According to a study, it is possible that mares given a low dose of oxytocin at the right time may foal faster. This can be a benefit for horse, foal and owner.
The mares can give birth to a foal within a few hours due to oxytocin. A single injection is useful if the mare already has all the clinical and chemical signs that she is ready to give birth. Only under these conditions she should receive an oxytocin injection to stimulate labour.
If the oxytocin is given as close as possible to the mare’s actual foaling date, healthy foals wil be the result. The advantage is that you can delay foaling by a few hours. This makes better management possible when a foal is born. Most mares give birth in the early hours of the morning. This can be inconvenient for humans in case of complications during birth.
If the birth is adjusted to midday with oxytocin, the foal can be monitored better and problems can be counteracted more quickly. This safe way should therefore be considered in any case when the owner cannot guarantee the monitoring of the mares during the night.
Risks with oxytocin
However, care must be taken to ensure that the mare is ready to give birth when injected. Signs would be a full udder, increased CaCO 3 concentration and decreased pH in her pre-colostrum. This can be determined by examination by an experienced veterinarian. In addition, she should be at least 330 days pregnant. Only under these conditions should a mare receive an injection of oxytocin to stimulate labour.
If oxytocin is administered too frequently, the mare may deliver the foal prematurely. This can lead to weak and immature foals or problematic births (dystocia). In addition, high doses of oxytocin are used in the last third of pregnancy to abort foals.
For this reason, only an experienced veterinarian should administer oxytocin. Precise timing and correct execution is essential. Otherwise, in the worst case, the foal may be lost unintentionally.
Nevertheless, it can be said that the one-time administration of a small dose of oxytocin in a foal-ready mare is the only safe and reliable way veterinarians can manipulate foaling time.
Source: theHorse
