Dysmature foals... I want to learn

[Spike]

We just had a mare foaled here for a client, and the foal, even being only few days ahead of his due date, has several signs of a dysmature foal (low birth weight, floppy ears: litterally like a baby germansheppard dog, tendon laxity in hindlegs). Fortunately, he was able to stand by himself after only couple of attempt, and his suckling reflex was good. He is not in danger, vet did a full ckeckup on him, he is healthy and on the good side.

But... it was the first foal of this mare, a 14yo retired dressage/showjumper mare. She has received all what she needed while pregnant, good hay, grain, ration balancer etc. Nutrition was closely monitored. Placenta was 100% normal, good colour, amniotic liquid also normal.

What could have cause that?? Badluck? Or we should expect same thing next foal? Vet spoke about a possible infection of the uterus, or bad blood circulation in uterus. We will have a complete battery of test done before the mare is re-inseminated, but I would love if you can share your experience about dysmature foals... :)

thanks!

[Coppers mom]

One of the foals last year was born a little over a month early. He had barely any hair, really loose legs, and was so incredibly tiny. We kept him in the stall for a week, then let him out in a tiny paddock for two weeks. After that, he was able to go out in the pasture to strengthen his legs. He had a lot of trouble regulating his body temperature, so we had several fans up in the stall, and hosed him off if he was too hot. He's fine now though. His legs are completely normal, and he doesn't seem to be stunted at all. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the mare or her nutrition, it was just bad timing in this case. The mare foaled 2 weeks early this year, but the colt was completely normal.