We have a mare in foal (she has such a wide range of expecting dates because she was in pasture with the stallion from march to june)and my parents are refusing to get stalls built specially for her because our stalls are too small, she can not be in the birthing position in those ones, and the sides are not removable....How do l convince them?They think she will be fine, but no.... and now they are thinking of putting her in a 9X10 foot chicken brooding house...... and it has stairs to get into it, and it is our tack/hay room at the moment.WTF??They are pretty stupid.l know for a fact that she needs more space, and it smells pretty bad in there becuase it used to have chickens in it, and its dusty from the hay....And they are building a new barn with tin sides, but l have heard many stories of horses cutting themselves open on those and having to be put down!But they think the chances are slim, that may be true, but it could happen easily.Again, how do l convince them?
And my parents also say that we dont have to get an ultrasound on the mare becuase its too expensive (pshhhh we need a better idea of due date!) l am sure we could afford it, but nooooo.How do l convince them??
Thanks...

l do not know how old or experienced u are, but it sounds like ur parents r convinced that they know enough without ur input--whether it would be valuable or not. As a result, u may not have much of a chance of convincing them otherwise.

l say this from experience, because most ''horse kids'' with ''horse parents'' have faced it--especially if the parents grew up in a different world from the kids (in terms of horses). l know my mother grew up with a lot of horses in her backyard/bad pastures, no special treatment, no professional training, nothing. They all survived, so as a result that is what my ''horse life'' started with. But as l began to get more interested in competing & then started lessons & all that, my mother also became more educated, & a lot of things improved. Now that l am older (21) with a lot more experience & education myself, she asks for my input on most decisions regarding the horses. (disclaimer: l do not mean to imply that having fun horses in ur backyard & just doing recreational riding with no professional input is a bad thing--but for my goals, it would not have been suitable. And there were also safety/well-being concerns in this situation.)

Educate yourself as much as u can. Read books, call a vet & ask questions, visit a breeding farm & ask more questions, etc. Your parents may be more willing to accept ur input if they believe u have a valid reason for it (i.e., u need something to stand on--a professional opinion, research, etc.). You can show them the articles or books u find.

Beyond that, u may be on ur own & at ur parents' mercy--which may or may not be a good thing.

l do agree ,she needs more space to have her baby, but l dont agree with the ultra sound, a good way to tell whe she is gonna have her baby is when the veins pop in her ugh l for get what they r called lol. umm boobs l guesse l will say lol:) but when they pop, she will have it soon, we neever real y did anything special when my horse was pregeenet, we just made sure tere was hay in the stalls, & gave her exta food, & we knew when the baby was born when we went up to feed her & a baby horse was nursing:) but l dont think u will be able to cinvince them if they r anything like mine, sorry, this was no help was it....

Call a vet and have them come out and talk to your parents. A pregnant mare needs to be taken care of. If they wo not do it, she probably should not have been bred in the first place.

if you no any experienced horse people, tell them your conserns and get them to casually talk to your parents about the risks they are taking and what you need to do to deliver the foal safely. your parents are more likely to listen to them and take what they say on board.

tell them that a person with over 60 years experience told u this


horses sit around all day & do 2 things

hurt themselves, & cost u money


i've been breeding horses for a lot of years & occasionally one will slip by me & foal in the pasture, it is has not turned out okay yet. also, have them consider the length of the horse plus a baby, a horse is geneally 8 feet long plus the length of a baby would be another 6 feet during some position at birth. that is at least 14 feet minimum, plus if u want to give the mare breathing room that is another foot, & that is if ur lucky & she lays down with her head near a wall

as far as due date goes, keep an eye on her bag, if it starts getting fuller then shes closer. if it starts to get wax on it shes within a week & if she starts squirting milk shes within a few days. look at her back legs to see if they r wet from milk dripping


another thing, the air needs to be clear & thin. it is hard enough for a baby to take its first breaths b/c it still has fluid in its airways, dust would combine to make mud in the airway, NOT A GOOD THING!!!! if u end up in the chicken coop b/c l know how stubborn some people can be, make sure u take the initiative to clean it out & scrub the walls & put a thick layer of straw on the floor, although the metal building would be better. maybe just section off a portion of it with temporary fencing, that seems to me to be ur best option in this situation. good luck & l hope u have a nice foal.

Wow. l do not know how to help u on convincing them! But it sounds like u mare needs a lot more room! Poor girl! l always put my mares in at least 20 x 20 stalls with the walls boarded up so the babies can not slip under. l have not had any problems with this, & it seems to be plenty of room, given l take mare & foal out for exercise regularly! Do u have room on ur property to put up something temporary or maybe a round pen or arena u could use?

Oh, & l do not know if you've had foals before, but since u do not know the due date, be careful about relying on the udder waxing up, because my mares hardly ever wax. they just get soft at the base of their tails & POP there is a healthy cute little foal. Of course, this year the mare had the foal UNDER the feed trough so the poor baby could not stand up without hitting her head. Funny, but sad at the same time!!! Okay, l will stop talking, l hope u can convince ur parents, has ur vet said anything about needing a bigger stall? Maybe the vet could help with the convincing?

If u r in a colder climate area they need an ultrasound for that reason alone, if the baby ends up being due in March it could freeze if they r not prepared. No animal should be kept in a metal sided barn they could obviously quite easily cut themself & it could be dangerous & more expensive in the long run if they have to pay out vet bills. To be frank (sorry if it is rude), if they cannot afford the necessary vet care for a pregnant horse & even more important, proper living conditions for a pregnant horse then they really should not own one. It is not fair to the horse.

If she was pulled from the stallion in June, then most vets should be able to palpate & give u a decent guess. But, l am not sure what an ultrasound is in ur area, in mine it is only $35. That being said, horses foal just fine in the pasture. Mother nature takes care of things like that. Yes, things can happen, but like u described above, u r naming situations that can happen anyway. Most of my mares foal in the pasture without trouble. Unless u plan on watching her 24/7, then anything that is going to happen in the pasture will happen where ever else anyway. My last thought, if they can not afford an ultrasound, what do they think a new foal will cost?

The worst choice of all would be the chicken house. It is too small, and too dusty and would be bad for both the mare and foal.

You could use the new metal sided barn, but line the stall area with boards up to about 4 feet high, then it will be safe. Other than that, the best option would be to leave her outside to have her foal (in a private paddock).

Well first a foaling mare needs at least a 20 X 20 space. You would be much better off letting ur mare foal out in the open if u have a pasture or paddock. She should be fine. Unless l have a mare due to foal when it is below freezing, it is the only time l bring them into the barn, otherwise my mares foal in their pasture. l think the pasture is cleaner & healthier than the barn. Your parents should put plywood or boards about 3 to 4 feet up the interior walls so ur horse does not kick through the tin & injure herself.

Leave her in an open corral. DO NOT - DO NOT put her in an area that was used for chickens. Chicken poop has loads of salmonella in it & the spores can live in the soil for years & years. It would be very dangerous for any horse to be on this soil, & especially a pregnant mare. Very dangerous & u could have all kind of foot & health problems. l would not care about the due date. You need to be checking on her several times a day when she gets close anyway. She will foal when it is time. Again, l would not put her in any of the confined areas u describe - not good for her at all but avoid the chicken coop area as this could carry all kinds of bacteria & cause many health problems for horses.