Page 81 - June 2015

that point, there is nothing you can do to save the foal,” he says.
“But, if a mare is threatening to abort
and she is close to term or in very advanced pregnancy, an abortion can be very devastating for the mare.” It is much harder on her than a normal birth because everything is rushed and the reproductive tract is not ready for foaling.
“We see occasional accidents of pregnancy, such as uterine torsion or abnormal fetal fluid accumulation (hydrops). There is a lot of speculation on what causes the excess fluid but we don’t have enough observations
to make a good analysis. Sometimes
we see abnormalities of the placenta
or umbilical cord. Sometimes the foal
is abnormal. There are probably some
other abnormalities that we don’t see,
such as metabolic abnormalities in the
fetus and how it manages the fluid.
There may be abnormal fetal kidney function, for instance,” says Tibary.
“When we get a mare with hydrops, we often recommend abort- ing her just to save the mare, but
this needs to be done in a controlled manner. We also recommend that the owner never breed that mare to the same stallion again. This is a standard advice, even though we have no proof that this problem is genetic,” he says.
“Uterine torsion is another situation that owners always ask about, wondering if the mare will be at risk for having this same problem again if they breed her again. The same ques- tion is often asked about postpartum broad ligament hemorrhage. It’s very difficult to say whether she would be at risk again or not. We don’t have very good data to show this, one way or the other. Clinical observations show that
mares that had a broad ligament hemorrhage are not necessarily at higher risk of developing this problem again, but some owners are still reluctant to take this chance,” he says.
In many cases, it’s a matter of just watch- ing the mare and noticing any little change. Sometimes, a person can intervene and help reduce the risk if you see the start of a problem.
“One problem we occasionally see (though we shouldn’t, because this can be remedied early on) is late or mid-term twins. We like
to take care of this (and eliminate one of the
both fetuses at this stage of gestation. The farthest along that we can try to eliminate a twin is before 150 days. This requires surgical techniques and will put the other fetus at risk,” he says. Beyond 150 days, you would just hope that abortion of both is done safely or that the mare can carry and deliver the twins, even though the prospect for safe delivery of healthy twins is extremely low.
Sometimes you are lucky, but more often it’s a disaster. “For every instance of a normal birth with healthy twins, there are many
more cases of losing them or even losing the mare,” he explains. So, it is important to check the mare early in gestation and take care of any twin pregnancy at that time.
Tibary always discusses all of these possibilities with his clients and tells them that they should keep checking the mare during the pregnancy and that she can be flagged as high risk during those examinations. “The important thing is for them to know that anything abnor- mal that happens during her pregnancy could put her at risk.”
Breeders should always be working closely with their equine reproduction veterinarian. The majority of high- risk pregnancies should be managed by equine practitioners and may
require specialized input. “We have a great advantage here because, when a mare comes to our clinic, we have a team of special-
ists that can be involved. This is the ideal situation in a high-risk pregnancy. You have reproductive specialists, internal medicine, surgeons, etc. who can manage both the sick mare and help with the foal if it is compromised,” he says.
As mares are monitored through pregnancy, many will be considered normal, some will be dropped from the high-risk category, and others will be flagged as requiring further examination.
twins) before 20 days of gestation,” says Tibary. But, breeders who are not checking the mare and monitoring the pregnancy may not realize she has twins.
Sometimes, the twins are discovered later on in the pregnancy. There are procedures that can be utilized to get rid of one fetus. “But,
all of these techniques are associated with some risks for the mare and a potential to lose
Hydrops, or fetal fluid accumulation, can be caused from many things such as abnormalities of the placenta or umbilical cord, metabolic abnormalities in the fetus, or abnormal fetal kidney function. Pregnancy termination is often recommended.
The safe delivery of healthy twins is extremely low and can result in the loss of one or both foals as well as of the mare, so it is important to check the mare early in gestation and take care of any twin pregnancy at that time.
SPEEDHORSE, June 2015 79
EQUINE HEALTH
Ahmed Tibary DVM