal Diarrhea (Roberta M. Dwyer, DVM, MS, DACVPM, Member AAEP)

Foal Heat Diarrhea (Christina Cable, DVM, DACVS, Member AAEP)

Rhodococcus equi pneumonia in the Foal: A Deadly Cough (Dr. Steve Giguere, Member AAEP)

Rotavirus The Horse, Article # 158

Neonatal Isoerythrolysis

The Jaundice Foal The Horse, Article # 436

Orthopedic Problems & Lameness

DOD: Developmental Orthopedic Disorders The Horse, Article # 792

Fractured Ribs: Breaks at Birth The Horse, Article # 884

Physitis The Horse, Article # 726

There was a Crooked Foal The Horse, Article # 294

Wobbly Foal or Angular Limb Deformity? (Linda March, Information Specialist, Univ of Illinois, College of Veterinary Medicine)

Flexure Deformities in Foals  (Stephen E. O'Grady, DVM, MRCVS, Member AAEP, Derek A. Poupard)

   Management of Congenital Flexural Limb Deformities in the Foal  (Stephen Adams, DVM, MS, Purdue University, Member AAEP)

Respiratory Illness

Foal Pneumonia The Horse, Article # 560

Rhodococcus equi pneumonia in the Foal: A Deadly Cough (Dr. Steve Giguere, Member AAEP)

Septicemia

Septic Arthritis in Foals (Sarah Probst, Information Specialist, Univ of Illinois, College of Veterinary Medicine)
 

Miscellaneous Disease

Botulism The Horse, Article # 54

CID of Arab Foals The Horse, Article # 680

Overo Lethal White Foal Syndrome  (Elizabeth M Santschi, DVM, Member AAEP)

Congenital Cleft Palate in Horses  Stacy A Semevolos, DVM, and Norm Ducharme, DVM, MS, Dip. ACVS, Cornell Univ.)

Imprint Training is a method of training foals that was developed by the highly respected Dr. Robert Miller. In this book, Dr. Miller will help you to have a better understanding of your foal and to help train your foal properly beginning minutes after the foal is born . Dr. Jeannine DeLuca and Dr. Paul Johnston of East Coast Equine Reproduction Center use this method of training in their own foals and highly recommend it for all breeders:  Click above to learn more about "imprinting" or  click here to order.

Imprinting Foals The Horse, Article # 81

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