Thinking about breeding my show mare. SHe is only 8 and has previously had a foal with ease. So, what is the real risk to her? She is my nice show mare, so Im worried. Does sending her to a foaling center really diminish the risk vs having a farm call vet.
I spoke with a very expensive foaling farm and they told me they only lost one mare in 500+ births, but they are wowzer $$, $3k to foal one out. Thanks!
IME, the risk to the mare is quite low. You can keep your chance of success very high by making sure you use an excellent and experienced vet for your repro work.
Your mare will also need to be watched pretty much 24/7 when she gets close to foaling. I keep mine on webcams. I have had mares foal anywhere from 311-385 days so that can mean a lot of watching! I have only needed to have a vet assist a handful of times, but I have had two dystocias that required trips to a fully equipped clinic (surgery suite on site). In both instances the foal was lost. 
The mare fully recovered.
I am very lucky to have great vets about 15 minutes from my farm, a large clinic 20 minutes away, and a University with a large teaching hospital an hour away.
Mares foal without assistance and with no problems something like 95% of the time. The problems come when things go bad because you literally have minutes to save the foal. Making sure the foaling is attended by someone knowledgeable enough to spot a problem early is your best bet for a good outcome.
I took my best show mare to the University for foaling because I wanted the option of a C-section available immediately should something go wrong. Everything went just fine although she held off for three weeks frustrating us all. 
My bill for the three weeks, foaling, foal exam and IgG test was <$1K.
Some vets or breeding farms provide foaling services at very reasonable rates. I would get recommendations from your vet.
The risks are relatively low but they are there. I remember years ago a COTH member lost her mare to a rectal tear during a palpation. I don’t think they ever even got to the breeding point.
Another thing to consider is the loss of work ethic. It is possible your mare may love motherhood to the point she doesn’t want to go back to work afterwards.
Every birth is unique. Statistically, there is little risk. However, I have lost an experienced broodmare after what seemed a perfectly normal birth. I have also known mares that were never quite the same after foaling, having very subtle back problems that effected their show careers.
The chances are small that a mare will be harmed. However, when you breed a mare, you do run a risk that she may be harmed or may even die. If that happens to your mare, statistics are not much comfort.
The best you can do is to be certain that someone with enough knowledge to quickly recognize a problem is with her when she foals, and that enough skilled help is close enough to intervene very, very quickly, if a problem does occur.
The quote of $3K to foal out a mare seems absolutely crazy. One third of that should cover the month before foaling, plus the foaling itself. A problem foaling with a sick foal or injured mare that needs to be hospitalized can very rapidly raise that cost to $5-7K.
Thank you for the advice! so, are we talking 1 in 10, 1 in 100? Do you think its reasonable to have a vet available within 30 minutes or should I send her out to a farm? I have no experience breeding. I can also have a vet 30 min out AND a girl stay overnight that has foaled 30 foals.
In lengthy talks with a large race breeding farm (150-200 foals/year), they run about 5% with serious issues. It is about 1% mare loss. Since these are broodmares, can’t speak to performance post foaling.
For your person helping, 30 foalings - how many with issues or was it 30 no problem foalings. They might be able to sense a problem sooner, if they’ve never dealt with a dystocia, they my not be much help
ETA, like someone said, odds are in your favor, but if it’s your horse, they are of little comfort. The joy is unbeatable, the heartbreak almost unbearable
You have to go into it with the knowledge you run a very real risk of losing your mare. A vet out in 30 mins is not fast enough. Many mares are lost in the days or months following foaling. I don’t mean to be Debbie Downer here, but even the statistics about those lost doesn’t really include those damaged. Mares can be injured in foaling and never really come back to what they once were mentally or physically.
I have a coming 6 yo show mare that I bred when she was three. Healthy pregnancy, textbook foaling. 106 fever on day two post-foaling. I just happened to be there when she broke out in a sweat and I caught it, had my vet there in an hour. There was no explanation, either, since uterine infections generally take three days. What if I hadn’t been there, or had checked on her later?
My advice is do an ET.
100% send her out. 3k is ridiculous however. You wouldn’t pay that much at a top barn in KY. As someone who has lost foals and lost mares, the odds are irrelevant when it is your horse that is on the losing end of those odds.
OP, where are you located?
Bucks County, Pennsylvania
If you are worried you are going to feel so much better if you send her out (if you can afford it). If things go wrong, a vet 30 minutes away might not be fast enough, especially to save the foal. As someone else mentioned, the vast, vast majority of mares foal out on their own just fine, but when things go bad, they go very badly, very quickly. Sometimes you only have minutes to change the course of events.
3k is a crazy amount of money, I don’t care how good the facility is. We offer a foaling out service, vet on-site, and it is nowhere near that. Granted, geography is going to affect the price, but that seems quite high to me. Sounds like you have time to explore other options, if you do want to send her out.
I second earlier post - ET if you really want a foal…presumably this would be for you, not for resale?
Had my maden show mare have an uneventfull pregnancy foal out by her self no trouble only had a vaginal tear so some bleeding. 24 hrs post foaling she colics badly, ended up rushing her to University 2+ hrs away where she had successful colic surgery. She survived to raise the foal and was a wonderful mother. 9 months later she coliced again and I had to put her down. Before breeding her she had no history of colic. It is a risk and My current show mare though I think a better mare than her mother isnt worth taking the risk, I just cant afford it.
I remembered this article
http://www.equisearch.com/horses_care/health/breeding/equine-embryo-transfer/
Good luck and I would strongly consider having someone good foal her out.
As others have already stated, there is always a risk when breeding so if you’re worried then sending her to a foaling place will be money well spent. I sent my high risk mare to be foaled out at a repro center and the total cost was around $1400 which included plasma for the foal and 21 days of board. Best money I’ve ever spent and well worth the peace of mind of knowing she was in the best possible hands for foaling.
You guys are scaring me. Anyone know of any reasonably priced ET vets in PA/NJ? I have access to a broodmare, or is it easier to use theirs?
Yes, I would very likely be keeping the foal.
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Bucks County, Pennsylvania[/QUOTE]
I’m pretty when I worked at New Bolton that it was cheaper than $3K to admit a mare as a high risk pregnancy, so long as she foaled in a normal period of time without complications.
I don’t know that New Bolton would admit a mare that was high risk only because the owner was scared! There are lots of good TB farms in that area of PA.
I live in Lexington KY, and work at Hagyard Equine Medical Institute. We foal out mares every year, both with a history of problems, and those that the owner is going out of town and just doesn’t want to watch it. We charge significantly less than the price you were quoted. I would bet that New Bolton does the same.
I deal hands on with dystocias, c-sections, and many other problems that occur. The risks are there, but if you have skilled people watching your mare, the risks go down significantly because time is one of the biggest things that can make a difference in nearly every problem. The sooner we get dystocias in from the time foaling started, the better prognosis there is.
If you are near new Bolton center they may know of an ET herd close to you. When I looked at doing it with my one made r and r kept a herd and it was 1500 to lease the mare out for the year including foaling. Granted this was 10 yrs ago and cost has likely increased significantly since then. Unless you have a large herd or get really lucky et into one of your own is hard.
I have lost made foaling my whole career including time spent on big farms. Unfortunately the foal and mare lost was our nicest. Took two years off from breeding before I was ready to again. I know it “comes with the job” and things can always happen but shirts a little worse when it is your own and very much wanted.
