August 2023 Issue

Page 4 August 2023 EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN By Lois Szymanski Green pastures glisten with morning dew. Mares graze alongside foals that grow tall as summer rolls on. It’s a familiar backdrop for those with breeding mares. In nature, most mares foal in the spring and summer when grass is plentiful and milk pro- duction is high. It’s an exciting time for breeders - whether expecting one foal or hundreds – but it can also be stressful. Greenmount Farm At Greenmount Farm in Up- perco, Maryland, Sabrina Moore breeds Thoroughbreds, including Knicks Go, winner of the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile and the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational. “We usually have between 20 and 30 foals, but this year I took a breather,” she said. “We only had seven.” While her mares usually foal in the barn at night, Moore said she likes when they’re born outside in daylight hours. “I think I prefer that,” she said. “The foals seem to get up more quickly.” During the gestation period, broodmares here are on a strict vaccine regimen to avoid natural It’s Foal Season on the East Coast, Bringing Joy and Stress abortion. They are vaccinated with a killed type of rhinopneu- monitis vaccine during the fifth, seventh and ninth month of preg- nancy to prevent abortion, and there are periodic vet checks. “A little before they foal, we bring them to the barn and barn pastures,” Moore said. That’s when she moves into a camper beside the barn, always listening for a beep from the Foal Alert. “The Foal Alert is connect- ed to the mare’s vulva with two small stitches. It’s a little magnet that sends a signal to alert if the water breaks. It has definitely revolutionized foaling. I call the foal alert one of my employees!” she said. Moore said sleep is a luxury. “This year, one was born at 302 days (320 to 380 days is normal). Luckily, she had a lot of will to live, but we were still getting up to feed her and get her on her feet every two hours. Then, another mare hemorrhaged. There’s not much sleep.” Moore’s reward is watching the mares and foals interact and hearing those first nickers, “but seeing them race and win is also extremely rewarding,” she added. Recently, she acquired a horse that she’d bred and foaled eight years prior. “After I sold him, he went out to California, then came back to the east coast where one of his former owners claimed him and gave him back to me,” she recalled. “It’s cool to have foaled him, sent him off, watched him race, and then for him to come home again. It’s a full circle thing.” Destiny Hill Farm Tricia Albrecht breeds Norwegian Fjords at her Destiny Hill Farm in Goodwin, Pennsyl- vania, producing two to four foals annually. “The mares and foals are regularly vet checked and vaccinated and we also have an emergency kit ready,” she said, noting that many things can go wrong. “Foals can be mal positioned, could have a red bag delivery [premature separation of the placenta prior to or during foaling], the mare could colic, the foal could have low immuno- globulin [which they get from the mare’s first milk - colostrum] or contracted tendons [a condition where they are unable to fully extend limbs].” Albrecht stressed the im- portance of being prepared. If the birth sac is still covering the foal’s head, it should be removed within less than a minute of birth. A healthy foal should breathe at a rate of about 60-80 breaths-per- minute and have a strong heart- beat. Always clear the airway of any mucus or substance sticking to their nostrils. As a mare’s due date draws near, Albrecht looks for the mare’s bag to fill, for teats to wax over, for her belly to drop and for the area around her tail to soften. “I think it is important to breed to improve, not just be- cause,” she said. “The ultimate goal should be to make a better specimen. Be realistic about your mare or stallion's strengths and weaknesses.” This year, Albrecht got the filly she’d hoped for. “The first foal of 2023 was a surprise after a thunderstorm,” she said. “I was really hoping for a filly to retain for our breeding program. I had purchased her dam PF Sonja last year in foal to the late phenomenal stallion, Corgi Hill Luteson. I am thrilled to have this filly to keep!” Pinkprints, a foal by More Than Ready, relaxes at Greenmount Farm. FMF Sylvie, out of PF Sonja, by Corgi Hill Luteson at Destiny Hill Farm. (Continued on page 6) CarlaDuRand withMiniatureHorse foal Caden at Color Your DreamFarm. Duicinea Hanover with dam Dew To Win at Hanover Shoe Farm. Photo credit: © Gunjan Patel Photography