In this excerpt from the Eclipse Press book Equine ER by Leslie Guttman, we spend 24 hours during foaling season at one of the world’s top equine hospitals. 

It was Friday night. 10 p.m. Late February. Across Lexington, the workweek behind them, regular people were out having fun or at home relaxing, but none of the veterinarians at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital had any such plans. Every year, from roughly February to June, the vets are slammed with patients day and night. In addition to the usual emergencies Ñ fractures, lacerations, other traumas Ñ it is foaling season: Mares can have problematic births (called dystocias), usually because foals are in the wrong position Ð instead of feet and head first, they can be sideways, upside-down, their heads tucked between their legs as if they can’t face leaving the womb.

Once out, foals can have contracted legs, neurological issues, gut problems. Sometimes a mare hemorrhages or dies from the strain of giving birth. Mares often experience colic post-foaling as well, and the spring season brings more colicking for all horses because of changes in weather and because as horses begin feeding on new grass, their often-delicate digestive systems react. Up at admissions, an emergency colic had just arrived