Anyone ever have an unexpected foal???
- Thread starter dmkrieg
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slaneyrose
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Yes, last year, I had a mare I bought mainly to rescue her from a very abusive situation and she was unhandleable for 1.5yrs but eventually was ok with me. I covered her with my palomino pinto and she kept coming back into season then a friend of mine asked if she could have her to keep her donkey company and it would be a forever home. I took her over there and they kinda bonded straight away. Last march I got a text from her......Bella`s had a foal!!! What a shock!! My friend just thought she was getting fat as she didnt show much as maiden mares sometimes dont. He is a lovely colt and will make a great driver eventually I think.
KrisP
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Last September 26th I went out to do morning chores and SUPRISE! I'd locked 25 horses in the run in for the night and came out to 26 the next morning! :new_shocked: :new_shocked: :new_shocked: It was a group of 24 mares and my retired show gelding that guards the herd, and they ALL were proud of what Lizard had done, lol! I had to lock them in at night because they were OBESE from just pasture for the year.
I had bred Liz along with 4 other mares to Tucker, they'd all run together for 3 months, the other 3 mares had foaled two months earlier (all within a week of each other, Tucker is good at his job, lol!) I'd just figured that Lizard had either not taken or had slipped the foal in the field at some point in time, guess not, lol! I NEVER felt a baby in there and I check mares daily.
Anyways, it was NOT easy to separate the rest of the herd and get them outside, oh no, that was THEIR baby, they all spent the day running the pasture and screaming looking for their baby!
So our suprise for the year was Lucy, and she's quite a pill! A silver dapple filly that will end up around 34" and very refined.
Also four years ago our guy C Who's Yo Daddy made his appearance, the year before my then 2 y/o stud Tucker had gotten out for the night, he'd never been bred before and I checked the mares over very carefully and saw no signs of breeding, also Tucker was standing in a corner SCARED to death, lol, the mares had given him a few lessons. I didn't think anything about it until looking at the mares one day and going ooops, you are awful big! Yep, she sure was, two days later Dexter (who's yo daddy) showed up. It was a breeding I'd planned for the future anyway, just a little early, lol. He's a silver bay roan stud, parents are a Sids Husker son and a Dels Cowboy daughter and not a bad little stud at all
krisp
I had bred Liz along with 4 other mares to Tucker, they'd all run together for 3 months, the other 3 mares had foaled two months earlier (all within a week of each other, Tucker is good at his job, lol!) I'd just figured that Lizard had either not taken or had slipped the foal in the field at some point in time, guess not, lol! I NEVER felt a baby in there and I check mares daily.
Anyways, it was NOT easy to separate the rest of the herd and get them outside, oh no, that was THEIR baby, they all spent the day running the pasture and screaming looking for their baby!
So our suprise for the year was Lucy, and she's quite a pill! A silver dapple filly that will end up around 34" and very refined.
Also four years ago our guy C Who's Yo Daddy made his appearance, the year before my then 2 y/o stud Tucker had gotten out for the night, he'd never been bred before and I checked the mares over very carefully and saw no signs of breeding, also Tucker was standing in a corner SCARED to death, lol, the mares had given him a few lessons. I didn't think anything about it until looking at the mares one day and going ooops, you are awful big! Yep, she sure was, two days later Dexter (who's yo daddy) showed up. It was a breeding I'd planned for the future anyway, just a little early, lol. He's a silver bay roan stud, parents are a Sids Husker son and a Dels Cowboy daughter and not a bad little stud at all
krisp
I bought a mare last year that was supposed to be open. She was used to grazing pasture and was a little round so I reduced her feed a bit. She lots weight quick! Then her belly started really growing. I emailed the seller and they said "Nope, not bred". My response was that was one huge gas bubble! It kept moving around and getting bigger. We did have a foal, named him High Octane, barn name Diesel. We did get him DNA'd and the stallion report sent in so he now has AMHA papers!!!!
