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  Discussion on Prevent maladjustment synDrOme?
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New Member:
Maverick

Posted on Saturday, May 6, 2006 - 5:42 am:

My 7 year old paint mare just lost her second of three foals. She has always been a tank and the vet suggested that her being heavy could contribute to difficulty birthing.

We don't have evidence of the birth. We live on 90 acres and after several years of trial and error have decided that more natural care is best for our horses. The mare was on 30 acre bermuda grass pasture where she foaled a healthy colt last year. We saw the mare last at 6:00 pm and got in late around 9:30 pm and called the horses up to eat. (They had not come up earlier in the day, so we suspected it might be close to time to foal) She and her 2005 filly didn't come up so we went searching. The colt was black so the only way we could see him was his eyes reflecting in the spot light. We went out in the pasture to bring them up but the mare ran from us so we left them there. This morning we observed still from a distance with binoculars that the colt was taking 5-6 steps and falling. I watched during the morning as i went about my chores and noticed the colt was down a long time. I went out to pasture and discovered the colt down and having seizures, unable to stand. He was a large, otherwise healthy colt. His gum color was good and he was not dehydrated, but his eyes were closed with no activity but seisure activity.
I didn't know he was having seisures, just thought he couldn't stand, but our vet immediately recognized them.

Her first foal died in the night after being born the evening before. He was small and seemed to get progressively weak, but when we went to bed we had no idea he was sick. He was foaled at a vet clinic because she was a maiden mare and we have lost colts in the past so wanted to be sure all went well. The vet said the birth went well and he didnt know what could have gone wrong, but suspected that since it was her first foal and she was heavy that nutrients did not go to the foal, but to her. Looking back I wonder if it was maladjustment synDrOme.
My question and any other insight you can give me would be appreciated:
We live on 90 acres with large bermuda grass pasture and free wheat hay available. We feed 10% protien grain about 8 pounds daily starting 3-4 months prior to foaling. How can we produce healthy colts while keeping mares from being overweight? Our horses are vaccinated@6 weeks proir to foaling and wormed as prescribed.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, May 6, 2006 - 7:34 am:

Hello SFR,
We really do not know where to start with specific advice on how to prevent the problems with the foals because we don't know why your 2 foals died. There is no clinical findings or laboratory tests for maladjustment synDrOme. It is a diagnosis made by ruling out all other similar looking possibilities and there are many more common look-a-likes. Seizures are a common terminal event for most disease processes that effect foals: they are unable to nurse become hypoglycemic rapidly and this results in weakness and seizure activity. In order to make any progress with this problem you will need to have the mares and foals examined when born and watch them closely. Perhaps you could create and maintain a small foaling pasture/barn up close to the house you move them to for the last month.

I am skeptical about the obesity problem as a cause of weak foals, there is not a strong connection between the two when large numbers of obese mares are observed foaling. However mares should not be obese as this can lead to all kinds of health problems. First, don't push 8 lbs of 10% grain onto a horse already in good condition and, second, if the horse has become obese on pasture alone you need to limit access to pasture. The problem is you are feeding by formula and not by looking at the horse, which is how you should be making feeding decisions (see nutrition overview article). If the pasture is poor you should supplement small amounts of high protein, calcium, phosphorous supplement and vitamins but all of this is explained in our article, Equine Reproduction » Pregnancy, Foaling, & Neonatal Care » Pregnant Mare Care and Nutrition.
DrO
New Member:
Maverick

Posted on Sunday, May 7, 2006 - 9:24 pm:

I really appreciate your advice on foaling and also nutrition for our horses. A little common sense goes a long way with horses.

Maril
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