This page is dedicated to my life experiences with horses. Anyone having a story or helpful tip that they would like to share with others is welcome to email me the information and I will place it on this page. This information is meant to be helpful but is not full proof and I recomend that you consult your veterinarian before starting any treatment. I am not responsible for any complications due to my information.
Updated 11-19-02 We have been experiencing problems with our foals being born with sacks which they can not break and umbilical cords which are like 1.5 inch rope. This year a revolution hit me in the head. We wintered our older mares and young mares together and self fed them on second cutting alfalfa along with timothy hay. Our other mares were in another bunch and were only fed timothy and crested wheat hay. This year during foaling season I realized that the mares on the alfalfa hay had the problems with the heavy cords and sacks. Most of these foals had to have our assistance in cutting the sacks with a knife and cutting the cords. The cords wouldn't break on their own and their intestines started to pull down forming hernias when the foals would start to struggle. At this point we had to cut the cords. And due to the size of the cords they gushed blood and we would end up tying the navel. Fortunately we did not loose any foals but we literally had to sleep in the barn waiting for these mares to foal. Even though I didn't weigh any of the after births it seemed to be much heavier than from the mares on grass hay only. We didn't have any problems with the mares which were fed grass hay only. They had thinner sacks which the foals could easily break through and and normal sized umbilical cords which always broke naturally by the foal struggling. I realize that this is not a scientific study, but it has convinced me to try to purchase more grass hay for my bred mares than alfalfa, even though it is getting harder to find grass hay to purchase. 3-02 I am wondering now if this isn't something to do with an imbalance of phosphorus and calcium or lack of some vitamin or mineral. I have 13 of my mares on Red Cell now and for the past fall and winter - so will see if it makes any difference. Update: It really helped: the foals had sacks that were easier to break as well as cords which were easier to break. My foals all had great legs this year and the mares and foals all seemed to be much healthier. I believe the Red Cell is worth the money. I am giving it again this year. - Update on March 2007 - I quite feeding the Red Cell several years ago. I think my horses were geting too much iron from it. I did find a good Range mineral that is formulated for our area for cows that is working well. I also try to limit the alfalfa on the mares for 90 days prior to their due dates.Heavy umbilical cords and sacks
The best treatment we have found for foal scours is to immediately start treating the foal with Tribrissin paste two times a day for 5 days. At this time I also give the foal a good dose of probias. At day one and day three we also give all foals probias and the mother gets a dose at foaling time. During the scours I also give the foal 45 c.c's twice a day of half kaopectate and half pepto bismol. On milder cases of scours I like to first try just the kaopepectate/pepto bismol and probias and then if that doesn't cure the foal I start using the Tribissin paste. Also SMZ or TMP pills work great. Give 1 pill per 110 pounds. Of course if its just a foal heat scours you won't need the antibiotics, just some enzymes for the gut (even plain yogurt works well) and make sure they stay hydrated. I also give the pepto bismol for the foal heat scours. If it really smells bad then its a good indication that the problem is more than a foal heat scours and you need to start an antibiotic treatment along with the other treatment. Keeping the tail washed and hind end washed helps prevent scalding the hair off from the loose poo. Also , coating the hiney with vaseline helps protect the hide from the scours. Foal Scours
If there is any chance that your scours are caused from e-coli then you must get the e-coli endotox paste which you can give the foal in the first 12 hours
I have had several instances where a mare foals early or a young mare just doesn't have any milk when they foal. The tricky part is they look like they have a full bag but the milk just isn't there. I always save colostrum from my older mares and freeze it in small amounts. (I do not ever have extra to sell or loan so please don't ask). This way I can thaw just what the foal will need at the time and can thaw more as necessary. Make sure you thaw the milk very slowly. I freeze ours in pop bottles that way when we thaw it we can submerge the bottle in a pan of hot water. If the mare is short of milk I give a dose of oxytocin which helps the situation. I make sure the foal recieves a minimum of 2 cups of colostrum, if I have it I give 4 cups. Then I switch the foal to Foal Lac until the mare comes up on her milk. I know of many instances where the foal starved to death while the owners didn't figure out that the mare just didn't have any milk for the first two days. Mares without Milk
Some mares continue to strain after foaling and after they have expelled the placenta. They will be in pain and can even colick and die. At the first sign of unusual discomfort I administer Banamine paste to my mare. This generally stops the pain and spasms. I would not be without a tube of Banamine when a mare is due to foal. I may end up giving her another dose in 12 more hours depending on the situation. Colicking after foaling
Banamine
I feel everyone who owns a horse should have a tube of banamine on hand. It could save a horse's life while waiting for a veterinarian to arrive. I just learned that the liquid banamine (designed for IV) can be used orally.
I use a dab of it when foals get bad coughs and it seems to help slow down the coughing.
I use it when a mare retains any of her placenta to help prevent foundering.
Retained Placenta
If a mare doesn't clean within a 1/2 hour of foaling I administer Oxytocin (1-2 c.c's). I give one dose every hour until she expels it. (Oxytocin can cause mares to colic so be prepared for that too). If she doesn't expel the placenta within 3 hours then you must have a veterinarian come and take care of it. You do not want to let this go. Any piece of a placenta retained can cause death or founder to a mare. I would also start banamine and antibiotics right away too. If a mare doesn't clean within 3 hours I go ahead and infuse her with warm water and if that doesn't work I have to call a vet in . I realize not everyone knows how to infuse a mare - if you don't know how then you will need a vet to do this. The banamine will help in preventing founder, but you also have to get rid of that placenta.
