Causes of pre-term delivery? Insight appreciated.

[winter]

I am looking for some insight into pre-term delivery and what one can do to recognise the impending signs, and/or preventative or therapeutic measures one can take to prevent it.

This past weekend I lost a beautiful filly born at day 313. We had no signs of impending labour, the mare was not waxed and seemed the same as she has every other pregnancy, healthy and happy. I have read about placentitis and was checking the mare and did not see anything that seemed out of the ordinary. Now I am wondering if there were signs I just wasn’t educated enough to see.

The filly seemed like she might be ok when she was first born. She needed some help but figured out how to get up on her own after we fed her a bottle. She was talkative and breathing well and had perky little ears. Her vitals were normal. Her suck reflex was strong although she was unsteady on her legs and couldn’t get a very good latch. She drank the bottle with vigour and I really thought she would be ok. We decided to take her to the vet hospital and she declined rapidly, she did not respond to plasma or other treatment at the hospital and we had to put her down at about 48 hours old. It was heartbreaking. The mare had previously delivered 3 healthy foals, all around 345-355 days. The mare is 21 this year and is my favourite mare. I really didn’t see this coming and feel so naïve and unprepared. I am just a personal breeder, breeding one foal a year for myself and all of my other 5 foalings have been uneventful.

People are asking me if I am going to re-breed the mare and I just don’t know. Even before this disaster I was on the fence due to her age, even though she has conceived first try with every foal and has carried all foals to term happily and healthy. I can’t help but feel awful that her age may have caused this? I would appreciate any insight from more experienced breeders as to whether this is something that often occurs more than once to the same mare or if it can be environmental? Does the risk of early delivery increase with age? What if the filly had gone full term, could she have been compromised even then if she weren’t getting enough oxygen through the placenta? If I had seen some signs what could I have done to keep the baby gestating longer? I know mares are often put on regumate for this. Her last foal was a bit contracted but other than that a perfectly easy delivery and healthy foal.

Thanks so much for sharing any experiences or information. I have another (younger) mare bred already this year and now I am terrified of going through another pregnancy and foaling.

[New_Horizons]

I am so sorry for your loss, winter. I can’t imagine how you must feel.

I hope someone can share some information that is helpful, though it sounds like you did everything you could have done.

Sending thoughts and prayers your way.

[MysticOakRanch]

Was she up to date on EHV1 vaccines? That and placentitis would be my top two worries. Also realize - sometimes it is just nature’s way of saying THIS foal wasn’t right. Don’t beat yourself up over it, it sounds like you did everything you could.

You might C and C (culture and cytology) her uterus before considering another breeding…

[Ticker]

How heartbreaking to lose your little one, I’m so sorry.

I have not had a foal come premature, but my vet did have me put my last 2 mares on regumate as you mentioned in your post.
He was checking them over while giving them their last shots and noticed that their udders were looking too developed.

Both mares were bred 3 days apart and actually foaled exactly 3 days apart…barely over the 320 day mark.
Because both mares had udders that were over developed, he thought it was diet related. I was feeding a balance of Timothy grass mix, alfalfa hay and tribute grain.
I usually increase the alfalfa during the few months when the mare stops eating due to foal size, otherwise the majority of their hay was Timothy. My vet thought it might be due to the alfalfa but its hard to say. It could have been a combination of things. While This was the first time I had used the tribute feed on my pregnant mares, I thought all of my horses were doing well on it.

I have to admit, these two mares (both maidens) had no problem keeping weight on right up to foaling where my other mares it was always a struggle.

[Hillside_H_Ranch]

I would vote for placentitis, but I would personally also do a uterine biopsy before breeding this mare again.
Some cases of placentitis occur without warning signs; no vaginal discharge, no udder increase, just abortion. But in a mare of this age I would also want to investigate the possibility of her having a poor uterine environment (basically fibrosis) that would make carrying a foal to term very difficult.

[winter]

Thank you so much for the replies.

I think I’ve decided not to re-breed her. I haven’t done a culture or biopsy on her to help me make that choice, but she is 21 and after having the filly in the hospital my bills this month are already tough to manage. Her biopsy at 15 years old was IIb and I know she has some fibroids from her past ultrasounds so obviously her conditions aren’t perfect in there. I guess I was naive in thinking easy conception and her beautiful topline/condition, meant she was doing better than she really was.

It is actually tougher than I thought to ‘retire’ her since now she has no job and that makes me sad. Looking at her in the field, without a foal at side or in foal seems really strange since she is a broodmare and that’s what they are supposed to do. Of course this was a filly, since I wanted a filly to keep to replace her and the last two have been colts. I am hoping she can be babysitter mare for new weanlings and I have another mare in foal for next year so here’s hoping she stil can have some kind of job when that foal is weaned. She is also the best riding horse ever so maybe she can dust off her saddle area and do some trail rides or something…

Thanks again.

[Oranges2012]

I just wanted to add I’m sorry for your loss. Having gone through this before with my favorite mare, I can understand -like so many on this board- the feelings. My mare had two perfect foals, reabsorbed at other times at early stages, but the year before last aborted late term. I opted to have a necropsy done on the fetus. Everything on physical exam and pathologically was pretty normal but the vets did see abnormal swelling of the umbilicus, with no explanation. ( Not strangulation which happens as well). I fretted over whether to breed her again, consulted with a few good vets and decided one more time. All went normal this time and she had a beautiful colt this year. (I had hoped for a filly but very happy that my mare just had a healthy foal). I just want to share that like another poster here said, sometimes its just natures way.

As an aside, I had done everything correctly with the foal she lost; vaccinations, management, pre breeding exam with uterine biopsies etc.My mare is 13 this year.

It sounds like you are making a decision based on the specifics of your mare, but I wanted to share my scenario since it isn’t always something wrong with the mare or management. As far as breeding older mares, I worked for a farm that foaled out hundreds of mares each year including very aged mares successfully. Knowing the individual mare very well, as you did, is perhaps the best “insurance” you can have.

Seems to me being able to produce a healthy foal is always a small miracle from start to finish.