A foaling kit that works is three kits in one box, and most published checklists blur them together. There is the short list you genuinely reach for at a normal foaling (flashlight, thermometer, tail wrap, gloves, towels, navel dip and a dipping cup, a foal enema, your vet's number). There is the equipment that exists so an arriving veterinarian has it to hand. And there is the obstetrical and resuscitation gear that appears on university checklists because those lists are written for people who have been trained on it, and which an untrained owner should not use. Buy all of it if you like. Know which pile each item is in before 2am, because that is the part that decides whether you help or make things worse.
The item list below is Colorado State University's Equine Reproduction Laboratory foaling kit checklist, cross-checked against the Saginaw Valley Equine Clinic and Horse Illustrated lists. The sorting is ours.
The mare foaling kit checklist, tier 1: what you use at every foaling
These earn their space. Nothing here requires training beyond reading the label.
| Item | What it is for |
|---|---|
| Your vet's number, posted at the stall | CSU and Saginaw Valley both list this as an item, not an assumption. Post it physically. Phone batteries die. |
| Flashlight with fresh batteries | Most mares foal at night, in a dark stall. Test the batteries at the start of the season, not at 2am. |
| Fast-reading thermometer | Mare's temperature before, foal's temperature after. |
| Tail wrap (Vetrap or equivalent) | Keeps tail hair out of the birth canal and out of the way. |
| Exam gloves (non-latex) | Clean hands for the navel dip and for handling the foal. |
| Clean towels | Drying the foal, general use. |
| Liquid soap | Washing the mare's perineum and your own hands. |
| Navel disinfectant plus a small cup with a handle | Dipping the umbilical stump. See the concentration section below, it matters. |
| Foal enema (phosphate type) | Many foals need help passing meconium. Both CSU and Saginaw Valley list it as standard. |
| Watch or phone with a clock | Not on any list we found, and it belongs on all of them. Every foaling decision is a timing decision. |
| Clean, waterproof container | Store the whole kit in one, in the foaling stall or barn, not in the tack room. |
Tier 2: things that are there for the vet, or for the foal's follow-up
You are not less prepared for owning these. You are just not the person using most of them.
- Stethoscope. Useful for a vet or an experienced hand assessing heart and respiration rate on mare or foal. Learning to use one is worth doing, ahead of time, with someone who can teach you.
- Colostrum refractometer (Brix) and a foal IgG test (SNAP or ARS). These measure whether the colostrum was good enough and whether the foal actually absorbed antibody from it. CSU lists both. The IgG test is normally run by your vet at the foal's first exam, and it is time-sensitive.
- Umbilical tape and umbilical clamps. On CSU's list. In practice the cord is usually best left to break on its own and then dipped.
- Measuring cup (600 ml), plastic storage bottle, catheter-tip syringe (60 ml), cotton gauze. Colostrum handling and storage, and the practical bits your vet may ask for.
- Milk calcium test kits (Predict-A-Foal, FoalWatch). Foaling prediction rather than foaling response. Useful for deciding which nights you sit up.
- Scissors (blunt-ended, stainless). The one Tier 2 item that becomes Tier 1 in a single specific emergency. See the red bag section.
Tier 3: on the published lists, and not for you
CSU's checklist also includes obstetrical sleeves and sterile obstetrical lubricant, a Foalert birth monitoring system, an oxygen tank with regulator and delivery line, a nasal insufflation set, and a foal resuscitation unit. That list is published by a veterinary teaching hospital's reproduction laboratory. It closes with the instruction to contact your veterinarian about additional supplies and for training on how to use the equipment and how to recognize complications, which is the sentence most copies of that list leave out.
Sterile sleeves and lubricant exist so somebody who knows equine fetal anatomy can check the foal's position. If you have not been trained to do that by your own vet, on your own mare, an internal exam by an owner during an abnormal presentation can convert a fixable malposition into a fatal one. The correct action for a presentation that does not look like two forelegs and a nose is to call your vet immediately, not to reach in.
The navel dip, where the published lists genuinely disagree
This is the single item on which the checklists you will find online contradict each other, so handle it before foaling night rather than during it.
- Colorado State University's Equine Reproduction Laboratory list specifies 1% chlorhexidine as the umbilical cord disinfectant.
- Saginaw Valley Equine Clinic's foaling kit specifies 0.5% chlorhexidine solution (such as Nolvasan).
