Upside down presentation ...

[Signature]

We had a mare present this way this year. Her 4th foal - she was not pushing much and when I gently pushed in to check position (sac was showing) I could tell foot was upside down, and it was almost trying to perforate the rectum actually. I went ahead and guided it out so the upward force wouldn’t cause a tear.

The foal seemed to be in the right position other than being upside down. Called the vet, and she did not seem that worried (this was our first upside down), so we tried not to panic. Mare got up and down 3 times and low and behold, the foal turned. It was amazing to me! We are used to them just spitting out in like 5-10 minutes so it was worrisome, but obviously our vet was right not to be overly concerned. Filly was born healthy and fine with just a little help on our part for the shoulders.

Very pretty foal! And yes, big!!

[Somermist]

[QUOTE=Laurierace;4889344]
You saved the mare and the foal so that means what you did was perfect as far as I am concerned. I believe you could have tried to cross the forelegs over and try to get the foal to twist as you are crossing them. Great job![/QUOTE]

Great job. If you got mom & baby through it that’s all that matters. Congratulations!

[TrueColours]

Many foals present in this position and will turn on their own before the shoulders present. If the foal isn’t turning well on its own with each push, then I may twist a bit to help guide the foal. If the mare isn’t moving the foal and it doesn’t appear to be rotating, then I may get concerned and step in to help

And thats EXACTLY what happened here. I know this mare very very well and she can usually push her foals out, totally unassisted, in a couple of minutes. At the 17-19 minute mark that foal was well and truly stuck and still upside down even though she did go down several times and roll during several of those “down” attempts. If you notice through segments 1 and 2, other than checking the position of the foal, I allowed her to “try and resolve it on her own” but I could also see that she was exhausted and there was “0” progression with the foal. THATS when I got the towel out and started to pull with her contractions because she was definately starting to go into distress with this one …

[Fairview_Horse_Cente]

[QUOTE=Equine Reproduction;4889741]
A couple of things here. It is NOT unusual for a foal presentation to start out with the foal upside down. If you watch the mare and even your mare Donna, they will attempt to reposition the foal on their own by rolling. Step back and let her roll! In all but one foaling that I’ve attended where the foal was upside down, the mare managed to correct the problem on her own. Getting her up and walking her, so long as you have both feet and a nose presentation, is actually counterproductive inasmuch as labor is progressing and she’s not able to do her own “gymnastics” to shift things around. Unfortunately, we tend to want to jump in and “fix” things when sometimes it “is” just a matter of giving Mother Nature a little bit more time. But, ultimately, if you have a live foal and both mare and foal do just fine, all is right with the world <smile>. [/QUOTE]

Ditto.

This happens fairly regularly.

I have always just waited to let the mare adjust things. Often the foal is not really upside down, but a bit twisting. I never assist at that time as you really don’t know which way (side) their body is laying. I don’t want to be “helping” them to a 270 degree roll, when a 90 degree turn was all that was needed.

I have not had any that didn’t easily fix themselves with a bit of time (10 - 15 - 20 minutes?)

If the mare is starting to push, and not getting up and down, then I would get her up and let her go back down a few times.

[Blonde_Filly]

[QUOTE=Fairview Horse Center;4891352]
Ditto.

This happens fairly regularly.

I have always just waited to let the mare adjust things. Often the foal is not really upside down, but a bit twisting. I never assist at that time as you really don’t know which way (side) their body is laying. I don’t want to be “helping” them to a 270 degree roll, when a 90 degree turn was all that was needed.

I have not had any that didn’t easily fix themselves with a bit of time (10 - 15 - 20 minutes?)

If the mare is starting to push, and not getting up and down, then I would get her up and let her go back down a few times.[/QUOTE]

Ditto to ER and Fairview, let the mare get up and down and roll which direction she needs to, to fix it…I’ve had probably 10 upside foals over the years and all corrected with getting them up and letting them go down again and roll…if they are pushing you need to push the foal back in to prevent the feet and head from coming out before they can reposition it. I’ve NEVER let one come out upside down. The mares seem to know which direction they need to roll to fix it.

[karin]

So glad everything worked out!!