Bad luck, or something wrong with program?

[jlther]

I just found another aborted foal in my field...this is the second one in two months...plus this spring we lost one at 300 days, and two mares reabsorbed early on. That's 5 lost foals in less than a year...is this bad luck or do I need to change something in my breeding program? The weird thing is there is no common thread...different stallions, different fields, different farms, different times during pregnancy.
One thing for sure is I'm about ready to pack it in and not breed any more.
Any ideas or suggestions?

[chemteach]

I am so sorry. I hope you find out if anything is causing this or it is just bad luck! I know you must be heartbroken.

[Dressage_Diva333]

Did you have the first aborted fetus tested? Might be worth testing the one you found recently as well, to see if EHV-1, or something of the like could be a problem.

[Hillside H Ranch]

I would strongly reccomend having a complete necropsy done on the most recent fetus. You could be looking at any one of a number of contaigous diseases that cause abortion. It is also possible that not all of these cases are related, but at this point I would be wanting to rule-out disease.

[sfstable]

Wow, I am so sorry. 2010 has not started out well for quite a few of us but you can't stop trying. Your good luck will come back soon.:)

[Stacie]

I imagine that they must all have *you* in common. So if one of your horses has a contagious, asymptomatic disease, could you have passed it to all those mares by first handling the contagious horse, then going to see the others?

You must be heart-broken losing so many babies :-(

[jlther]

I will be having a necropsy done on this fetus...but vet says they only find an answer 50% of the time...so I was looking for other possibilities in the meantime. Just so heartbreaking! This one was my stallions first foal to make matters worse :(

[Indy-lou]

Early foal loss is a very frustrating situation to deal with, because, in my experience, there are seldom concrete answers as to "why". I have had it happen to me, and did ALL the tests, spent all the money, and got no answer other than "it happens sometimes". Still, when you have multiple events as you have described, I think you have to ponder the common denominators. As in all of the medical fields, veterinary medicine still is not readily prepared to answer some of these questions. If you have a common field/pasture/site where mares have lost pregnancies, I would look at trying to identify plants/trees growing there. If you have a common feed source, I would look at that and possibly change it. A lot of the time we are left with guesses. Hay can have molds (not always visible) that could potentially be semi-toxic, and there may not be any research or evidence to point to that says "this myco-toxin will cause fetal loss in mares". I feel your pain and offer my sympathies, but I know that answers are hard to come by, and not having them is so hard to live with.

[Molly Malone]

I am so sorry. How heartbreaking.

Call around other vets and ask them if they have seen anything in other animals in the area, not just horses but llamas and sheep etc. There was a case a while ago (Sinclair B????) where foals had a genetic condition that turned out to be created by an environmental toxin and not the stallion but it took them a while to figure it out until they started to ask around.

[RyTimMick]

I always ask about vaccines, did you use Pneumabort K? There are many cases of spontaneous abortions after vaccinating with this. Especially after the 9 month shot (for some reason). It is for this reason I have converted to using Intervet vaccines on my mares only. There are 0 cases of abortions reported after using this vaccine.
Second, r you insemminating your mares on the foal heat? There isn't a lot of data on this but Uterine health appears to maintain better when mares are allowed one heat cycle post birth to tighten everything up. I like to perform a lavage during the foal heat( 7-14 days post birth) and then breed on the 30 day heat. There is some evidence to support that a greater # of mares not going to term when bred on the foal heat. Also, check thyroid levels of the mares who lost or absorbed.

4rth and lastly, Bad luck comes in waves. I was hit hard the last couple of years also. Keep your chin up, and you will pull through. When our foal was born with out eyes last year I though It was the end for me. Breeding is not for the light at heart, we can only keep going forward.

Best wishes!

Tim

[Zydeco Sport Horses]

Nothing to add to the good suggestions that you have already received, but wanted to pass on sincere condolences. Do you have other mares pregnant now--if so, I'm jingling like crazy.

[STF]

Jennifer, Im so sorry!!! (HUG)

I hope you find out what is going on. Let us know what the vet says. Im so sorry for all going on.

But on a good note, congrats on Peabody. I heard he rocked at the dressage clinic too!

Let us know what the vet says......

