We always wonder if mares will hold off on foaling till bad weather passes. The science is in: they won’t foal until the storm is over.
See bottom of story in link below:
the vast majority of mine have foaled at night and around the time of pressure drops . Only one in 15 years here has foaled mid day on a bright sunny day out in the field. She looked like she was doing nothing, turned her out…looked out to see a mare and new foal out in the pasture!
I’ve never had anyone foal in bad weather. One likes the mornings, but has also foaled at 6pm (after making it clear to me that something was up and it was time to put her in her stall). They also seem to hold out for a little warmth if it’s early spring.
I’ve had one foal born here and it was during a rainstorm. Mare must not have read the article 
We’ve had two born in snowstorms. They must not have read the article either. :lol:
You might want to let the researchers at New Bolton Center know…
If they can wait, they’ll drop when their instincts feel it is safe.
Of course, some maiden mares don’t know that so they may be the exception.
Remember, the mare can “hold off” only for so long, and in that case it is the foal that ultimately “decides” when it will deliver – when the mare’s ability to hold off is over it will come regardless of the surroundings and the weather.
I know a couple mares who have had foals outside in the pouring rain. I don’t question they can hold off delivery for a while, but having it in the rain probably would be safer in many ways, since the predators will be hiding for cover, and scent doesn’t travel very far in a heavy down pour. Predators will be out on the prowl shortly after a storm.
If it helps anyone, this was the mare’s 5th foal, and she had her last one in the rain too.
I had her in a nice paddock with a shelter and she wanted OUT. Really, seriously, Right Now, let me OUT. Knowing the storm was coming, not wanting to upset her and trusting her instincts, I let her out into the big pasture, where sure enough she headed towards the treebelt by the dry creek, which all my horses seem to prefer rather than any actual shelter when it rains.
A couple of hours later it dies down to a drizzle and she walks up with a filly.
The foal before that, she waited for it to pour all night. We nearly named the foal Summer Rain because of it.
Perhaps some mares like the rain because it washes all the scent away? Who knows, but this mare at least seems to prefer it.
vandenbrink - exactly how I look at it too. Many of my foaling experiences have included birthing in foul weather. Not snow but stormy, windy, rainy.
Mine must be woossies. They really work hard to get to some decent weather. And I thank them for almost always doing it during human waking hours.
I have had four foals over the last 10 years - so not a big sample but every single one of them was born during a major weather event. Two during blizzards with significant snow accumulations, one during a severe thunderstorm and one just after 11 inches of rain. Two different mares. I think weather has something to do with it.
I have one mare that has always foaled during the day. Normally between 5 and 8 am. My 2013 filly was born at 5:15am on the coldest day of the month 2 weeks early. This year she threw me for a loop by foaling at 4pm. But always outside…she absolutely refuses to foal in her nice big foaling stall.
We use NB repro “field services”. Our TB foaling numbers are down to 5-10 per year from a high of 20-30. The weather never made any difference when they foaled in my experience and neither with my friends who are broodmare managers on large KY farms. Where they are foaling 100’s a year.
The vast majority of our mares have always foaled at night. Mostly around 2-4 am. We had two mares foal mid-morning last season. One dropped her foal on a large patch of snow. The little bugger got up fast. I know nothing about “semi-feral” mares and IMO has no bearing by and large. This is “research” that I would not put a lot “stock” in. I will bring it up the next time my repro vets are here. No one asked us for our foaling records at this farm just down the road from NB. You would think a person doing “research” would love to have 10+ years of free “data” to use. To each their own.
Even when there is a clear trend, there will always be outliers. One of my broodmares had her last of 9 foals during a t-storm at 3:30 in the afternoon. I was out of town so my husband was monitoring the mare and attended the foaling.
