Devastated- We lost mom & foal

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Sandy B

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We are experienced full sized horse owners, exhibitors and breeders. A couple years ago our young daughter (now 11) bought several AMHA minis with money that her great grandmother had left her. She wanted to have a small mini breeding project. She purchased 3 mares, a gelding and a stallion all together (but from separate parties). One of the mini mares was supposedly pregnant, but ended up empty last year. We bred all 3 mares in 2010, with two ultrasounded in foal. The first one was due the beginning of April. A couple nights ago, this mare went in to premature labor. She presented with a red bag delivery which I promptly cut through only to discover no part of the foal was presented. I immediately went in to get the foal while at the same time my daughter called the vet who immediately hit the road to get to our house, it would take him 30 minutes to reach us. Unfortunately, the foal was all tangled up and with her intense strong contractions, I had a hard time locating but one leg. I also felt no foal movement at all. I tried several times to get the foal arranged in between keeping her walking. My vet got here and after sedating her and trying epidurals to keep her from pushing, he could not get the foal right either. We ended up knocking her out and hoisting her to the rafter to work on her. He secured chains on front legs and finally got the head turned the right way to get a chain on the head. He said the head felt really big. Unfortunately after another 90 minutes of pulling and manipulating, he could not get the head through the pelvic ring. He and my husband pulled with success. He could only get the bridge of the nose through the pelvic ring and said his guess was that the foal was deformed (he used another word but it escapes me at the moment). Although the front legs appeared normal in structure and length and he did not feel any bone "brittleness" common with the deformity he mentioned. Since by this point a C-section was not an option and the mare was now in shock, we had to put her down. I was aware of the higher dystocia risks associated with minis but would have never imagined our very first mini to foal would be a problem, especially this severe. Plus I purposely encouraged and guided my daughter to buy larger mini mares and a smaller stallion. This mare was 32.5" and the sire of the foal 30". Needless to say, it was a traumatic event that we are all affected from, especially my little girl who has been counting down the days to her first mini baby. Please keep my daughter in prayer as the ugly images in her head are haunting her and she is now scared to death about her other mini that is pregnant. My daughter is a hands on hard working girl who tried to be brave over the whole deal. All she wanted was for her mini mama to be ok and the loss of that mare (her favorite) is devastating. An event like this is hard on anyone, but to a child its a catastrophe.
 
I am so sorry , its devastaing enough for us adults , it must be a 100 times worse for a little girl
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Im praying that your other mare foals safely , I hope it will ease the pain for your daughter
 
I am so sorry you lost both mare and foal. What a terrible start to your breeding season. I feel especially bad for your daughter. It's hard enough for an adult to deal with,but devastating for a child..
 
I am very, very sorry for you and your family. Unfortunately, I know how much it can hurt
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I am so sorry for you and your little girl, she is in my family's prayers. I hope all goes well with your other mare!
 
I am so sorry for this terrible loss, it is difficult enough to lose the foal but when the mare is lost, also - it is so much more difficult.

Lots of hugs and prayers for your family and especially for your daughter as she deals with this devastating loss.

I so hope and pray that your other mare has a lovely, healthy foal for you - it will help to ease the pain.
 
OMG...how horrific for your daughter...I cannot imagine. So very sorry for your loss; the nightmare of any caring breeder.

Sending warm thoughts and prayer to you all, and hope that this next foal be one of the wonderful "text-book" births we all dream of. {{{HUGS}}}
 
Oh Sandy I'm so sorry for you and your family and your daughter has a special place in my prayers.

It is so sad and to loose a mare and foal I can't imagine and hope I never do.

(((Hugs))) to all especially your daughter.

And praying her other mare has a happy uneventful foaling

They can be such a joy and on the other hand such a heartbreak

They are both together now running in the green grass over the Rainbow Bridge

with oh too many other loved minis.

Breeding minis is not for the faint of heart is what many of us have learned 1st hand.

But the joy that comes with a healthy mare and foal is wonderful
 
I am so sorry to hear of this crushing news. It is so hard for anyone especially a child. Please know my heart goes out to your entire family.

Will you be having a necropsy done?
 
My heart goes out to your whole family. I hope your other mare will console your daughter with a textbook delivery and a healthy foal.
 
I'm so sorry to hear of your lose, this is one of the things that we must deal with when bredding minis. Most of us have been in your shoes. Several yrs back my grand daughter was watching on the monitor as one of our mares was delivering, it was a dystocia, I ran in the house left hubby to attend & the vet, and turned off the monitor, it is hard to explain to a child what is happening, some how we managed to explain. It is very hard to lose a foal, but when you also lose a beloved mare, I hate to say it, but it is something you may never get over. I grieve every day for one of mine, I couldn't imagine a child loveing a mare so much and then to lose her. I feel your pain and my heart hurts for your daughter. sometimes lifes lessons are cruel. so sorry.
 
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So sorry. Praying for your daughter and for a successful foaling on the next mare.
 
I'm so sorry. It can happen with big horses and little ones. I've been told that it's not the height of the stallion that matters, per se, but rather the width. If you breed a delicate, dainty 34" mare to a wider, thick-boned 30" stallion, you'd be more apt to have problems than to have bred her to a 38" fine-boned (delicate) stallion. On the other hand, I know several sport pony breeders that breed their 14.0h Welsh mares to 15.3+ Thoroughbred stallions and have very few problems/deformaties (no more or less than normal).
 
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So sorry for your loss of Mare & foal, thinking of you all, especially your daughter, you did all you could.

Wishing you the best on your next mare foaling.
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We are so sorry that your family had such a horrible result.

Hopefully all goes well with your daughter's other mare. These things can happen and I think they happen more than we hear about.

Very sad and we offer our deepest sympathy to your daughter and the rest of the family.
 
I am so sorry... We had an almost identical situation two years ago. Went through the same steps, probably had a foal with a problem and ended up losing both... it was HORRIBLE, and I pray for you and your daughter as you process all of it.

The following foals born here were normal and healthy! Hopefully your next foal will be healthy and give you lots of joy to help ease the pain of this one.
 
Oh, dear. That is so sad. Your family, especially your daughter, will be in my prayers. How sad for you all.
 
Oh gosh I am so sorry about this devastating news. This is every breeder's worst nightmare. As said, it is hard enough for adults to bear sometimes, but I can't imagine how hard it must be for your daughter. My thoughts and prayers are with you all. I also know that feeling of having a horrible experience like this (although we were able to save the mare) and then have another mare due right away before we could even recover. I wish you the best of luck with the rest of your foaling season.
 

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