Minimor
Well-Known Member
We had two "surprise" babies, one in late '04 & one in Feb. '05. Both mares had been bred much earlier but didn't appear to catch. The one mare was looking kind of pregnant in late spring '04; it finally occurred to us that the day the 17 month old colt tried to breed this mare over the fence--he had succeeded in actually breeding her. We knew he'd tried as he cut up a certain, um, part & we found blood on the fence (page wire topped by a spruce rail--he stuck it between the rail & the wire), but we just never thought he'd actually managed to breed her. Once we realized how she came to be in foal we had to do some thinking to come up with just when that breeding took place, so we could file a late stallion report--luckily at that time AMHR hadn't changed the rule about registering foals off stallions less than 3 years old, and our filly has papers.
The other mare didn't come in heat all summer in '04 & we couldn't figure out why. She'd been bred late the previous fall, but we were sure she hadn't caught. I kept feeling for foal movement & finally felt it in August, so could figure she was between 5 & 6 months along at that point. I counted back & came up with March--then remembered the day I went out to find older stallion had gotten in with her--she wasn't showing in heat so I thought nothing of it at the time. I knew my mom had been in hospital at the time--I remembered going to visit her & complaining about that darn stallion crawling fences--so I was able to figure up the breeding date, & came up with her due date--Feb. 7th/05; she foaled on the 6th. That filly is called "Secret"!
The other mare didn't come in heat all summer in '04 & we couldn't figure out why. She'd been bred late the previous fall, but we were sure she hadn't caught. I kept feeling for foal movement & finally felt it in August, so could figure she was between 5 & 6 months along at that point. I counted back & came up with March--then remembered the day I went out to find older stallion had gotten in with her--she wasn't showing in heat so I thought nothing of it at the time. I knew my mom had been in hospital at the time--I remembered going to visit her & complaining about that darn stallion crawling fences--so I was able to figure up the breeding date, & came up with her due date--Feb. 7th/05; she foaled on the 6th. That filly is called "Secret"!
Becky
Well-Known Member
I had a mare I bought some years back. The seller said he had bred her but she kept coming back in heat. He had the vet check her as open. Anyway, she was a nice mover and I sent her to a friend to be trained to drive. After a month or two, the friend said she was getting fatter and was cutting her feed. I picked her up later and she was in rather poor condition (not happy about that!) but she was very big around and had a bag! Two weeks later, there was a colt by her side!
Another more recent case is a mare I sold this past year. Bred her late the year before. Had my vet palpate her in the fall and he said she was open. Since the mare was for sale, I wanted to breed her early this past spring. I put her in with a different stallion and as time went by, she never came in heat. Had my vet check her again later last spring and she was in foal from the year before! Sold her and she had a nice filly in late July.
I recently purchased a mare that has been vet checked open. She is the most pregnant looking open mare I've seen! Looks like I'll be keeping an eye on her all spring and summer to see if anything develops!
Another more recent case is a mare I sold this past year. Bred her late the year before. Had my vet palpate her in the fall and he said she was open. Since the mare was for sale, I wanted to breed her early this past spring. I put her in with a different stallion and as time went by, she never came in heat. Had my vet check her again later last spring and she was in foal from the year before! Sold her and she had a nice filly in late July.
I recently purchased a mare that has been vet checked open. She is the most pregnant looking open mare I've seen! Looks like I'll be keeping an eye on her all spring and summer to see if anything develops!
K
kaykay
Guest
i bought a mare a couple years ago that the seller swore had never been bred. since i was pretty new everyone thought i was crazy when i kept saying "i think shes in foal" She was only two so i was hoping i was wrong. But yes she was in foal and thank god we watched her and didnt listen to the people who said she wasnt. Fortunately she foaled fine and the foal was fine but it took a YEAR to get in back in proper shape.
Only once 7 years ago in the spring the horses were all down by the bush and wouldn't come up and l remember being mad l had to go down to get them because everything was flooded and under 2 feet of water because of a week of steady rain that had no where to go. When l got there Ladyann was standing with a foal and he looked like he wasn't new either. We don't know how she got bred to this day and she never looked like she was in foal at any time so never gave that a second thought. The little guy did well for being born out almost in the wild without any help of any kind in pouring rain to boot and mom was in good shape to after a vet check. Since then we've added an extra sucker rod all around the fencing to make sure no one can back up and get their jollies without us knowing. We felt real dumb for that one for years after.
