Like any birth, the birth of a foal is anticipated with both excitement and anxiety. Horse owners look for signs in the mare to help gauge when her foal will arrive, and hope the actual foaling will be uneventful for both the mare and foal and, after the foal is born, check to see that everyone is healthy. Students in the Foaling Management class at Colorado State University hope for the same.

"As part of their course, each group of students is assigned a pregnant mare and the objective is to be present when she foals," said Dr. Patrick McCue, one of the professors for class, along with Dr. Jason Bruemmer. "Now, nature being what it is, that doesn't always work out. Our back-up plan is to induce labor in one of our mares in front of the entire class to make sure all students have a chance to witness the event."

In horses, the length of gestation is approximately 340 to 345 days (the length of pregnancy is about seven to 10 days longer for mares foaling out in the winter). For students, that means their mares can start foaling out in early spring up through late spring. To increase the possibility of being present at the birth of their foal, students learn to look for early signs in the mare including milk calcium levels and waxing of the teats.

Helping a mare foal is a highlight of the class, but just a small component of a comprehensive curriculum that covers care of the expectant mare, physiology of parturition and prediction of foaling, as well as foaling itself. Students learn the care of the newborn foal and care of the postpartum mare, and also thoroughly investigate the complications of pregnancy. To round out their foaling management class, students learn about lactation, induction of labor, as well as diseases of the newborn foal.

(The Equine Reproduction Laboratory also offers a Foaling and Care of the Newborn Foal class for horse owners, foaling attendants, and other breeding farm personnel with responsibilities for foaling out mares. The two-day course is offered in January and includes lectures as well as a hands-on wet lab. For more information visit ERL Short Courses for Horse Owners.)