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karen umphryes
Member
Username: america
Post Number: 12
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, Apr 10, 2007 - 3:56 am: |   |
A friend of mine has a Appaloosa mare that is a 8 year old that started shaking bad only in the hind legs as she backs and has swelling in her hind legs as well she move forward just fine this started about 9 months ago. She was with foal. The mare had the foal 3 weeks ago and would not let the foal nurse . She has had several foals before with no problem. The foal died after 2 days. I would say the mare is a little over wait and she is out in pasture daily. does anyone know what might be wrong here with this mare? |
Kristin
Member
Username: freshman
Post Number: 62
Registered: 1-2007
| | Posted on Wednesday, Apr 11, 2007 - 1:10 am: | |
I think that the hind limb lameness and the pregnancy/foal issue are probably two seperate problems, or at least I can't fathom how they might be related. Perhaps the mare became more uncomfortable in her hind end due to the excess weight of her pregnancy, but it doesn't follow that she would reject her foal.
Many mares are reluctant to allow a new foal to nurse, usually due to the pain associated with it nursing. It is necessary to restrain the mare in these cases so that the foal can nurse. Usually, the mare is becomes more and more comfortable as the bag is stripped, and the situation corrects itself. Of course, the mare should be checked to make sure that their is not more going on than some tenderness in the area, so the owner should examine the bag and milk some from it. This confirms that the mare does indeed have milk (not to be taken for granted) and that it is not discolored, foul, etc, which would indicate mastitis. Sometimes it is necessary to sedate the mare in order for her to let the foal nurse. The fact that the mare is a proven broodmare does not make her immune to this sort of foal rejection. The bottom line is that it takes swift and diligent care in these cases to ensure that the foal is able to consume colostrum in a timely manner and nurse on an appropriate schedule--as in every 2 hours. Otherwise, it is not surprising that the foal's condition deteriorated rapidly and that it died. Newborn foals can crash and burn really, really quickly.
I think that it is impossible to speculate about the mare's lameness problem without more information, and only a veterinarian can shed more light on it. The trembling in the hind limbs could be due to a generalized lack of fitness, a neurologic condition like EPM, etc, or just a pain reaction to some source of physical pain in her hind legs or back.
Please encourage your friend to have the mare examined by a veterinarian if her lameness continues. If she has any other mares that are due to foal this season or she plans to breed this mare back, perhaps you can suggest to her ways that could prevent the loss of future foals. There will be lots of great info and advice on this site! Good luck! |
karen umphryes
Member
Username: america
Post Number: 13
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, Apr 11, 2007 - 9:16 am: | |
thank you for your info. Karen Umphryes |
