Cast Mare Near Golf Links Road

We received a call from a very worried man who had come across a heavily pregnant mare that could not get up, she was extremely distressed and he thought she may be having difficulty giving birth.

Our welfare team rushed to the scene and found the mare on her side, well and truly cast. She was sweating and having difficulty breathing, she had injured her eye and she looked like she was trying to give birth. On closer inspection we could see she was prolapsing, she was exhausted and frightened.

We called the ponies owners and our vet and tried to keep the mare calm, the owner came straight out and together we managed to get the mare up. She was initially very wobbly on her legs and disorientated but soon found her legs and walked towards the herd. Her owner decided to drift her to a safe spot so they could get a lorry and have her collected, she would be taken to the farm to receive some penicillin and have her eye seen to and a general check over.

We were worried the foal had died as we figured she was down for some time before we were called and arrived on the scene, but thankfully after a while we saw the foal was moving inside.

We were extremely concerned about the mare and foals welfare during the imminent birth as the mare is so large, so we have asked that the owner contact us in a few day to let us know how they were and if the foal has been born. We would like to know the outcome whether it is good or bad news, the owners have agreed to let us know either way and we can visit the foal once it has arrived and if it survives.

******UPDATE******* This mare gave birth to a healthy foal, our Welfare Assistant has seen both mare and foal in the owners field and can report both are doing well.