slipped foal...could it have been a twin?

[RamblingCowgirl]

We have three full size mares that were left open to a stud. Nothing fancy, just another round of nice babys for family horses. Late this summer one of the mares slipped a foal, pink no hair but rather normal looking. Not sure who it was, they are all out together. My friend and I noted one of them was acting a bit off befor & after the foal was found. Now she looks just as bred as the other two, could have been our gray, I really doubt it was my 7yo. But what is the odds that the first mare who seem off was caring twins? Guess I'll know by may, if not sooner.

 

[goodhors]

I am going to say if she lost one foal, then she lost the other if there were twins Body
expels ALL the babies and birthing materials when the hormone trigger goes off for
delivery time. Did you find a placenta? Any missing piece she retained can cause infection,
could prevent her from getting bred in the future.

I am betting the mare who lost foal may be just getting fat with good feed. Can
you feel any ribs on ANY of the horses? Fat horses have more trouble delivering,
so you may want to cut back on the food or limit time if they are grazing on big bales
all day long. Trim bodies are the best look on broodmares.

Call the Vet, have him/her do a pregnancy check, see which mares are still carrying.
Reduces the wondering and what-if thinking. Vet will probably want to swab-test her
to see if she has any infection to treat. Get her cleaned up now, for breeding use in the
future.

 

[RamblingCowgirl]

Yes it was all there, it was back in aug and I'm sure if anything thing else had been wrong it would have shown now. I was rather worried at first, but all the horses seemed normal after a few days. I asked becoas I was thinking I had read some place that they could lose just one, but I coundn't remember. We had a harsh summer and I think that is why the foal was lost.
No one is fat, round in the belly from hay, but thats all. I'm not sure if my parents plan to breed their brood mares again or not, I kinda doubt it. But both of their mares have always been easy to tell when in foal, so I'm just going to keep an eye on them for now. They have sweet babys but are them selves not people horses {a bit strang I know} and we leave them out to foal. I can't see them taking a vet check well at all. I know that is far from ideal.
My mare is younger and handles things better. But I'd rather put that $100+ to feed then a foal check. And I really doubt it was her anyways. She seemed to handle the heat better then anyone else this year. I think that was due to her age.