Red bag or 
Placental abruption

The Red bag is one of the dangers of foaling, it is a placental abruption. Concretely, instead of seeing the water bag appear first, the amnion, it is a bright red pocket that appears, the placenta . When the placenta unhooks, the foal is no longer supplied with oxygen, it is therefore a vital emergency for the foal and a fortiori, for the mare as well.

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What should be done ?

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Provide you with a sharp tool (knife, scalpel, ...) to cut the placenta, check the correct placement of the foal and help it out as quickly as possible. It is estimated that the foal has only a few minutes before risking neurological damage and then death, so it is necessary to act quickly and well .

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Red bags are rather frequent in miniature horses, the speed of foaling (which generally lasts less than 10 min) is perhaps one of the explanations. A lot of breeders will face this problem at least once in their life. 

It is therefore essential to document yourself to know how to act, monitor your births using various means (camera, detector, strips, ...), always keep a sharp tool near the foaling box (and / or in your jean during the foaling season) and keep in mind that a placental abruption, taken in time, does not cause any damage to the foal.