Archive for year: 2019

Eight foals have safely been born at the stud, we feel very fortunate everything has relatively gone to plan. We have endured premature foaling from Peyres Catori Cat with Reus, the deep red coloured placenta below, we inspect all our placenta’s and make sure they are all intact…here are just a few random pictures.

Princesse Pascale endured a challenge whilst foaling Ben, the difficulty was the positioning of Ben’s forelegs but we managed to correct this and then break his fall just as the Vet arrived!

One thing we always meet is the patience game with our maiden mares, it always takes a while for them to allow the foals to nurse but patience is something we have lots of…

Foaling is very rewarding when it all goes to plan and we have been very lucky to date but we are aware things don’t always go to plan. We are a young stud, we are still learning, therefore enrolling on a course called “Foaling The Mare” will surely only be a benefit, supported by the National Foaling Bank held at Twemlows Stud Farm. 

Knowing what can go wrong is a daunting thought, when to intervene, how long before you intervene, is it in the mares best interest to wait for the vet or load the mare and drive to the vets…So many questions and time is always against you, 10 minutes can mean saving a mare and/or a foal and possibly ensuring the mare is fit for future breeding.

I cannot go into the course details but I strongly recommend anyone foaling book a place.

However, I would like to share a short video taken during the practical session where we discussed the placenta, as you can see below, this recent foaling produced a very large remnant of the yolk sac. We were all curious about its contents, a good strong steady hand with a hacksaw was definitely required!

Have a look at this video – Calcified yolk sack remnant

A very enjoyable and educational day, we also had a peak where they store Reus’s semen.