Having Foals Isn't Easy

Today I thought of a good post. If you're a part of the horse world at all, you've heard it before.

"Oh, I really want my mare to have a foal!"

Because having a foal is just a walk in the park, right?

Wrong.

Having a foal is a right pain in the ass. I don't recommend it to anyone who isn't ready for a lot of work and has a big checkbook to cover it.

Some of you may clutch your chests now and gasp out, "But YOU had a foal!"

Sure I did. An unexpected foal that cost me a ridiculous amount of money and put my mare through hell. Which I'll explain more here!

I bet you can't wait to hear.

Most of you know how I came to have a foal. For those who haven't, I'll sum it up. I decided to buy a trail mare. Found a lovely little gaited mare for sale. Went to look at her, liked her despite from flaws, and bought her. I was informed she was "unbreedable," as per the vet's word. Which is why she was for sale, she hadn't settled when bred (according to the vet) and the previous owner kept and bred Missouri Fox Trotters and didn't have need for just a small riding mare.

Works out for me, that's exactly what I was looking for! Spent a couple of months riding and wondering why this mare continued to look so terribly fat despite the diet I put her on. When she started to develop a bag, I knew the vet had made a mistake. Whoops!

Now, having a foal is exciting. I admit to being excited despite the fact I was going to lose a lot of riding time, and a lot of money.

I had no idea.

Like in most cases, my mare's birth was quick and completely normal. The trouble started afterward. And of course, not every birth is easy. You want to breed your mare? What happens when the foal present breech (backward)? Are you ready to shell out money for an emergency vet visit. Prepared to watch the vet cut the foal into pieces to try and save your mare? Prepared to euthanize your mare when something goes horribly wrong? You should be. This is reality.

So I had a healthy foal! Yay!

For a while. The foal, Spyder, developed diarrhea almost right away. Cue the first jab at my veterinary fund. (Something ALL pet owners should have, no matter what. A savings account you add to when you can JUST FOR VET CARE.)

We got that cleared up without too much trouble. But then my mare, Apple, began to drop weight. And drop weight. And drop. Now my vet fund is being drained pretty quickly, along with my regular budget. Vet visits. Teeth floating. New feeds. Different feeds. Supplements.

We tried literally everything we could. Then Apple began to develop a disgusting fungus? on her face. More vet fund draining for creams and tonics and whatever else I thought would fix it. Didn't do a darn thing.

Luckily the foal remained fairly healthy. No vet visits for him at least. But his dam was going downhill quickly.

The final straw came when the mare turned on the foal and took a bite out of his shoulder. Despite his young age, we had to wean. Which meant the foal's growth slowed down a little as he adjusted to no more milk, just expensive feed and hay.

Now, some six months after I realized Apple was pregnant, she is finally at an okay weight. Not a good weight, I like to see more padding on my horses, but at long last I can feel comfortable riding her. The foal won't see a saddle for another few years. Lucky for me, he's got some worth, being a purebred Missouri Fox Trotter.

If he was a grade foal? He'd be worth practically nothing.

Having a foal is fun. But it isn't easy. It's expensive. Nerve wracking. So next time you or your friend goes to thinking about how neat it would be to have a foal out of your favorite mare, really sit back and think about it.