Potomac Horse Fever and the breeder.

This winter, at almost exactly 8 months of gestation, Zigami aborted her Rotspon pregnancy without any warnings. It was understandably a gutting experience to lose a foal from any mare at any time but this was a cross I was really looking forward to. It was to be Zigami’s first full warmblood foal. It raised many questions of course. Why? Why now? Was it infectious? Is my other pregnant mare at risk? Could have I done anything to prevent this? What went through my mind? Of all the causes for abortions in mares, the number one culprit is placentitis: it’s a very general term that means that the...