[Sunnydays]

Unfortunately I have no suggestions to add, but I want to say how sorry I am. I know it is a painful thing, and the "whys" are not always possible to determine.
Best wishes, Kathleen

[Signature]

Oh no, how disheartening and sad... every breeder's nightmare. We had a year like that kind of - mare aborted late December at 7 months, two foals born dummy due to placentitis and one was septic and we lost him (other spend 2 weeks at NC State, ouch but he lived!!). We had a placentitis last year as well, and we've wondered if there was a common thread or something in the soil, something we're doing??? Vet said it can be just plain bad, bad luck. Either way, no fun and definitely makes you want to throw in the towel!! Best of luck getting some answers and so sorry for all your losses. :(

[jlther]

UPDATE:
Well I think I found the reason for this abortion...I stumbled upon a second fetus this a.m. so she was carrying twins. Doesn't explain the rest of them, though...
We did do 17 and 35 day ultrasounds plus a 90 day palpation on the mare but vet missed them.

[foxhavenfarm]

UPDATE:
Well I think I found the reason for this abortion...I stumbled upon a second fetus this a.m. so she was carrying twins. Doesn't explain the rest of them, though...
We did do 17 and 35 day ultrasounds plus a 90 day palpation on the mare but vet missed them.

So sorry for your losses! Unfortunately, sometimes even the best repro vets can miss twins. We had it happen to us last year.

[Hillside H Ranch]

UPDATE:
Well I think I found the reason for this abortion...I stumbled upon a second fetus this a.m. so she was carrying twins. Doesn't explain the rest of them, though...
We did do 17 and 35 day ultrasounds plus a 90 day palpation on the mare but vet missed them.

I know it doesn't help much, but at least you have a reason for this one, and can rest easy knowing it isn't something contaigous. It is very possible that they are all unrelated and you are just in a spell of bad luck. It happens, sadly, and most of us have been there.

[selah]

Breeding is not for the light at heart, we can only keep going forward

Amen!

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

OP--I have nothing to add, just wanted to say I'm so sorry! Wow.

RyTimMick--what's in the lavage? Just saline? Just curious.

[RyTimMick]

The Lavage is just saline. Vet does a full message of Uterus during lavage. It is supposed to help with tone. If mare has bad conformation they have a temporary caslick put in. After the lavage to keep her clean. It is great becuase you can almost set your clock to the 30 day heat cycle. Last post foaling mare I bred checked at 28 days, ordered the frozen and bred on the 30th. Mare was already clean, and ready to go. Pulled staples(caslick) insem. with frozen at 6 O'clock and 12(while another mare was rejecting her foal across the isle). Mare confirmed in foal at day 14 and 30. I would breed like that every year if could (minus the foal rejection).

Tim

PS. Sorry for the loss again. It is better to know.

[blackstallion2]

Have you checked you pastures for fescue? Sorry if it was already stated. Jingles that the rest of your year will be better!

[Antero Equestrian]

My 2008 was like this - I had 10 mares in foal, and lost 6 of the pregnancies. Since statistically you lose 10% per year, there was a 1:1000000 chance of me losing six of them!!! Also, they were all over the place (2 in a barn in Germany - one at 5 months and one at 7 months), 2 in 2 different barns near me (one at 30 days and one at 7 months), two at the vet clinic where I had my recips boarded for the first 90 days (one at 75 days and one at 90 days). There were no common threads, no common feed, no common stallions - the only thing in common was that I was the one writing the checks for all of their board payments!!!

It is true that bad luck comes in waves. I lost a set of twins from my best mare and then my stallion in 2007, then 6 of my 10 pregnancies in 2008, then our equestrian center due to a zoning issue in 2008. But, right now I think I have a very strong breeding program, am getting some repeat customers, and am looking to expand, so things are finally looking up.

Hang in there...

Gina

[KBEquine]

Sincere condolences (from Lumanji's new home - Lulu sends her condolences, as well).

[kookicat]

I'm so sorry.

[jlther]

Thank you everyone for the support...it's been a tough time all around here. My shining star is my stallion, Peabody...one ride on him and all is right in the world (at least for 45 minutes :))
I am also grateful that the mare seems fine...she was in work and hopefully can return to being a show horse soon.
As for my breeding program, I'm not sure how I feel. I'm sure once the weather gets warmer and the mares go into heat Peabody will be a busy man again :)

[back in the saddle]

Have you checked you pastures for fescue? Sorry if it was already stated. Jingles that the rest of your year will be better!

Fescue is only a problem in the last 3 months.

[cottagefarm]

Sorry for your losses.
I'm not nearly as experienced a breeder as most of the posters on here but it probably is worth talking to your vet a in case there is anything you can trace such as toxins, shot reactions etc. Obviously with the twins not much you could do!

Sometimes it's just plan old bad luck !