KrisP
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Here's our other SUPRISE from last year :new_shocked: :new_shocked:
Hubby has a few cattle for beef, we bought a set of holstien twins to raise, a heifer and a bull (we'd been told that twins are sterile, SUUUUURE ) Hubby never got around to banding the bull calf, ater all, hey he's sterile right?
:
: We shipped the bull calf for slaughter and a few months later I noticed that our beef heifer Blizzard was looking a tad plump, then she bagged up, guess what!
Meet Lois, our Maine-angou/charlois/holstien cross, funny she looks JUST like an angus
BTW, calving can really fray your nerves, unlike horses they labor for a LONG time! I just stayed in the house reading the same page of a book over, and over, and over, and over before I finally had enough and made hubby go in after the baby, we'd had feet sticking out for going on three hours. Mind you these are HUBBIES critters so I REALLY try to stay out of it, but I'd had enough. The delivery was like a keystone cops episode, ended up baby was backwards, mama in a crush against the wall, both of us pulling with all we had on ropes at midnight and finally a calf flying out and slapping us both in the chest. :new_shocked: :new_shocked: But she made it :aktion033:
krisp
Hubby has a few cattle for beef, we bought a set of holstien twins to raise, a heifer and a bull (we'd been told that twins are sterile, SUUUUURE ) Hubby never got around to banding the bull calf, ater all, hey he's sterile right?
Meet Lois, our Maine-angou/charlois/holstien cross, funny she looks JUST like an angus
BTW, calving can really fray your nerves, unlike horses they labor for a LONG time! I just stayed in the house reading the same page of a book over, and over, and over, and over before I finally had enough and made hubby go in after the baby, we'd had feet sticking out for going on three hours. Mind you these are HUBBIES critters so I REALLY try to stay out of it, but I'd had enough. The delivery was like a keystone cops episode, ended up baby was backwards, mama in a crush against the wall, both of us pulling with all we had on ropes at midnight and finally a calf flying out and slapping us both in the chest. :new_shocked: :new_shocked: But she made it :aktion033:
krisp
chandab
Well-Known Member
We raise beef cattle. Typically in mixed calves; one heifer, one bull; only the heifer is sterile (not always, but usually). And, they call the heifer a "free martin".
chandab
Well-Known Member
darn triple post.
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chandab
Well-Known Member
darn triple post
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alphahorses
Well-Known Member
Had a 3 yr old shetland mare last year that didn't come into season. Finally had the vet check her and she says "she'll come in in about 6-8 weeks - after she foals!" LOL
Unfortunatley the mare didn't agree with the vet's schedule and foaled less than a week later - by herself and out in the pouring rain! :new_shocked: Mare and baby were both just fine.
No, she didn't look pregnant - but she has always been my fattest mare. Didn't bag up at all before she foaled - I was checking her every day ..... no signs of labor the night before.
No stallion ran with her. The only thing I could figure is that a 2 yr old miniature stallion who was a full 10" shorter than her :new_shocked: bred her through the gate or the fence. After she foaled, I hand bred her to my herd sire who is also smaller than her and she practically sat down on the ground to accomodate him. That answered the question of how such a little stallion could breed her! LOL
Dam's name contains "Lil Girl" so the foal was named ... what else! ... "Alpha Farms Lil Suprise" LOL
Unfortunatley the mare didn't agree with the vet's schedule and foaled less than a week later - by herself and out in the pouring rain! :new_shocked: Mare and baby were both just fine.
No, she didn't look pregnant - but she has always been my fattest mare. Didn't bag up at all before she foaled - I was checking her every day ..... no signs of labor the night before.
No stallion ran with her. The only thing I could figure is that a 2 yr old miniature stallion who was a full 10" shorter than her :new_shocked: bred her through the gate or the fence. After she foaled, I hand bred her to my herd sire who is also smaller than her and she practically sat down on the ground to accomodate him. That answered the question of how such a little stallion could breed her! LOL
Dam's name contains "Lil Girl" so the foal was named ... what else! ... "Alpha Farms Lil Suprise" LOL
We had one ultrasounded as open twice in one year. We figured she wasnt bred, but then we seen her starting to bag up. Sure enough she foal in July of that year.
