Large foal-- risks?-Day 326 no foal

[tempichange]

I have a small mare (14.0h) who seems to be presenting a large foal for her size. She is otherwise normal, happy, under observation.

What do I have to be worried about?

Update:
No foal yet, still large.

[YankeeLawyer]

One of my mares, a maiden, seemed to be carrying a really large foal and had me worried (this mare is 16.3 but nonetheless appeared really large and was in foal to Rousseau, who is also quite large). The foal is very leggy but not overly large, afterall. Typically foals will not be larger than their dam can accomodate (hence, maidens frequently have smaller foals). My good friend bred her 14.2 maiden arab mare to Rascalino, a large stallion, appeared huge while pregnant, and foaled a leggy foal safely at 352 days. The foal is comparable in size to my WB foals out of larger mares, but the small mare had no problems delivering her.

[Hampton Bay]

My mare is about 15.2h but very broad so I didn't worry about her ability to deliver a large foal. She was HUGE though from about 8 months on. Absolutely gigantic and miserable even standing still. Her filly was leggy, but not fat by any means. She was actually pretty thin. The belly was just full of legs, which come out pretty easily.

I wouldn't worry, just be prepared like normal and make sure you have your vet's number in your cell phone and written somewhere just in case your cell phone dies or is not handy.

[tempichange]

Well, that actually puts me a little at rest. She's not a maiden thankfully, experienced mummy.

[Arab/WBGirl]

Yankee Lawyer would you happen to have any photos of your friends Arab/Rascalino baby? Obviously from my user name I am very interested in this type of cross. I am planning to breed my Arab mare this year. I am going back and forth between a couple of stallions. Please pm me if you'd rather. Sorry to the OP for hijacking your thread. Thank you.

[Penthilisea]

Obvious issue would be dystocia, with the associated risk of cord injury, leading to dummy foal or suffocation during the birth process. I would watch her like a hawk, and keep a timer handy. Ask your vet about how to palpate and check leg positions, as well as how to reposition if needed. And then also have the vet on speed dial. It's not like humans where you can give an episiotomy and all is well, if the foal is too big or even simply malpositioned you risk death to mare and foal.

I am not trying to scare anyone but I saw a mare who was NOT a maiden but did have a pelvic injury in her youth preventing her from being ridden. Not sure who she was bred to the first time, but the second time the owner picked a big warmblood and it was disasterous. Colt made it, mare didn't. :(

[hansiska]

The lore is that the mare will only foal what she can safely deliver, but if I'm not mistaken this is based on one study of Percherons bred to Shetlands. I read that here on COTH several years ago. Maybe there have been additional studies, but I know in previous threads on the topic here there were breeders who said it's not necessarily true and that they'd seen mares have difficulty when bred to a stallion a hand or more larger than the mare. How large is the stallion?

I bred a small WB mare (15.3) to a normal sized WB stallion (16.3). She'd had several foals and had been bred to a 16.2hh stallion repeatedly with no problems, so I didn't think she'd have a problem. Well, she produced the largest foal of her life, according to her owner (I leased the mare). The foal did not look exceptionally large to me.

On day three post-foaling the mare very nearly died of infection caused by a tear the foal had caused during delivery. She looked so bad (down and thrashing) that I'm sure many would have euthanized her, but we decided to give her an hour. Miraculously, she got up. She wanted to take care of that colt.

It takes three days for the infection to develop. That's what you're watching for -- at least in my experience. Hopefully the mare in question has an uneventful birth. Just make sure you keep watching her for 3-4 days very closely. Take her temperature frequently, so you're on top of it the moment she starts a fever. It's very likely all will go well -- and I'll sure be hoping it does -- but you asked what you should watch for and, in my experience, a fever is what you should watch for.

Actually, a tear like the mare I've discussed had can happen with any foaling. There is, of course, no proof that the hand difference between mare and stallion had anything to do with it, but I'd still watch your mare's temperature very closely.

Kendra

[VirginiaBred]

You didn't say what size stallion she is bred to.

[tempichange]

Stallion is 16.1 hands.

The team is well versed and has about 20 years of breeding experiences on large and small farms, they haven't lost a foal or mare yet, and I would like to keep their record clean.

The mare, as far as I know, hasn't had any problems delivering, but does tend to throw large foals.

Good idea about the infection.

[kookicat]

I don't think it's just the size of the stallion, but the build of both him and the mare. For example, a lightly built arab bred to a heavy warmblood would likely have more problems than a stout mare bred to a lighter stallion.

[amdfarm]

I did an outside breeding several years ago w/ my stallion. LC on a petite Polish bred Arabian mare (14.2hh and not a ton of bone, maybe 900 lbs.) My stallion is a Percheron and 17.1hh. She got big, was not a maiden, though had not had a foal in several years either, and had no trouble delivering her healthy leggy filly. She's a big healthy 4yo now. Her owner was a 2nd year Vet student at the time.

[YankeeLawyer]

Yankee Lawyer would you happen to have any photos of your friends Arab/Rascalino baby? Obviously from my user name I am very interested in this type of cross. I am planning to breed my Arab mare this year. I am going back and forth between a couple of stallions. Please pm me if you'd rather. Sorry to the OP for hijacking your thread. Thank you.

She is 4 days old; I think my friend plans to get pics this weekend (the foal is at my next door neighbor's farm). This cross is excellent; the filly looks like a refined WB and has long legs and is very typey. She is chestnut with a huge star, big snip, and 4 identical small socks. Darling! I definitely would recommend Rascalino for an arab mare.

