Complications during foaling are a predominant cause of death and disease in foals and mares regardless of the difficulty of the birth. In a review of cases, researchers categorized deaths into five groups based on the primary organ system associated with the cause of death. Their results showed the most-common reasons for death were:
- fatal lesions in the gastrointestinal tract (43 percent)
- cecal rupture (12 percent)
- colonic torsion (7 percent)
- colonic rupture (4 percent)
- rectal prolapse, cecal impaction, rectal tear, gastric rupture and non-infectious inflammatory processes (each 3 percent)
Source: Paulick Report, January 2020. Link.