The Complete Book of Foaling

Karen E.N. Hayes

Description

In Praise of The Complete Book of Foaling

"A must read for anybody who has ever thought about breeding a mare." --Judith Forbis, Ansata Arabian Stud

"Brilliantly written reads like a novel, yet beautifully organized so that you can flip to a section at a moment's notice if your mare is in trouble." --Equus

"This book should be included in every foaling kit. In fact, it should never sit on the bookshelf in the house keep it in the barn where you can always get to it in a hurry!" --Modern Horse Breeding

"Right away the illustrations set this book apart from any other in its class. Dr. Hayes's ability to teach is the other distinction she has a knack for explaining things in such a way that you understand and remember, and the learning process is fun. I couldn't put the book down until I had read it cover to cover." --Walter Schimanski, Masada Arabians

The Howell Equestrian Library is a distinguished collection of books on all aspects of horsemanship and horsemastership. The nearly fifty books in print offer readers in all disciplines and at all levels of competition sound instruction and guidance by some of the most celebrated riders, trainers, judges and veterinarians in the horse world today. Whether your interest is dressage, show jumping or Western riding, or whether it's breeding, grooming or health care, Howell has a book to answer your needs. Get to know all the books in the Howell Equestrian Library: many are modern-day classics and have achieved the status of authoritative references in the estimation of those who ride, train and care for horses.
The Howell Equestrian Library
Introduction.

Chapter 1: Being There.

Chapter 2: The Birth Canal.

Chapter 3: Preparation.

Chapter 4: The Four Phases of Labor.

Chapter 5: Baby's First 12 Hours.

Chapter 6: Quick Reference Guide.

Chapter 7: Inducing Labor.

Bibliography.

Index.

Sujets

• Equine
• Veterinary Medicine
• Medical
• Médecine

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 21 avril 2008
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780470309902
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

THE COMPLETE BOOK OF FOALING

To Dan: my love, my teacher and my partner in learning
Copyright 1993 by Karen E. N. Hayes, D.V.M., M.S.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Publisher.
Macmillan General Reference
A Simon Schuster Macmillan Company
1633 Broadway
New York, NY 10019
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hayes, Karen E. N.
The Complete book of foaling: an illustrated guide for the foaling attendant / Karen E.N. Hayes.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-87605-951-5
1. Horses-Parturition-Handbooks, manuals, etc. 2. Veterinary obstetrics-Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Title.
SF291.H36 1992
636.1 08984-dc20
92-18754
CIP
10
Printed in the United States of America
BOOK DESIGN-DIANE STEVENSON/SNAP HAUS GRAPHICS
CONTENTS


Introduction
CHAPTER 1: BEING THERE
Section 1.1: The Arithmetic
Section 1.2: Shape Changes
Section 1.3: The Milk
Section 1.4: Vulvar Changes
Section 1.5: Rectal Temperature
Section 1.6: Assorted Lesser Changes
Section 1.7: Electronic Predictors
CHAPTER 2: THE BIRTH CANAL
CHAPTER 3: PREPARATION
Section 3.1: Choosing a Veterinarian
Section 3.2: Check Caslick s
Section 3.3: Prefoaling Vaccines
Section 3.4: Nutrition
Section 3.5: The Foaling Stall
Section 3.6: Supplies
Section 3.7: Basic Procedures
CHAPTER 4: THE FOUR PHASES OF LABOR
Section 4.1: First Phase-Pre-Stage I
Section 4.2: The Placenta
Section 4.3: Second Phase-Stage I
Section 4.4: Third Phase-Stage II, the Beginning
Section 4.5: Stage II, Dystocia
Section 4.6: Stage II, the Actual Delivery
Section 4.7: Fourth Phase-Stage III, Passing the Placenta
Section 4.8: Important Deworming
CHAPTER 5: BABY S FIRST 12 HOURS
Section 5.1: Colostrum
Section 5.2: Milk Production
Section 5.3: The Aggressive Mare
Section 5.4: Identifying the At-Risk Foal
CHAPTER 6: QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
Section 6.1: Being There, Being Prepared
Section 6.2: Supplies Checklist
Section 6.3: Stage I Checklist
Section 6.4: Stage II Checklist
Section 6.5: Stage III Checklist
CHAPTER 7: INDUCING LABOR
Bibliography
Index
This book is not intended as a substitute for medical advice of veterinarians. Some of the procedures described in this book should be performed by a licensed veterinarian only. Such procedures are provided for the purpose of education and to provide as complete a picture as possible. The reader should regularly consult a veterinarian in matters relating to his or her horse s health and particularly in regard to any symptoms that may require diagnosis or medical attention.
INTRODUCTION

There is a scary component to the birth process in horses-a lot of things can go wrong, and when they do, they do it in a big way, dramatically, with no apparent regard for the tenuous hold the new baby has on life. It is a powerful, dramatic and potentially violent event. Even though most foalings occur successfully without external assistance, the birth of a foal is potentially dangerous for both mare and foal because it is such a paradox of powers-a David and Goliath story. The mare is the powerful one, concentrating every ounce of her considerable strength into thrusting her foal out. The foal is dependent, vulnerable and fragile, subjected to the incredible forces of maternal labor, rapidly and forcibly squeezed through a narrow and unyielding passageway.

