Advise please on older broodmare

[Taz]

Hahaha!! What a great idea, I'll do it

It's white snot but not lots of it. It's just her and Spirit in the paddock with no one across the fence and their stall doesn't have contact with the others either. I'll watch and try not to add it to my list of things to worry about.

 

[Taz]

I need to whine!!
The cold weather came back over a week ago and Tilly took back most everything and has been on hold there with the exception of one day when she was kind enough for have the most udder yet. I know this can happen but really?

She hasn't been showing ANY signs that the foal is bothering her any more. I was getting pretty nervous something had happened to it and talked her into standing while I 'moved' her belly around a couple of days ago. Pushed it right....nothing. Pushed it left...nothing. Got desperate and put my arms all the way around and lifted up a couple of times, got two wonderful little taps on my hand, made my week .

The camera is up and running in my bedroom all night. Between it shining on my bed, the stress of missing something and the glasses of water I'm up checking on her about every 1/2 hour. I know she doesn't look ready yet but really don't trust that and would never forgive myself if I wasn't there and there was a problem I could fix.

Someone please tell me this can't go on for much longer....even if you have to lie through you're teeth. PLEASE. LOL.

 

[Ryan Johnson]

As she gets closer and closer, there is less room for the foal to move, in turn, making it uncomfortable for the mare. When mares are rolling they will roll the foal into an uncomfortable position also.

How is she looking from behind ? is the foal still riding wide ?

 

[Taz]

Yes the foals still sitting sideways, although yesterday morning she was really wide. It does look to me like her belly is lower but no v just rounded but could be farther forward(?). Minimal softening around her tail and no elongating. Pretty cranky though....poor girl.
She did have a bit more udder tonight though so I'm hopeful she might start doing something again, fingers crossed!

 

[Ryan Johnson]

You will notice when she has dropped for sure. With her udder, its going to go up and down constantly . When you notice it is staying full for the entire day (whilst shes up and moving around) you know you are getting close.

 

[Holly Chisholm]

Anything happen yet?

 

[Taz]

Nothing much going on. Her udder didn't go down yesterday after being out and it has a bit more fill this morning. Taking her own sweet time......
Last time I had an alarm on the mares halter and was able to sleep most of the night. The trees around my house have grown too much so I don't have internet anymore for that. Not sleeping much, come on Tilly, baby soon please!

 

[Ryan Johnson]

Its the finishing touches shes putting on, these usually take the most time , especially when their owners are just about falling asleep, waiting waiting waiting

Wishing you the safest foaling , sounds like it wont be long now

 

[Taz]

After watching her swishing her tail like mad, kicking and biting at her belly, she lay down and went to sleep. Had a peaceful night sleeping and eating, I'm jealous, lol. I did give her a pep talk this morning and a bribe of maternity feed once she's nursing might have been mentioned. Something tells me it could still be a couple of weeks.....

 

[Taz]

My pep talk didn't work. We had a spring storm start yesterday and it's still going strong. Tilly took almost everything back again yesterday and still nothing today. The foals sitting low but I think she's holding off till the nice weather gets here. Sigh.

 

[Taz]

I have a question just to make sure I have it right.
If she needs help I only pull with the contactions or just hold to keep the foal from going back.
If it's a red bag I pull no matter what, gotta be fast.
If it's a breech do I pull with the contractions or just get the foal out as fast as possible since the oxygen supply will be cut of before the head is out?
Banamine if needed after passing the placenta. Do you give a full dose or a small dose?

Thanks

 

[Maryann at MiniV]

We always pull WITH the contractions.
Red Bag: The minute the red bag shows itself , cut it open and put with the contractions as hard as possible.
Breech: Do the same...
Banamine: Yes if needed. We tend to do a half dose, depending on how much pain she is showing.

The reason for timing WITH the contractions is so not to tear her either inside or her vulva.
The only time we have just straight out PULLED is when it was a matter of life or death for our MARE.

 

[Taz]

Wonderful! Thank you!!

 

[Holly Chisholm]

Any change? Are you using a milk tester?

 

[Taz]

Good morning Holly, I hope you had a good night.
Tilly is playing with me. She had jello butt and some udder back last night when she came in. Swished and kicked for the first half of the night before settling down. This morning the jello butt is gone and she only has a bit of udder left. I'll just keep watching and waiting......
I'm not using test strips, it's almost impossible right now to get anything delivered in less than 3-4 weeks and I can't get them anywhere near me, besides that she doesn't have enough to test yet. My other little one didn't have much udder either, it took her 3 hours to get her milk in after foaling. I don't think there's anything here to cause that but.....

 

[Holly Chisholm]

Good morning Holly, I hope you had a good night.
Tilly is playing with me. She had jello butt and some udder back last night when she came in. Swished and kicked for the first half of the night before settling down. This morning the jello butt is gone and she only has a bit of udder left. I'll just keep watching and waiting......
I'm not using test strips, it's almost impossible right now to get anything delivered in less than 3-4 weeks and I can't get them anywhere near me, besides that she doesn't have enough to test yet. My other little one didn't have much udder either, it took her 3 hours to get her milk in after foaling. I don't think there's anything here to cause that but.....

Oh my goodness! Sally acted like that the other night, then . . . nothing. She tested at 6.4 around noon, has jello butt, bags seem full and hard, but all she's doing is standing around, then takes a bite of food. I even think she's a little wider again now. I'm a nervous wreck from reading about all the problems that seem to happen quite a bit with minis. Would you like me to send you a couple Maybe Baby strips? PM me your address if you would like me to mail you some. Here's a few pictures from today. I wouldn't this slab sided.

 

[Holly Chisholm]

Or for crying in the soup, it didn't even look like that second picture had loaded. Sorry. Again.

 

[Taz]

Or for crying in the soup, it didn't even look like that second picture had loaded. Sorry. Again.

Haha, don't worry that's how it normally works for me.
Sounds like you're getting closer, yay Sally!! From everything I've read I wouldn't worry about her being wider, it's just the baby moving around, she'll get her in position when it's time. My other little one looked wide when she was in stage 1 labor.
Tilly came in tonight with absolutely no udder or jello butt. I have no idea what she's doing but she didn't stop swishing her tail all day. If something 'different' can happen it will happen here. If I hadn't felt some kicks and seen her belly dance a jig a couple of times I'd say she isn't in foal and get a good night sleep but she is and if I don't watch that's when she'll need help. Yes, it's terrifying knowing what can go wrong, hang in there you're going to do great if she needs you

 

[Taz]

So Tilly has been working on her udder for almost 5 weeks now, It fills some, stays without changing for a couple days or gets a bit bigger every day then will disappear for a day or three then starts again. Same with her getting soft around her tail. She flashed me when she was rolling right after she went out yesterday and the inside of her vulva was very red, checked this morning...not. I keep thinking one day soon everything will make really fast progress, after all the book says 4-6 weeks for udder development LOL!!!! She has a low hanging pear shaped belly that's giving her lots of grief.




Has anyone noticed if a really active belly turns into a really active foal? I'm hoping not with the way this little one is now, I saw her whole belly jump up a couple of inches the other day. She just gets a long suffering look on her face and bangs it with her nose.

 

[Holly Chisholm]

Oh, poor Tilly! Very red vulva is a great sign! What a cutie! Do you a have a colored photo you could post? We have the opposite problem in that I even hope we have a live foal. I felt a soft kick months ago and nothing since. Hubby says he sees the baby moving around. Praying . . .