Nicole Schnell

We had a pretty eventful night this past Monday I thought you guys might enjoy hearing about.  We had a mare that experienced a severe dystocia and we had to take her to Hagyard's to be worked on.  I got called out to the farm a little before 7 Monday night because one of our mare's was foaling, I was pretty excited when I got there because she only had a little of the front feet out so I was going to get to see the whole thing.  Well, the feet looked upside down, so our managers had checked the position of the foal and couldn't feel the head, they suspected it might be coming out backwards at first, and then determined the head was turned backwards towards its rear.  For the safety of the mare and the foal they decided to hook up the trailer and we'd take them to Hagyards.  This particular mare is a wobbler, she has pretty bad neurological issues so that was also a concern.  I got to go to Hagyards with my manager and the mare, and I saw the entire thing!  We got her there and unloaded her and she was taken into one of the exam rooms.  The veterinarian decided to put her under anesthesia that way he could work on her more easily because at this point she was having a really hard time standing and staying balanced.  They put her under and laid her down on her back with both her hind legs held up and the doctor got to work feeling inside for the positioning of the foal.  It took him quite awhile feeling around and moving things to get the head free and facing the correct direction.  Once he had gotten the foal's positioning right he started pulling the baby out, and I mean he was pulling hard!  They ended up using the chains on the baby's legs, and there were 4 grown men pulling the baby trying to get it free, but he wasn't budging too much.  At this point the baby had a heartbeat, and I even remember seeing it flare it's nostrils a couple of times, but the situation didn?t' look good.  One of his forelegs was bent at the knee in the wrong direction, which was suspected as a developmental issue, and it almost looked like there was a hock in the place of the knee.  The leg was so badly deformed there was really no hope for the foal, and the vet was still unable to get him free from the mare completely so the decision was made to euthanize the foal and cut him to remove him and save the mare.

            At this point it definitely got a lot more graphic.  The doctor placed the cutting wire into the mare and around the portion of the foal that was hung.  He had said one of the back legs had become hooked under the mare?s pelvic bone and this was the reason the foal couldn?t get out.  From here they proceeded to cut the foal, and remove all but the hind leg that was hung up.  (Sorry no pictures from this event, it really was like a scene from a horror movie at this point).  Once the majority of the foal was removed, the doctor went back in and freed the remaining hind leg.  The stifles of the foal were contracted, and this is what had caused it to get hung up and stuck inside the mare. 

            After the foal was completely removed the mare was placed in a sling for safety as she began to wake up.  There was a bit of concern regarding how she would recover from the anesthesia since she does have neurological issues, which is why she was placed in a sling.  We left the hospital before she woke up from anesthesia, but the doctor had called my farm manager over night when she did wake up and let him know she was doing ok.  She was taken out of the sling and turned out in a paddock and seemed to be doing well, so we got to bring her back to the farm yesterday afternoon where we turn her out in a small paddock with one of the maiden mares in the afternoons.  It was definitely an experience I was glad I got to be a part of, but everything about the situation was just so sad!  At least we still have the mare, and she is doing well, but it?s so sad that there was just no hope for the foal.  It was something I?m glad I got to see, but I sure hope we don?t have to worry with anything that terrible again.