Researchers from Canada and the UK compared foaling prediction technologies in an attempt to define which ones were the best at accurately predicting when a mare would deliver her foal. | Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt/The Horse

Each year at the American Association of Equine Practitioners convention, a panel of researchers present what they believe to be the top studies with clinical implications from the past year. At the 2019 meeting, held Dec. 7-11 in Denver, Colorado, Regina Turner, VMD, PhD, Dipl. ACT, section chief of reproduction and behavior at the University of Pennsylvania’s New Bolton Center, shared her favorite breeding-related papers on topics ranging from foaling prediction to estrus suppression.

A Comparison of Foaling Prediction Technologies

“We all know mares have a very sneaky and bad habit of doing everything they can to foal without humans present,” said Turner as she introduced the first study. “As a result, we humans have attempted to develop foaling prediction technologies to outsmart these mares and catch them in the act of foaling.”

In this study, researchers from Canada and the UK compared foaling prediction technologies in periparturient Standardbred mares in an attempt to define which ones were the best at accurately predicting when a mare would deliver her foal. This is the first study comparing several technologies against one another, Turner said