Heritage.........Problems

Part 1

I was riding my stallion at the park the next day when my cell phone rang again. On the other end was my vet.I figured he'd done his thinking and now he was ready to tell me what his thoughts were on this whole situation. I took a deep breath hoping I was ready to hear what he had to say. Then I answered the phone.

As I expected, the vet started off with, "Now that the cobwebs have cleared and I have a chance to think.........." Then he proceeded to explain his concerns about the mare's collapsing vagina.

This collapsing vagina is not something I have ever seen before. I did know that the mare's vulva seemed to be changing in appearance but I didn't know what was causing the change. Now it makes sense the changes are from the loss of support inside the vagina. As the muscles collapse, they're pushing outwards.

This is what I got from the vet's comments. It is the structure of the vagina that keeps the uterus in place during the birth process. With that structure being compromised there was a distinct possibility the mare's uterus might prolapse (come out along with the foal and placenta) as she was foaling.

I've been doing this foaling thing long enough for fear to be my immediate response at the mention of a prolapsed uterus. I know that mares die from a prolapsed uterus....... not always........but often enough. If there was any possibility this might occur the mare's best shot would be to have the vet come at the first sign of foaling.

Having the vet present at foaling is one of those things...... easiest enough to plan.............. not so easy to carry out. Predicting "when" just isn't all that successful when it comes to foaling. We'd have to hope we could catch a normally very sneaky mare. The only times I've ever caught Solidare before a foal was born was when she needed assistance.

Then there was the other issue the vet mentioned. A pregnant mare rolling can cause a torsion of the uterus. It's extremely dangerous. A torsion can kill the foal and/or the mare and somehow, that I still don't understand, my vet felt Solidare might also be at a higher risk for a torsion during her foaling.

We have rolled this mare over a couple of times in the last weeks because she gets down with her bad leg underneath and she can't get up. Even with intervention we've been unable to get Solidare to her feet without rolling the mare over completely.

Doing so is an absolute last resort, and we cringe each time we do it. Also, we try our best to support the mare and the foal during this process hoping the foal rolls with the mare. It's when the foal floats inside the mare as she rolls that a torsion is caused in the uterus. Even by supporting the foal there are no guarantees. It's dangerous, that's all there is to it.

At this point I really didn't feel like riding anymore. What I really wanted to do what go somewhere and hide, maybe climb into bed pulling the covers up over my head, but what I really needed to do was have some thinking time of my own. The best way for me to deal with stress is to ride...........so ride I did but only after I got on the phone and called Dave telling him I really needed my barn cam up and running.

That cam has saved me lots of grief when it comes to tracking foaling mares. Having the cam probably saved Bey Aana and Patriot's life and I was counting on it now to help save Solidare and this foal. Wouldn't you know it, this was the year my barn cam decided to die.

To be continued.....................

Watching......Waiting.......

This is another archive photo of Solidare. The foal at her side is Dare, her first foal for me. The pic was taken when Dare was 4 months old.



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