Maiden mare just foaled

[Tami]

I had a maiden mare just foal....she likes her baby but won't stand still. I tied her up and then she was fine..... but I can't leave her tied all night. She just keeps doing laps around the stall. I have been breeding a long time but have not had many maidens.....and the 2 I did have...I didn't have this problem with. I did give the mare banamine after she foaled....

Any ideas?

 

[AnnaC]

I have had maiden mares who are so excited to see their new babies that they keep moving round to sniff and talk to them, thus moving after the foal everytime baby goes to the rear end to drink -- answer, I'm afraid, is to stay with the mare on a regular basis so the foal can drink, until the mare settles (I'm not one for tying the mare up - too worried the foal might run into the rope)

Is your girl feeling a bit sore/tight in her bag? Have you tried expressing some milk plus warm cloths to easy her a little?

Good luck and of course many congratulations on your new healthy foal

Anna

 

[Tami]

Thanks Anna, that is exactly what I am doing....glad to hear that is what others have done. I was out there until the filly laid down to take a nap. My husband will be up in 2 hours so hopefully he can continue with the helping the filly nurse. As soon as the filly get in the right area the mare moves. The filly can touch her anywhere else just fine. I thought maybe I would get a nap while the filly did but I see she is up and mom is doing laps.... so back to the barn......

Thanks

 

[REO]

About 14 years ago we almost lost a filly because we thought all was fine. The maiden mare was a good mom and was letting the filly nurse (we were with her) We went to take a nap. I got up and went to check the filly and she was droopy. Seems the mare kept whirrling to see the baby and we almost lost the filly. We had to hold her for the first few days until she settled down. Since then I NEVER assume all is fine and I never go take a nap until I see the foals nurse on their own (real nursing, not sucking sides of bags) several times.

The above was said for new breeders

Tami, I know it's tiring! Good luck!

 

[Becky]

Tami, good advice given above. You just have to stick with her. She will get better in a day or so. She's just excited right now and a bit confused about being a mom. She'll get the hang of it. Oh, and congratulations!

 

[Getitia]

We have had the same experience many times in the past with maiden mares. A new mare becomes so excited that she will follow the foal around and around in a circle and never let it out of her direct sight to nurse. Be careful with tying the mare as we have found that in the mare's excitement she can whirl around while tied and keep knocking the foal down in her attempt to see it directly - Normally, I just go out every hour and hold the mare to allow the foal to nurse - typically within a day to a day and half - things settle down - but I've had one mare go almost 3 days before she finally settled down.

 

[Tami]

Thanks guys!!! I did take a nap....the foa ate and thenl laid down so I thought I would too. I went to bed about a half hour (4:30) before my husband got up...I had left him a note so he went out and held her for a while. She stands like an angel then. But if you don't have a hold of her, when the foal gets near her rear she will bolt, not just walk away. I know it is because her bag is tender and she doesn't know what is going on or doesn't know that the nursing will help her bag feel better.

 

[Becky]

Sounds like you are going to have to hold her through today for the foal to nurse, but I bet after that, she will get a lot better and stand for her baby. It sounds like, at least, the foal is getting to nurse and that is good.

 

[Jill]

What about giving her more banamine to help reduce the tenderness, or maybe dormosedan as a sedative?

 

[Crabby-Chicken]

We had one do the exact same thing last year. I don't think mentally ours thought she was a Mom. The mare was four when she had her filly. BUT in her mind she was the baby. Not the ninny-clinging-vampire-truly-gross-vermin. She liked her okay, until she tried to nurse and it sicked her out! She never totally got over it. And was not a demonstrative mommy. Her baby would sneak up with her eyes closed and lick the mares face. Like, " do you love me now Mommy???" So sad. She is a very well rounded healthy foal.

We had to hold her off and on for about three days. And it was partly because her bag hurt. The banamine helped some. Good luck!

 

[eagles ring farm]

Hope your making out better

Putting on my flame suit incase

but.....

It seemed to help alot with our difficult mare

to just twist her lip with my hand not

with a regular twitch but twitching just the same then

she would let the foal try.

I hope by now she has it

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Just hold the mare every two hours for the foal to nurse (so long as the foal is healthy every two instead of one hour means the foal is just hungry enough to be trying in between, which also helps)

Hold her looser and looser until you just slip the halter on and she will stand, then leave a (breakaway, half cut through) halter on her.

I did this for ten days two years ago with a maiden that was rejecting, worked back from heavily sedated to just a (manky, old, half cut through) halter, and then she was fine. Absolutely, completely, no problems, fine.

Foaled normally (if you call two legs stuck up the wall because she was kicking it to wake me up, normal, that is) and raised the foal in her (unique slant on ) normally.

 

[Tami]

Thanks again everyone. We are still plugging along. I do plan to give her some more Banamine this evening. She will sometimes let the foal nurse and sometimes not, so we are making progress. She loves her baby, just not the nursing part. She is so funny....I hold her...the foal starts to nurse...she is all tense....then you can see her start to relax and then get super relaxed....lol. Silly girl..... I am so glad she foaled last night as I stayed up all night.....and not a work night.

 

[Mini Gaits Farm]

Tami, I am way late on this post, but I had the same thing last year....finally...I tied her up and gave her a light sedative...she let him nurse and by the time the sedative wore off...she was used to him.

 

[Julie/Azariah]

Last week I had the same thing. We couldn't get the little guy to latch on. Took us 8 hours to get him on the nipple. He tried and tried. Also had to hold the mare for him to nurse and he did ok. He is now about 5 days old....mom is getting it, she is cocking for him and he is getting better. But I held for more than 24 hours every few hours.

We also gave her a little bit of Ace and that really helped her settle down when the vet came at 12 hours old to check... his IgG wasn't great, but did register about 400. Vet watched him try to nurse and we made the decision to Ace her. I could tell as soon as the Ace wore off, but didn't want to give her the second shot because she had to learn to deal with it :O)

I held every few hours through the night and into the next morning til I felt she was understanding what was going on.

All is good now...he is heathly and getting the hang of it.

 

[PNARanch]

Had a similiar problem this weekend with a maiden mare. She's a great mom but just too darned excited about new baby. Went out every hour on the hour all night long the first day and a half. Baby wasn't very big or strong but she and mom finally got their act together and it's working. I'm worn out but well worth it. They can go down hill so fast. I always make sure baby is actually latching on and sucking. Sometimes they look like they are doing it right but they aren't.

 

[eagles ring farm]

Hope your pair are on their own by now

 

[Tami]

Hi all.....Yes, the girls are doing well and the filly is able to nurse without us holding the mare....most of the time. Chance will let her nurse from one side whenever she wants....the other side not all the time yet but she is getting better about it. I woke up to go out every 2 hours last night but every time I did and watched the cam for a bit, I would catch her nursing and Chance being very good. So things are going much better.

Thanks all for the help!!!!

 

[eagles ring farm]

So glad they are doing so much better