A. Congratulations on expecting your first foal! You have plenty of reading to do and questions to ask of your local professionals. But here are some of the things that I feel are most important regarding normal and abnormal mare and foal behavior, focusing on the perinatal period. I can only touch the surface here, and so we can discuss more specific issues another time.
Before your mare delivers, plan to keep a clock handy because time landmarks are important.
As it gets closer to delivery, the most common change in a mare's behavior is increased restlessness over the last week and even more so during the last hour or two. Once her water breaks, the actual delivery of the foal should take place quickly: The rule of thumb is within 30 minutes.
The mare is likely to get up and down before and in the midst of delivering. The foal should present a front foot, then another front foot just a little behind it, and then a nose. Any significant delay in delivery is cause to call your veterinarian if you are not able to provide appropriate moderate assistance to help deliver the foal.
Once the foal is delivered, I use the 1-2-3 guideline: one hour for the foal to stand, two hours for the foal to nurse, and three hours for the mare to pass the placenta. A significant delay in any of these steps means it's time to call your veterinarian.
After delivery, a mare usually looks toward the foal, vocalizes, and licks the foal. But the mare might also be tired and spend time resting, and she might also show some signs of restlessness and discomfort until she passes the placenta. At some point she might also feel hungry and just go eat her hay, alternating between eating and paying close attention to the foal.
The foal should have good muscle tone. He should very soon make his awkward attempts to get in sternal position and move his legs about. He will likely vocalize toward the mare and very early have a suckle reflex. A good suckle reflex means he is extending his tongue and curling it and maybe making suckling noises—if you put your finger there he should curl his tongue around your finger and you should feel a bit of a suction. Foals will sometimes try to suckle on air or on their own legs and, once standing, and wander about and attempt to suckle on the wall. As long as this doesn't become a fixation, it’s normal.
The foal should soon begin trying to stand. Some will just pop right up, but most will flop and drag themselves around the stall for a while until they are stronger and more coordinated.
Once he's up, the foal will begin searching for the udder. Don't be surprised if the mare doesn't just stand perfectly still for this. Sometimes a mare will take a few steps or circle the stall, and some believe this is important to elicit a "following response" from the foal. The mare might nip at the foal and, especially if he's close to the udder, she might also squeal and raise a hind leg and kick out a little. It is really important to recognize these mildly aggressive behaviors by the mare can be completely normal and really won't significantly impede the foal from nursing in a timely fashion. And they are quite distinguishable from the more brutal aggressions we see in mares that reject their foals.
Don't be too surprised if the foal searches or tries and fails to suckle for a while, then either falls or lays down and rests before getting up for another try. Once the foal finds the udder, it might take him a bit to figure out how to latch on the teat. What you should look for is that he curls his tongue around the teat and makes a suckling noise, and you should watch or feel (if you can do so unobtrusively) for boluses of milk going down the esophagus. As the hours and days go on, you can assess adequate nursing by watching the foal and feeling the udder for variations in distention.
The one- and two-hour guidelines for a foal to stand and nurse are just that. You don't have to be too alarmed if your foal is a little slower, but he should look like he's making progress.
For me, too much human assistance has not seemed overly beneficial. Foals are stronger and more determined than you think to do both the wrong things and the right things as they are figuring out their legs and where the udder is. If I can do a gentle assist or steadying to help him get up and keep near the udder I might. But I really strongly prefer to not interfere at all. If I feel like I need to provide a whole lot of assistance, then there are likely more significant problems that I need to address.
Good luck with your first foal!
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