Dear Member,

After such a long gap, you would be forgiven for thinking we had fallen off the face of the earth. Like everyone else, we were knocked back by the Foot & Mouth restrictions, and had to cancel our Spring Seminar which was due to take place the very week the restrictions hit.

You may have heard that I lost my mare Bi to impacted colic a few days after she foaled last April. Getting foster mares settled, foaling the second mare, nursing a premature foal through pneumonia, only then to find that the foster mare had brought in mange took up my attention for a few months, and I apologise for not sending you out a summer newsletter.

However, I hope the things we have organised for you this autumn will make up for what has been a difficult year for everyone.

We appreciate your support this year, and to show our thanks, your renewal fee for 2002 will be half price.

Finally, a number of people have found it difficult to get hold of me in recent months, and for this I apologise - new job, new babies, never home. To save you hours of endess frustration either email me at clambe@eircom.net, or if you need to talk to a Committee member urgently, please contact Bernice Mone at Monaghan Saddlery Workshop - 047 72356. While you’re in, why not take out a book from our library, which resides in Bernice’s shop.

Hope to see you at the Seminar,

With the new National Development Plan’s Equine Handling Facilities grant now up and running, and the recently announced Irish Horse Board Premier Brood Mare Scheme, we felt you might be interested to find out what is and isn’t possible under these schemes.

Speakers are:

Lynn will explain the new Premier Brood Mare Scheme, and will also go through the new foal registration procedures

We will also have handouts on the night which bring together articles from a variety of conferences and publications, and some contact names for arena surface suppliers

If this weren’t enough, we will also have a number of prizes to raffle, including a saddle bag from Michael Duignan, bags of feed from Sunrise Seeds, a jacket from Ashe Equestrian, and a £50 voucher for the trip to London we are organising at the end of November (see next section)

Please tell anyone you know might be building facilities in the next few years about this seminar - you could be saving them a lot of time and money.

See the art of Equestrianism at its finest - come with us to London from Friday November 30th to Sunday December 2nd to see the Spanish Riding School perform in Wembley Arena.

The itinerary is as follows:

* Price includes 2 nights B&B accommodation in Regent Palace Hotel, Picadilly Circus, travel to & from Heathrow & Wembley & tickets to the Spanish Riding School show (Price based on two people sharing)

** Entertainment Saturday can be arranged at extra cost
Bookings by 31 October

Monaghan Saddlery Workshop
Tel 047 72356
Mon , Weds-Sat 10-5.30

As I mentioned earlier, this year I was forced to learn the hard way about fostering foals. So for what it’s worth, the following procedure is followed by Coolmore Stud when they need to bring in a foster mare:

The foal is left a little hungry, so that it will not think twice about approaching the mare.

The mare is brought in to the new stable, and tied up tight so that there is no room between her chest and the wall. This is to prevent the foal getting between her front legs - keep her head over the door if necessary.

The mare is then blindfolded (a towel wrapped around the headcollar is good), given a syringe of Sedalin to mildly sedate her, hobbled behind, and left to settle for half an hour.

To protect the mare’s legs, the legs should be bandaged before the hobbles are applied, and the ropes should be tight enough not to slip below the bandages. Care should be taken that the knots used will not tighten around the mare’s legs.

Before the foal is introduced, it is sprayed from head to toe in the cheapest, strongest-smelling perfume that can be found. The cheap ones take longer to wear off. The same scent is sprayed around the mare, and on the blindfold. Vick’s vapo whaddyacallit is put on the inside of the nostril, again so that the mare can smell nothing but this new, strong smell

The foal is then introduced to the mare, who is encouraged to sniff at the foal before it approaches to suckle.

Keep the mare mildly sedated until she is 100% happy with the foal suckling from her. The blindfold is removed, and the foal is taken out of sight until the mare calls for it. This is repeated every few hours until the mare starts to look for the foal and get anxious for it.

The mare can be led out for a bite of grass in hand to allow the foal to stretch its legs. This can save your foal from being tramped through hedges and over rough ground by an excited mare exploring her new home.

When you think the mare is settling to the foal, you can let her loose in the stable for short periods with it - she should still be hobbled, and muzzled if necessary.

The whole process should take between 12 and 36 hours - after that, it is unlikely that the mare will accept the foal. Go look for another mare.

While you’re waiting on a foster mare, you may need to bottle feed the foal. Many won’t accept a bottle, but will quite happily drink from a bucket. To teach the foal to drink, give it your fingers to suck on, then gradually lower your hand into the bucket until your fingers are below the surface of the milk. The foal may need your fingers all the time at first - don’t go off and leave it and assume it will get the idea eventually - it won’t!

It's a horrible job, but a dead mare will continue to lactate overnight. So if you have to wait until morning for a foster mare to arrive, stripping the dead mare may mean the difference between life and death for her foal.

A normal foal will look for food about every half hour at first, then will have a pee, then lie down for a sleep, then straight back up for more milk. Be worried if it isn’t keen for its feed, and watch that it is producing the goods at the other end also! The foal’s dung should be bright orange after it clears the meconium and the first milk passes through its system. It will probably be loose, but the foal shouldn’t be scouring - call for the vet immediately if it does.

Foals breathe much quicker than adult horses, but if the foal cannot lie flat, and must sit up when resting, with rapid, shallow breaths, suspect the onset of pneumonia. This is caused by bacteria in the soil, and has little to do with the weather, so don’t let the fact that it’s sunny outside fool you into overlooking a foal in distress.

I found Provita Lacteal, a probiotic in a syringe, a very useful member of my medical kit this year - the foals loved the taste of it, and if they were on antibiotics, or growing in spurts and losing weight, the probiotic brought them back quickly. I also now have two foals who kill each other to get wormed - syringes are a special treat now on our farm!

Keep an eye on your animals - watch for low-grade internal pain: a reluctance to move about, dullness, and especially watch the underside of the neck where it joins the chest - if it’s trembling, your horse is hurting. Bi never sweated or rolled once with her impacted colic - she didn’t look or act sick, she was so excited about her first foal.