Stuck Foal Emergency: Assisting a Difficult Birth

At 6:45 on April 14th, we welcomed our final foal of the 2026 season. Emmy carried this filly to 336 days—“late” by her standards—and, true to form, decided to kick things off outside (her favourite place to start labour). Thankfully, I had multiple people messaging that she was acting suspicious, because of course I was at the farthest end of the property doing hay, grain, and water. I dropped everything and made a beeline back, haltered her, and dragged her—somewhat unwillingly—up to the barn. The moment she got into the stall and I cracked open the straw bags, she laid down and her water broke. Perfect timing—we just made it in. Given Emmy’s history with placentitis, there was definitely some concern about complications like we saw with Kee. Seeing that white sac instead of a red bag was an immediate wave of relief. That relief didn’t last long, though—we quickly realized one leg was back, and she wasn’t progressing. Emmy knew it too, trying to reposition herself multiple times—up, down, rolling, switching sides. When mares do that, they’re trying to help get baby lined up correctly. I started applying traction while we were still within the “safe” window, but Emmy wasn’t doing much to help—she’s always been a bit…economical with her effort, even in labour. When it became clear we weren’t making progress, I had Anna step in. At that point I was gloving up, fully prepared to go in and correct the leg if needed. With a lot of effort (mostly human-powered), we finally got that baby out—and I think everyone present and watching online collectively exhaled at the same time. A beautiful buckskin filly with a star sired by HA Tune Of A Mobster (“Juan”) She took her sweet time at first, nearing that one-hour mark where we want to see them standing. I went in, looked at her, and said, “Okay, now you need to stand.” And just like that—up she popped at 50 minutes old. She found the udder almost immediately after and was nursing by 59 minutes. You really have to appreciate these fillies that come out, hit every milestone, and make it look easy—after keeping everyone on edge getting here. Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxN-0dXw82baJ6Kw96C4oPQ/join Our Website: http://www.meadowbrookstables.ca Our Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MeadowBrookStables/ Our Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/meadow_brook_stables/ –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– #meadowbrookstables #mbspaints #mbsquarterhorses Disclaimer/Release of Liability: Use of the information contained in the videos on this website is at your own risk. Horses, horse activities and horse training can be extremely dangerous. Working with horses is an inherently dangerous practice and horses are incredibly unpredictable animals. Persons attempting to follow any suggestion from Kaila Watters, Meadow Brook Stables, Tru Horsemanship or any of our associates, in hand or ridden, will do so at their own risk and assume full responsibility for themselves, their horses, and any others in the vicinity. If you are not comfortable with any of the exercises, demonstrations, advice, or activities contained on this Website, then do not attempt it. The training in these videos assume that you are attending to the well being of your horse and have checked out any possible underlying medical problems.