Antibiotics
SMZ pills are my antibiotic of choice unless the veterinarian tells me they won't take care of the problem. Administer 1 pill per 110 pounds of body weight two times per day. They dissolve in water and I mix some pancake syrup with them and feed them in grain or in a syringe. Some horses get so that they like this mixture so well that they will greet you at the gate for their treat and slurp the mixture up out of a bowl and lick it clean.
Penicillin
I would never give an injection of penicilin with out having epinephrin with me. I have had too many horses have alergic reactions to penicillin and as I look into it it is really quite common. The first symptoms I have observed are the horse starts acting like it has bugs attacking its face and then it starts seeing spooks and then starts wobbling and staggering and sweating and goes down. The epinephrine will really make the heart accelerate so don't over dose the horse on that. Afer the epinephrine the horse will be drenched in sweat and exhausted. Put the horse somewhere dry and warm and where nothing will disturb it. If its cold out I would blanket the horse and try to get it dry quickly.
Vaccine
I don't give any vaccination without the epinephrine readily available in case of emergency.
If a horse has a reaction to a vaccine : such as sore body, not feeling good, can't lift the neck , stiff , etc -then give a dose of banamine and if the horse isn't better in 12 hours do it again. This should help. Also a horse that has reactions (stiffness, soreness) to specific vaccines then I give a 1/2 dose of oral banamine when I administer the shot. This really helps. I have the most problem with mares that have been on rhino vaccine for years.
Estramate or ludilyce
I prefer Estramate over ludilyce (these two products will abort a horse / and /or bring them into heat). Estramate costs more money but does not have near as bad of a reaction as ludilyce does to a horse. I have had to abort twins and use the estramate to do this. Generally if this is done with 28 days of the previous breeding then the mare will come back into heat within 2-5 days. If you wait longer to abort her it will most likely take over 45 days to come back into heat.
If you give a small dose of banamine or butte 15 -30 minutes prior to giving the estramate it helps reduce the stomach cramping. Banamine works best.
When administering injections always draw back the syringe enough to make sure that there is not any blood in the needle or syringe.
Do not use the same needles over and over. Use once and throw them away. This can spread lots of diseases if you use one needle for several horses. I do sterilize my syringes and reuse them. I either boil them in distilled water or wash them in Prodine scrub.
I believe in blanketing new born foals when the weather is moderate to cold. I think the foals just do better and are thriftier if they aren't trying to keep themselves warm. they don't have much hair.
I still iodine (prodine or tame iodine ) foals navels at birth and the next day. I have now learned it is best to dip the navel while it is still wet & to dip the naval several times while it is the drying process to help prevent any germs from coming into the body through the naval.
If the cord is thick and it does not break on its own and I can't break it I clamp the naval and then cut it with a knife (pour alcohol on it to steralize it first). If I can I take the clamp off the next day. I purchase individually wrapped plastic clamps from exodus.
Also if you see any swelling in the naval area - that is a sign of naval infection and you need to start an antibiotic regimin right away.
Sometimes the naval doesn't close off and urine continues to run out the naval - something worth trying is dipping the naval in strong iodine and then if that doesn't seal off the naval you need to see a vet.
Foals need to be kept warm and dry - they are not as tough as a lot of people believe.
Orphan foals are not hard to raise once you can get them to drinking either out of a pan or from a bottle. I have successfully raised two : Rock On Tari and Peppys Orphan Anne. I would be happy to give advise if anyone is needing it.
A foal must have colostrum and needs fed every 2 hours for 30 days (24 hours per day). Foal Lac is a great milk suppliment and so are Foal Lac Pellets. I have used the cheaper milk replacement products with good success but I had to use the directions for mixing and feeding from the Foal Lac milk replacer. I fed milk to my foals for 4 months. Orphans need company. I had a gelding adopt Annie and a goat adopted Rocky. Worming is very important in orphans.
Doctoring wounds:
Adolph's unseasoned meat tenderizer.
Moisten the wound by rubbing on it (proud flesh is identified as it
bleeds readily as it is rubbed or scraped) and apply the Adolph's
twice or even three times a day. You don't wrap the wound and in a
few days it will be reduced back to the skin line or if you
continue to treat below the skin line. Then use a powder for
infection and it will heal up with out much or any knot or scar.I also like to use Granulex spray for treating proud flesh and in preventing proud flesh. I believe in using lots of peroxide and in keeping the wound clean. I also really like Allu-Shield and Allu-Spray for coving open wounds. It sprays on a fine powder that looks like silver duct tape.
Swollen legs:
I like to use DMSO topically. This can either be wrapped or unwrapped. It will really sweat the fluid out and also helps in getting rid of and preventing scar tissue. If you really want to sweat an area I rub the DMSO on and wrap the area with plastic wrap and then apply a polo wrap over that and then vet wrap to hold it all in place. I like to wrap for 24 hours on and 24 off if I'm sweating something that doesn't really need the added support.
Cold water from the garden hose 20 minutes 2 to 3 times per day is wonderful if the weather is permitting.
Chart based upon a 340 day Gestation
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