The ultrasound should of picked it up the first time, but if not it surely should of when we had her redone in late October.
Other then that from my memory we have only had one other one foal that was said to be open. I figured out mid winter she was bred as the baby was doing some feirce belly danceing in his mamma.
The ultrasound should of picked it up the first time, but if not it surely should of when we had her redone in late October.
Other then that from my memory we have only had one other one foal that was said to be open. I figured out mid winter she was bred as the baby was doing some feirce belly danceing in his mamma.
rabbitsfizz
Well-Known Member
This is a subject near, but NOT dear to my heart!! At one time I would have said, "Oh, not ME...that could never happen!!"
NOT any more!
Four years ago I had two foals born when I had NO idea the mares had been bred- I had even put one mare, who was only a three year old, down with the geldings to diet her as her crest was solid and I was actually getting worried about her foundering.
I had been away at a three day show and the little madam that had looked after the horses for me was all smiles and "Oh, NO problems" when I got back.
Everyone seemed OK.
She just did not think a little thing like one of the stallions having got out, and not being able to catch him for three days(!!) was important.
Both the mares could have died, no kidding- one mare I had sent home to her owner after leasing her for two years, as definitely not in foal, her owners Vet had put her on steroids because he thought she had mastitis.,
Luckily she phoned me before giving her nay medication, and I had just had foal number one born so the warning bells went off.
So, foal number two was born that night.
If I could get my hands on that girl I would cheerfully have strangled her.
My foal was born to a maiden three year old, in a field full of geldings, all on her own.
He did survive, and the mare was a very good mother, once she worked out what he was!!
:
NOT any more!
Four years ago I had two foals born when I had NO idea the mares had been bred- I had even put one mare, who was only a three year old, down with the geldings to diet her as her crest was solid and I was actually getting worried about her foundering.
I had been away at a three day show and the little madam that had looked after the horses for me was all smiles and "Oh, NO problems" when I got back.
Everyone seemed OK.
She just did not think a little thing like one of the stallions having got out, and not being able to catch him for three days(!!) was important.
Both the mares could have died, no kidding- one mare I had sent home to her owner after leasing her for two years, as definitely not in foal, her owners Vet had put her on steroids because he thought she had mastitis.,
Luckily she phoned me before giving her nay medication, and I had just had foal number one born so the warning bells went off.
So, foal number two was born that night.
If I could get my hands on that girl I would cheerfully have strangled her.
My foal was born to a maiden three year old, in a field full of geldings, all on her own.
He did survive, and the mare was a very good mother, once she worked out what he was!!
Yes! As a matter of fact, just yesterday!!! :new_shocked: I had my mare ultrasounded last June and she was confirmed pregnant and due in mid July according to the vet's calculations. I saw the baby clearly on the monitor. But there was no baby born in July. In August I had her ultrasounded again and the vet said she was empty and must have lost the foal. I am at the barn two/three times a day and I kept telling him she had no sign of losing her foal...no discharge, no blood, no foal, no placenta. So it was a total mystery...until yesterday afternoon when I went to feed and there beside Twink was the teeniest most perfect little colt. I almost fell over with shock. Thank God the day was warm-55 degrees and sunny. Dad is 27 inches and Mom 28 inches. He is the tiniest foal I've ever seen. He measured at 15 inches and is Sorrel Tobiano. The vet who is new out of vet school is pretty red faced, but we are all very tickled that she foaled out okay and the baby is fine. If I knew how to post a picture of him I would because he is so cute...of course I'm his human mama and just a little biased. Jill/Ohio
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Becky
Well-Known Member
Congratulations to you, Jill! What a surprise that must have been and a good one too! If you'll email me your picture, I'd be happy to post it for you. [email protected]
Becky
Well-Known Member
Here's Jill's (willow29) new colt!
What a cute little guy! Congratulations!! :aktion033:
What a cute little guy! Congratulations!! :aktion033:
