Our dedication to foaling your mare is absolute and, with the stud being owned and managed by a veterinary surgeon, you can guarantee your mare is in the best possible hands. We offer large spacious foaling boxes fully equipped with CCTV and infrared heaters, small equi-fenced paddocks for initial mare and foal turnout and examination stocks to allow your mare to be scanned safely.
Your broodmare will be closely monitored from the moment she arrives. All our mare boxes are monitored using CCTV so we can get to know your mares normal behaviour in the weeks prior to her foaling. We ensure that your mare receives individually-tailored nutrition so that she is in the best shape for raising her foal and to encourage the production of good quality colostrum. In preparation for the birth we check the position of the foal within the mare’s uterus using ultrasound and we can monitor the mare’s placenta to ensure that it is healthy.
With Kate, our vet, living on-site, emergency situations are dealt with immediately which can make a huge difference to the outcome when dealing with a dystocia. We have an emergency resuscitation kit and oxygen supply on site enabling us to perform intubation and manual ventilation of the neonatal foal in a crisis. If a situation does develop that requires surgical referral, we are conveniently located just 12 miles from an excellent equine referral hospital. We are able to take high-risk mares who require specific monitoring during their pregnancy and who may have had foaling problems in the past.
In combination with CCTV monitoring we use the Foalert alarm system, to ensure that we are with your mare throughout her foaling. A small transmitter is sutured onto the outside of the mare’s vulva lips; when the vulva lips separate during labour the trigger magnet is removed from the transmitter which sends an radio signal to the receiver to let us know that a foaling is imminent. This is the most reliable and advanced technological device on the market for the detection of foaling, and it means that we will always be there to monitor the delivery of your foal.
Your mares and neonatal foal will be given a thorough veterinary clinical examination post foaling and we routinely check the IgG level of every foal when it is 24 hours old to ensure they have adequate passive transfer of their immune system. We keep a supply of frozen colostrum and plasma on-site for transfusion if required.
Our farrier routinely checks the foals every 2 weeks from birth and can perform remedial shoeing for the correction of angular limb deformities where required.
Please contact us if you wish to send your mare to us to discuss the best time for her to arrive. We take bio-security seriously to protect the horses on our farm and certain vaccinations will be required prior to your mare’s arrival.