I was wondering if there is something else I could do or if there is something that I am missing.
Sorry for it being so long.
My maiden mare foaled last Wednesday evening. Everything went well, within an hour, the mare had passed the placenta, and the foal was up and trying to nurse. The mare was agitated whenever the foal tried nursing. After they had some time to bond, we tried holding the mare, but she was being protective and still wasn’t letting the foal nurse. So, we used a lip twitch on her. She didn’t want her udder to be touched, but eventually, the foal got to nurse about an hour after foaling.
After the foal was done nursing, we left them alone for a little bit, but when the foal tried nursing again, the mare was still grumpy but not aggressive. We continued to hold the mare every 45 minutes to an hour with a lip chain. Every time we went into the stall, the foal was very eager to nurse. Around 11 PM, we gave the mare some ace, but it had the opposite effect and made the mare aggressive with the foal. However, when it wore off, the mare was okay with the foal as long as it wasn’t trying to nurse.
After the ace wore off, we used banamine, which helped, and the mare was happier. The vet was out the next morning and did an IgG test, which came back very good. We continued to hold the mare, and on the second day, she started letting the foal nurse when we weren’t in the barn. Yesterday, she started getting grumpy when the foal was nursing, so we have been going out every hour and holding her with a halter while scratching her. The foal has two teeth now, and the mare has a sore on one side of her udder, but otherwise, nothing else has changed. I’m okay with holding her for a day or two, but not for several months.
