Emergency
Is it an emergency?
If you are already worried, ring now: 01291 496 0169, at any hour. Otherwise, choose what you can see below. This is general guidance, and it does not replace a vet looking at your horse.
What can you see?
- ColicRolling, pawing, looking at the belly, off food
- Sudden lamenessWon’t put the foot down, or is suddenly very sore
- A woundA cut, a puncture, or anything bleeding
- A sore eyeClosed, weeping, swollen or looking different
- FoalingShe has started, or the foal is not right
If her waters have broken and nothing is happening: ring now.
Most foalings are quick and go well. A normal one takes about twenty minutes from the waters breaking to the foal on the straw, and you should see a foot, then a foot, then a nose. Anything else is an emergency, and you have minutes, not hours.
Ring straight away if
- No foal within 20 minutes of the waters breaking, or no progress for 10
- Anything other than a foot, a foot and a nose
- Foal not up within about 2 hours, or not sucking within about 3
- Placenta still not out after 3 hours
While we drive
- Note the time the waters broke.
- Wash your hands, tie up her tail, and stay quiet and out of the way.
- If you see a red velvety bag and not a white one, ring us, cut it, and pull the foal out as gently as you can. This is a red bag delivery.
- If it stalls, walk her gently, which can buy a few minutes while we drive.
Please do not
- Do not pull on a foal unless we have told you to.
- Do not cut the cord. It breaks by itself.
- Do not pull on the placenta if it is hanging. Tie it up above her hocks.
General guidance, not a diagnosis. If what you see does not fit this page, or you just do not like the look of your horse, ring. You know your horse, and that counts.
Worried? Ring. Nobody here minds an unnecessary call.
A vet answers, day or night, and advice on the phone is free. For everything else, there is a round day.