Prolonged Retention of The Fetus (Foal).

Prolonged Retention of The Fetus (Foal).

Though far less frequently than in the case of the cow, parturition may not be completed at term, and the mare, to her serious and even fatal injury, may carry the foal in the womb for a number of months. Hamon records one case in which the mare died after carrying the fetus for 17 months, and Caillier a similar result after it had been carried 22 months. In these cases the fetus retained its natural form, but in one reported by Gohier the bones only were left in the womb amid a mass of apparently purulent matter.