Foaling Watch Update – March 18, 2025
🔹 Quick Status Overview 🔹
🐴 Elusive Surprise & Thirteen (Colt) – Day 6 – Healthy, active, and keeping everyone entertained.
🐴 Lady Dyanaformer – Day 340 – Significant leg swelling, but deep straw bedding added to encourage rest. No milk test today.
🐴 My Audubon – Day 320 – No changes, still enjoying life at her own pace.
Dyana’s Swelling & Efforts to Encourage Rest
Dyana’s legs remain significantly swollen, and this morning, even her knees were showing edema. While turnout and movement helped a little, it’s clear that her lack of laying down to rest is contributing to the issue.
📌 What’s the plan to help?
✔️ Deep straw bedding added to her stall to make it more inviting for her to lay down.
✔️ Continued turnout to encourage movement and circulation.
✔️ Monitoring for any further swelling changes.
This mirrors her behavior last year—her legs also swelled then, and the team worked hard to get her comfortable enough to lay down. Dyana typically sleeps flat out at least once a day, so it’s concerning that she hasn’t been seen doing so in the past few days. Without proper REM sleep, recovery becomes even harder.
💡 Why Does Pregnancy Cause Edema in Mares?
Swelling in heavily pregnant mares is common due to:
🔹 Reduced circulation – The growing foal puts pressure on blood vessels, slowing the return of blood from the lower legs.
🔹 Decreased movement – Late-term mares naturally rest more standing up, leading to fluid pooling in the legs.
🔹 Increased overall body weight – More strain on the legs means more difficulty keeping fluid moving efficiently.
While edema itself isn’t necessarily a concern, lack of rest and prolonged swelling can make a mare more uncomfortable. The Horse Husband Stables team is doing everything possible to help her stay comfortable while waiting for her to foal.
Since Dyana’s milk test results yesterday showed no major changes, and she had no wax on her teats today, there was no reason to test again tonight. She still seems healthy overall, but it will be a relief when she finally foals so her body can begin returning to normal.
Surprise & Thirteen: Full Speed Ahead
Surprise and Thirteen continue to thrive, staying very healthy and active. Thirteen in particular was on fire today with his zoomies!
📌 Did you catch him running his laps in the round pen today? He had several full-speed bursts, kicking up his heels and testing his limits. In case you missed it, we included a replay video in this post for you.
He’s proving to be a friendly, curious colt, making interactions a joy for the Horse Husband Stables team. His confidence and outgoing nature make him a pleasure to work with, and we know everyone is excited to see more of his personality unfold.
Who’s Ready for a Virtual Live Meet & Greet?
With Thirteen growing and becoming more interactive, it’s almost time for our first official virtual meet & greet event! Stay tuned for details on when we’ll go live so you can see him in real time.
As we continue watching Dyana closely and enjoying Thirteen’s antics, we’ll keep everyone updated on what’s next. Stay tuned!
