Really Sad Day

starjj · #1 07/07/14, 08:58 PM

I was home from work today (thank GOD) and I looked out and my mini mare was down in the pasture. She was very pregnant so I figured she was ready although I have been watching her and she really had not had any classic signs. I did not know when she was due since she was pasture bred before I got her and exposed to the stud.

Anyway I stalled her and she started straining, got fluid and continued to strain called the vet as it seemed to be taking too long. Vet was there within 40 minutes but it was not to be. Her beautiful colt was positioned wrong (upside down, head and one leg back). Born dead. Tiny, perfect black, bald face with 4 white stockings. Much like the stud she was bred to.

I left him with her for a little while and she tired to get him to rise. Vet said she seems to be OK he didn't feel any tears and she is eating and drinking fine.

This was my first foal ever and I feel like such a faliure.

Litlbits · #2 07/07/14, 09:29 PM

So sorry for your loss of the colt. Please don't blame yourself, you are not a failure. You took action as quick as you realized something was wrong and that is all you could have done. I hope the mare is OK.

notwyse · #3 07/07/14, 09:31 PM

So sorry. Sad.

Teej · #4 07/07/14, 10:18 PM

YOU ARE NOT A FAILURE! These things happen and if you hadn't acted so quickly there's a good possibility you would have lost the mare too.

Sorry for the loss of your foal.

Molly Mckee · #5 07/07/14, 11:14 PM

I am so sorry.
I try to remember every year to remind people of a trick the vet had us use almost 50 years ago. If you have a mare that does not seem to be delivering normally and straining, while you are waiting for the vet, stick the biggest hypodermic needle you have into the trachea, through the neck. This will keep the mare from pushing hard enough to hurt herself, and if you are lucky it can save the foal. I kept a #12 needle in my first aid kit. I have never heard another vet use this, but it did save a mare, until he got to our farm.

lamoncha lover · #6 07/08/14, 12:12 AM

Oh please don't feel like a failure. It had to be so very sad but it was not anything you did. Mini's are notorious for hard births and malpresentions. I think you did wonderful and probably saved your mares life. I don't see ANYTHING you really could have done differently.I am so sorry for the loss of your baby..and very glad for the life of your mare.

SFM in KY · #7 07/08/14, 05:52 AM

Like everyone else has said, you did everything you could but with a presentation like this, it is very rare that the outcome is good and for some reason, minis are particularly prone to having problems.

I'm very sorry the foal was lost, but getting the vet as soon as possible likely kept the mare from having serious issues as well. Be happy that your quick actions helped the mare and don't blame yourself for a loss that was unavoidable.

Irish Pixie · #8 07/08/14, 08:30 AM

I'm so sorry for your loss. There was nothing you could do with this type of presentation, and you are certainly not a failure.

rambotex · #9 07/08/14, 08:42 AM

I'm so sorry. I've lost 3 this way throughout the years. Few and far between out of many, keep trying.

DamnearaFarm · #10 07/08/14, 07:37 PM

Aw...honey...it happens. You did all you could. Some things are not meant to be.

starjj · #11 07/08/14, 08:44 PM

Kept the mare (Timey) stalled last night. My mule and her companion mini filly were going crazy all night as Timey is the boss mare. This morning I let her out and after bossing the other girls around a bit they settled nicely. I buried the foal after I got home from work today and spent some special time with Timey. She kept looking at me and giving her foal wicker call. I cleaned her legs and tail. She seems a bit sore but other than that I am sure she will bounce back. Thanks for the kind words everyone.

RideBarefoot · #12 07/10/14, 07:01 AM

Sorry for the loss of your foal- I know it's heartbreaking.

Hexe · #13 07/13/14, 10:12 PM

You did nothing wrong, as a matter of fact, you saved the mare. It's sad, but absolutely nothing you could have done about it, other than to call the vet, which you did.
Unfortunately that's life and happy endings and perfect outcomes only happens in the movies and fairy tales.
You did good.

wr · #14 07/13/14, 11:34 PM

It's difficult to foal a mare when you have no background on her and had no control over her health up to a certain point.

I have friends who have bred mares for years with no problems at all and when they got into minis, they had more complications than they had in all their previous years as breeders.

I realize it doesn't sound very comforting but you did the best you could under the circumstances and you simply couldn't change the outcome of a complicated delivery.