Foal speed ahead: Caring for the newborn horse

at home they should make a detailed plan with their veterinarian for the event. Those foaling at home should also make sure to have a clean safe and quiet space for the birth. 
Mares typically foal at night. Being prey horses are trying to find the time of day where they feel the safest and away from the public says Delvescovo. This makes veterinary monitoring during pregnancy very important. Talk to your vet even before you decide to breed your mare but especially during pregnancy because the vet exam can highlight and detect highrisk pregnancies.
For owners who are new to foaling who cannot monitor around the clock or whose horse has a highrisk pregnancy Delvescovo strongly recommends against foaling at home.
If owners do decide to foal at home they should make a detailed plan with their veterinarian for the event. Those foaling at home should also make sure to have a clean safe and quiet space for the birth. While some mares can successfully foal out in an open pasture Delvescovo notes its typically best to have the mare confined so owners can easily observe the foaling.
This space should be stall measuring a minimum of 14X14 feet with good bedding. Straw is preferable to wood shavings as shavings can stick to the horses and can be aspirated by the foal.
Delivery
During the birth owners should keep a time record. Sometimes especially if its your first foaling its difficult your emotions come into play and its difficult to know how long it took. So write everything down says Delvescovo.
Delivery occurs in three stages
Stage one involves initial uterine contractions which can last between 30 minutes and six hours and manifest as coliclike symptoms in the mare. They might pace around the stall they might pull and sweatthose are all signs of normal uterine contractions.
Stage two comprises the rupture of the water bag signaling that the baby will arrive in 20 to 30 minutes. This timeframe is crucial as the equine placenta detaches very readily once that happens the foal will be without oxygen and thus cannot survive an extended labor. If you detect a problem at this stage you need to intervene very promptly says Delvescovo.
 

Stage three is the passage of the placenta which must happen within three hours otherwise it is diagnosed as a retained placenta which can cause a lot of problems.
Problems during labor
Foals should breathe at around 6080 breathsperminute and have a strong heartbeat. If not they require immediate resuscitation.
During foaling Delvescovo says a failure to progress from stage one to stage two is a problem as is a prolonged stage two over 20 minutes after the water breaks. If the foal is not emerging or no major contractions are occurring then its time to intervene.
Owners should also look out for malposition. Ideally a foals front legs emerge first followed by the head. Similarly owners should look out for the red bag the membranes surrounding the foal are usually white and transparent but if they appear red it signifies a