Horses have a belly button!
Posted by Bill on Jun 13 2007 at 01:46 pm | Tagged as: Horse Health
I don’t know why this surprises me. All mammals have a belly button, after all. But it doesn’t show as prominently on furry mammals. I was talking with someone recently about belly buttons and somehow horses came up. A little research revealed that horse belly buttons are sort-of where ours are located. On both male and female horses, their belly button is three to four inches in front of their genitalia. Valentine has an “outy/outie”, making it much easier to see, while Moonshine has an “inny/innie”. I risked my very life to bring you this picture of Valentine’s belly button so I hope you appreciate it.
From what I know, no, they don’t need the clips. We recently were able to see some new born horses, both still had a part of their umbilical cord. One was 3 days old, the other was 3 weeks old.
We also found out a year ago that when our Quarterhorse was born, his mother had gotten spooked and pulled away so quickly that she ripped his umbilical cord off. Poor baby. He seems fine for it now though, 3 years later.
Hmm….never thought about this even thougn I’ve seen dangling cords from all of the 10 babies around here. I’ll have to go look now.
Thanks for risking your life for this informative post !
Thanks for the responses, guys. I guess that makes sense.
Happy to risk my life for stupid stuff. It’s a guy thing
Great post and photo!
ummz. soz to say that that i asked a lady who has been around horses all her life and she said horses get belly buttons and fat when theyre infoal.
thank you so much! i’ve been wondering about this for a long time{well, ever since horse camp}! by the way, i really do appreciate the photo of the belly button, what a risky spot to be in!!!
I don’t know whether foals need their umbilical cord clipping, but I wouldn’t've thought so.
Horse’s Belly buttons are so sweet, on both of mine they have different colouration around it, it’s brilliant when they roll!
Hello from Connecticut….My filly is one month of age. She has pronounced flesh around her umbilical cord (which has fallen off)…I had her vet checked by TWO vets for an umbilical hernia. One vet says “yes, she does..she needs a hernia repair” and the other vet says “Let’s recheck her in a few months and then ultrasound her to see how many layers this little bulge is” She’s nursing fine..peeing and making manure and gaining weight and height by leaps and bounds. Frisky..runs like the wind. What do you think? Vet #1 or Vet #2? Thanks so much for any advice you can offer. Best Regards, Susan from Connecticut
Nobody ties umbilical cords in knots. Doctors tie suture material, a special thread around the umbilical cord and knot the suture or thread. Doctors do this in 2 spots on the umbilicus or umbilical cord. This is done at least 4 to 10 centimeters or 3 or more inches, usually more away from the baby’s soon-to-be belly button and is trimmed back by putting another thread around the cord to about 3 inches after all of the blood is out of the cord. This was an older practice. Today, 2 clamps are used that look somewhat like a barrette that snaps closed. Doctors never tie a knot in the cord itself. The cord can get a knot before the baby is born and if that knot pulls tight and cuts off the blood supply from the placenta the baby will die. Knots occurring in utero, before the baby comes out of the uterus or womb, occur with babies who have longer cords.
As an expeiranced horse breeder I can tell you that a foal’s umbilical cord naturally breaks off a few inches from it’s belly button after it is born. They don’t require any belly button clips or tying off, but it is an important practice to dip the hanging umbilical cord in iodine to disinfect it, prevent infection and help the cord dry out faster.