The normal timeline
- Stage 1 — getting ready (about 1–4 hours)
- Restlessness, sweating, frequent small urinations, getting up and down, looking at her flank. Internally, the foal is rotating into position. There’s no hard straining yet — she’s uncomfortable, not delivering.
- Stage 2 — delivery (about 20–30 minutes)
- Stage 2 starts when the water breaks. Strong contractions follow, and a normal delivery is fast: two front feet — one slightly ahead of the other — then the nose resting between them. From water breaking to foal on the ground should take no more than about 20 to 30 minutes.
- Stage 3 — the placenta (within 3 hours)
- The afterbirth should pass within about three hours of delivery. Note the time it drops — “about three hours” is a deadline, not a suggestion.
- The 1-2-3 rule for the foal
- Standing by 1 hour. Nursing by 2 hours. Placenta out by 3. It’s the simplest checklist in foaling — and every miss on it is a phone call.
Red flags — call immediately
- Red bag delivery
- If what presents is a thick, velvety red membrane instead of the pale, translucent sac, the placenta has separated early and the foal is losing its oxygen supply. This is the true foaling emergency: the membrane has to be opened and the foal delivered immediately. Call us — and start helping the mare while we’re coming. Do not wait for us to arrive to act.
- Water breaks, nothing happens
- No foal — and no progress — 10 to 15 minutes after the water breaks means dystocia until proven otherwise. Foals don’t survive long deliveries.
- The wrong parts showing
- One foot only, a head with no feet, feet turned sole-up, or a tail: the foal is malpositioned. Don’t pull on what’s there. Call.
- Hard straining, no progress
- A mare straining violently with nothing advancing can injure herself and the foal. Time matters more here than anything you can do at home.
- Placenta still in at 3 hours
- A retained placenta is not a wait-until-morning problem. It sets up uterine infection and laminitis, and both move faster than you’d expect. Call the same night.
- After the foal is out
- A foal not up in an hour or not nursing in two; a foal straining to pass manure or showing colic signs in its first days; a mare that’s colicky, bleeding heavily, or won’t let the foal nurse. Newborn problems move fast, and foals crash quietly.
Foaling timelineRed bagDystociaRetained placentaNewborn foal careThe 1-2-3 rule
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