[patch work farm]

Size does matter, here is what you need to watch for.

My mare has had at least 7 foals (I bought her several years ago and she has just produced her third foal for me). The first two were both by the same stallion and the 3 year old will most likely top 17.1 at the very least. So, this time, I chose a slightly smaller stallion and the resulting filly was born last Friday night. Her presentation was a bit different and instead of following her half brothers and getting stuck with shoulders or hips, she was stuck with her head. I was able to get her out but she RIPPED her mother apart, inside and out! The mare is extremely bruised with an internal hemotoma and they have been on stall rest since. My vet wants them in for a total of 3 weeks and I don't know how much longer they will last stuck inside (although with a lot of rain in the forecast, that might not be so bad). The mare's vulva looked like hamburger right after birth and we were worried she would colic because it hurt so much to poop that we thought she would stop. Luckily my vet was here immediately after I pulled the filly out and extremely glad I called her (initially she also thought it was a red bag).

The reason my vet is so concerned is that a friend of mine lost her mare to this same thing last week, luckily her orphan foal is dealing with it better than expected.

This will be my mare's last foal but here is what I think you need to consider, more than mare size/stallion size. Do you know your mare's siblings? I happen to know that this mare has a full brother who is 17.2, her full sister is actually smaller than she is but just knowing how big her brother was gave me enough information to know the possibility of large genes were there and so far, all 3 foals I have had have been very big at birth.

If you have any concerns about the delivery, have your vet nearby, it cannot hurt. In this case I think I saved the mare/filly's lives even though we are still not out of the woods yet. The mare has been flushed the last two days and may be again today

[kookicat]

Size does matter, here is what you need to watch for.

My mare has had at least 7 foals (I bought her several years ago and she has just produced her third foal for me). The first two were both by the same stallion and the 3 year old will most likely top 17.1 at the very least. So, this time, I chose a slightly smaller stallion and the resulting filly was born last Friday night. Her presentation was a bit different and instead of following her half brothers and getting stuck with shoulders or hips, she was stuck with her head. I was able to get her out but she RIPPED her mother apart, inside and out! The mare is extremely bruised with an internal hemotoma and they have been on stall rest since. My vet wants them in for a total of 3 weeks and I don't know how much longer they will last stuck inside (although with a lot of rain in the forecast, that might not be so bad). The mare's vulva looked like hamburger right after birth and we were worried she would colic because it hurt so much to poop that we thought she would stop. Luckily my vet was here immediately after I pulled the filly out and extremely glad I called her (initially she also thought it was a red bag).

The reason my vet is so concerned is that a friend of mine lost her mare to this same thing last week, luckily her orphan foal is dealing with it better than expected.

This will be my mare's last foal but here is what I think you need to consider, more than mare size/stallion size. Do you know your mare's siblings? I happen to know that this mare has a full brother who is 17.2, her full sister is actually smaller than she is but just knowing how big her brother was gave me enough information to know the possibility of large genes were there and so far, all 3 foals I have had have been very big at birth.

If you have any concerns about the delivery, have your vet nearby, it cannot hurt. In this case I think I saved the mare/filly's lives even though we are still not out of the woods yet. The mare has been flushed the last two days and may be again today

Ouch! Poor mare. Sending jingles!

[tempichange]

bump.

More opinions?

[bingbingbing]

I have a small mare (14.0h) who seems to be presenting a large foal for her size. She is otherwise normal, happy, under observation.

What do I have to be worried about?

Update:
No foal yet, still large.

First, that's good there is no foal yet. And second - breathe - mares look huge the end of pregnancy and I've found the smaller ones seems to look even huger. How is her bag? I have not read anything that is not normal. Like any mare I foal out, you want the foaling attended and it sounds like you have a great team.

[tempichange]

Bag became more full today, no wax, milk veins are popping left and right. Normal resp and temp. Baby kicking up a storm.

[stoicfish]

Correct me if I am wrong but isn't she at 314 today? I think anything under 320 and they are not (very) viable. Typically you should have about 30 more days to go. And a early baby 10 to 20 days. It is very exciting waiting for them to finally come out and play. I don't know about you but the kicking makes me feel better because I know he/she is OK
Best of luck!

[tempichange]

Correct me if I am wrong but isn't she at 314 today? I think anything under 320 and they are not (very) viable. Typically you should have about 30 more days to go. And a early baby 10 to 20 days. It is very exciting waiting for them to finally come out and play. I don't know about you but the kicking makes me feel better because I know he/she is OK
Best of luck!

Bred June 13, confirmed June 25th, we have her between May 10th and May 21st, the team thinks its more toward the 10th.

[spacely]

Bred June 13, confirmed June 25th, we have her between May 10th and May 21st, the team thinks its more toward the 10th.

If she was bred June 13, then she is at 322, not 311. Her 340 "due" date would be May 19. Be patient. The foal will come when it's done cooking. I have a mare that was bred 5 days after yours that is enormous this year. Am I a little concerned? Yes, but there isn't anything I can do. The vet looked at her & all is well. She's bagging up as well, earlier than in the past, but I would like her to hang on at least 2 more weeks if not 3.

[alliekat]

Hey my mare was bred one day before yours:)
She is a maiden and didn't really show until about a month ago. Now she drags her feet when she walks. She looks miserable and huge, but hey so did I when I was in the final stretch of my pregnancies. It sounds like she is progressing normally.Good luck and keep us posted!!

[tempichange]

No foal. More bag, more croup, tail still quite dexterous.

[tempichange]

Through 5/5- still large and in charge!