Why delay foal heat?
” is to allow a little longer for the uterus to recover from foaling. It should be considered that if one wishes to successfully breed on the foal heat, then the foaling must have been without any complications, such as dystocia, retained placenta, tears or abnormal bruising to the tract etc. and there should be very little, or no evidence of fluid within the uterus by the time the breeding occurs. It is also recommended that there be no obvious abnormalities of the placenta (which could suggest issues related to placentitis, and hence a pathogen in utero); no discharge by about day 7 post foaling, or at the worst only minor clear or slightly pink discharge; and that the ovulation occur at least 10 days after foaling. To delay the foal heat ovulation one must manipulate the mare’s hormones. I’m not going to discuss the hormonal aspect of the estrous cycle of the mare here, as that would make this article far too long, but any breeder should have a good working knowledge of it, and more
