How many of you foal outside?

[dalesponyrider]

I'm just wondering how many people let their mares foal outside? If you do, what fencing do you have and what special precautions, if any, do you take?

[dollylanedales]

Well, the last foal I bred was Martini who is now 29, but she was born outside. Hopefully Molly will get in foal this time, and I would definitely leave her out, but thats just my personal preference.

Ideally, for me, there would not be a chance of the foal ending up in a stream or river (I have known that happen with both horses and cows) no high fence where the foal could roll underneath and the mare not be able to get to it, are two concerns that spring to mind.

I think the mare would hopefully chose a nice spot to have her foal away from the herd. There are a few downsides to foaling outside like the weather, and what if you had to get the vet and it was dark .......but I still think its more natural to foal outside.

I know when Folly was born, one of the Fell mares in the field who had foals in the past, within a few minutes of her being born, tried to steal her. Poor Folly went head over heels down the banking in the fight that ensued between the two mares. Thankfully she was ok, but I suppose that is another thing to think of - any bullies in the field.

[cadeby]

We prefer our mares to foal outside in a rested paddock seperate from the rest of the herd. We have had problems once in the past when we foaled within the herd - our barren lead mare tried to steal the foal and the level of excitement was just too much for the new mum to get sufficient peace and quiet to bond with her baby.
Also we like to imprint our foals by rubbing them all over at birth and this is impossible in a herd situation as everyone wants a rub!

If the weather is bad or there's some sort of problem ( last year we had a retained placenta ) we bring the mare and foal in for a day or so.

Our mares actually have the option of foaling inside or out and so far they have always chosen to give birth outside.

Re. fencing : We have 3 strands of electro-rope, but would prefer post-and-rail, but can't afford it. We find our mares teach their foals very quickly to respect the fence, using their bodies as shields in the first few days and physically nudging them away from getting a shock.

Helen

[broxdown]

We tend to foal ours inside and keep a CCTV eye on them round the clock when they are due - I tend to worry that I could find it difficult to help in a pitch black field if my mares had any problems.
That's just my personal preference