Anything that acts to intensify the stresses of birthing will act against the foal s ability to adapt and survive the first moments of independent life.
The foal is expected not only to survive the ordeal but also to make a rapid and essential adaptation from life in utero, where everything is done for him, to life outside the uterus, where he must quickly and efficiently learn to function independently. For example:
Even though his lungs are fully developed at birth, they contain fluid that must be expelled, while an intricate sequence of chemical, neurological and muscular events must proceed without fail to dilate the nostrils, move the muscular diaphragm, expand the thoracic (chest) cavity and fill the bellows-like alveoli of the lungs with their first oxygen-rich air.
In spite of the fact that the foal s heart has been beating since the earliest stages of the pregnancy, it has not been pumping any blood to his lungs, since the mare has been providing him with oxygen from her own lungs. In fact, the flow of blood through the fetal heart is essentially detoured to bypass his lungs, which, immersed in a soup of nourishing liquid, would be incapable of functioning properly at this stage-so strategically placed openings in the interior walls of his heart allow blood to whoosh through in the wrong direction until birth. At birth, the holes in the baby s heart must close, sealing off the interior chambers sufficiently to allow the foal s heartbeat to switch the direction of flow.
The adaptive process is crucial, and unless the foal is able, efficiently and accurately, to take over the processes that heretofore were performed by his dam, he will perish. A large portion of the foal s ability to make the transition from dependent life in the uterus to relatively independent life outside is directly related to what happens during the birthing process. Anything that acts to intensify the stresses of birthing will act against the foal s ability to adapt and survive the first moments of independent life. It is a difficult transition in any case, and any abnormalities or mishaps during parturition can lead to an overwhelming accumulation of physical stresses. After enduring eleven long months of gestation, the death of a long-awaited foal can be devastating. In most cases it is unnecessary and completely avoidable.

The best way to prepare for attending an abnormal foaling is to understand, inside and out, what makes a normal foaling normal.
Preparing for a foaling is a lot like preparing for an IQ test in the sense that studying the night before the test would be unlikely to improve your score. The best way to perform well on an IQ test is to acquire, over an extended period of time, the broadest possible wealth of general knowledge so that each problem can be approached with confidence, logic and reasoning. The same is true of attending a foaling. It is highly unlikely that you could study enough about foaling problems to be able to handle emergency foaling situations optimally. Each individual foaling is unique, and any variation from the normal in position, condition, environment or history of the mare and/or emerging foal can make the recommendations for a particular type of dystocia (foaling problem) obsolete, insufficient and even injurious. Therefore, the best way to prepare for attending an abnormal foaling is to understand, inside and out, what makes a normal foaling normal . If every step of the normal foaling process is understood completely, then the foaling attendant will be better equipped to recognize early in the game when something goes wrong. The key to successful management of foaling problems is early detection and early correction.
Why is the birthing process in horses so violent? In nature, the predominant defense against predators appears to play a major role in determining whether the birthing process of a species is prolonged and relaxed or abbreviated and violent. Wolves, wild cats and other carnivores, for example (as well as their domestic counterparts), have essentially no worries about predators, and it may take many hours to deliver an entire litter. The fact that the bitch (female dog) or queen (female cat) has no plans to leave the birthing spot anytime soon is illustrated by the fact that she builds a nest some days before the event, and by the fact that her newborns are blind and unable to walk or run.
In contrast, the main defense horses have against predators is the ability to beat a hasty retreat. Horses would never build a nest, since such an establishment would soon take on the distinct scent of horse and act as an advertisement to potential predators. This is especially true of the birthing spot-the fluids and membranes of foaling have a strong, distinctive odor which spells easy meal to the passing carnivore. Horses are, by nature, fraidy cats -they rely heavily upon their ability to outrun their enemies, and they identify all unfamiliar shapes and sounds as enemies until proven otherwise. They are reluctant to let down their guard and increase their vulnerability by lying down, a reluctance that was evolutionarily accommodated by stay-apparatus ligaments in their legs that allow them to sleep while standing. Mares in the process of foaling are completely incapacitated and vulnerable to attack by predators. It stands to reason that the mare s safety would best be served by getting the foaling process over with as quickly as possible so that she can get back to her feet and direct her attention once again to watching the bushes for real or imagined enemies. As a result, the birth process in horses is a powerful and rapid one.

Horses would never build a nest, since such an establishment would soon take on the distinct scent of horse and act as an advertisement to potential predators.
To compound the problem, the foal s main defense in life is to keep up with mama, and to that effect he is equipped with extremely long legs and a deep chest full of lungs. Combine these factors with the fact that the mare s physique, which is designed for speed, gives her a narrow pelvis, and the potential for problems should become clear.
Almost every mishap in the foaling process is something that can be prevented or corrected. With very few exceptions, foaling disasters that result in severe injury or loss of life are errors of nature that could have been de