- Guidance circulating from AAEP foaling material recommends 0.5% chlorhexidine, diluted from a 2% stock, and specifically discourages the old strong-iodine dip, on the basis that strong iodine has been associated with tissue damage. Published comparisons of 1%, 2% and 7% iodine against 0.5% chlorhexidine found the 7% iodine occasionally sloughed adjacent skin.
Two clean conclusions. First: the modern recommendation is chlorhexidine, not the strong iodine that older barn lore and many product listicles still name. Second: ask your own veterinarian which concentration they want used on your foal and buy that one, because the published lists differ and we are not going to pick for you. Horsetin is written by a hobbyist owner, not a vet, and a dilution instruction is exactly the kind of thing this site does not issue.
Dipping frequency also varies by source, commonly cited as several times daily for the first two to three days until the stump dries. Confirm the schedule with your vet at the same time you confirm the concentration.
The one item that turns a listicle into a life
Blunt-ended scissors, and knowing what they are for.
In a red bag delivery, the red velvety chorioallantoic membrane appears at the vulva instead of the white amnion, and the foal has stopped receiving oxygen. Merck Animal Health's foaling guidance lists a red bag as an immediate call-your-vet emergency and states that the red membrane must be torn or cut open right away to prevent the foal suffocating. Guidance on preventing brain damage or death in premature placental separation recommends that a knife or scissors be kept in an emergency kit at every foaling station for exactly this. Colorado State's Equine Reproduction Laboratory published on red bag as a foaling emergency requiring speedy intervention (Dr. Patrick McCue, 2026).
That is the whole argument for having a kit at all. Almost everything in it is convenience. One item is the difference between a foal that breathes and a foal that does not, and it is a pair of scissors you can buy for the price of a bag of feed. We have written the full sequence separately in red bag delivery in horses, and you should read it now rather than on the night.
What a mare foaling kit cannot do
A kit does not make you a foaling attendant. It does not shorten the time it takes your vet to drive to you, which is the number that actually governs your night, and which you should find out and write on the box. It does not replace having arranged, in advance, who you call at 3am and what the after-hours number is.
The honest limitation of every foaling kit article, including this one, is that the most valuable preparation is not an item. It is a conversation with your veterinarian before the mare is due, about what they want you to do, what they want you to leave alone, and what they consider an immediate call. Have it. Then pack the box.
If you are still upstream of all this, our pieces on whether to breed your mare and the real cost of breeding a horse cover the decision and the budget, and the kit is a small line in both. Knowing what your individual horse's normal looks like is the same habit applied earlier, and we started that in the first two weeks with a new horse.
FAQ
What should be in a basic mare foaling kit?
At minimum: your vet's number posted at the stall, a flashlight with fresh batteries, a fast-reading thermometer, a tail wrap, non-latex exam gloves, clean towels, liquid soap, navel disinfectant with a small dipping cup, a foal enema, blunt-ended scissors, and a clock. Store it all in a clean waterproof container in the foaling stall.
Should I use iodine or chlorhexidine on the foal's navel?
Current published guidance points to chlorhexidine rather than strong iodine, which has been associated with tissue damage. Sources disagree on concentration (Colorado State's ERL list says 1%, Saginaw Valley Equine says 0.5%), so ask your own veterinarian which they want and how often to dip.
Do I need obstetrical sleeves and lubricant in my kit?
They appear on veterinary teaching hospital checklists because those lists assume trained use. If your vet has not trained you to check fetal position on your own mare, having them is fine, using them is not. An abnormal presentation is a call, not a task.
Why does everyone say to keep scissors in the kit?
Because of red bag delivery, where the red placental membrane presents at the vulva instead of the white amniotic sac and the foal is no longer getting oxygen. Merck Animal Health's foaling guidance says the membrane must be opened immediately. That is the one moment an owner is expected to act before the vet arrives.
When should the kit be ready?
Well before the due date, and checked at the start of the season. Batteries, expiry dates on the enema and any test kits, and whether the navel dip is still the concentration your vet wants. Mares do not read calendars, and foaling averages are averages.
Item list sourced from Colorado State University Equine Reproduction Laboratory's published foaling kit checklist, cross-checked against Saginaw Valley Equine Clinic and Horse Illustrated. Emergency guidance from Merck Animal Health USA's broodmare labor material and CSU ERL. Horsetin is written by a hobbyist owner and breeder, not a veterinarian. Nothing here is a dosing, dilution or treatment instruction; confirm all of it with your own vet before your mare is due.