Can a mare show signs of heat if in foal?

[joyenes]

Hi Mellissa, To answer your question Yes mares can and will accept a stallion while pregnant. Now in a perfect world this wouldn't happen. But the worlds not perfect.I had a mare I tried to breed for three years. Last year again we bred her every 21 days through Sept. Well this April she really started to look fat dispite the fact she wasn't being fed that much. Then we started noticing signs she was in fact in foal. I had my vet come out and confirm she was in foal. On June 21st she foaled a filly. Meaning she accepted very willingly a stallion while pregnant.

:

I just had all my mares ultra sounded to confirm if they are in foal (my cost 25.00 and my vet does have mini equipment and is a female) and the ones open have very small folicals meaning they are closing down for winter and they may show some signs of heat but it won't be heavy like in the spring. It's natures way.So your stallion may pay some interest but it's just not a full blown heat.

Then again she could be in foal but still showing heat signs and as I now call my mare she's a hussy!

:

If you ever need any advice pm me, be glad to share anything I know. Joyce

 

[MBhorses]

Hello,

You all have been so great with all my questions. I figure the more you know the better off you will be. I have had the vet check my big horses to see if in foal, but I have heard of some mares lossing their foals sometimes when a vet check them. What is the safe way to check a mini in foal mare, because they are so much small.

Thanks again for everything you all have done for us.

melissa

 

[RockRiverTiff]

Hi Melissa! I did a poll on this topic a couple weeks ago. It didn't get much of a response, but everyone that did respond had experienced bred mares showing heats. We had one mare here that showed heats through three pregnancies.

As for a safe way to test your mares, I would suggest bloodtesting or ultrasound. The bloodtest we use has a window of time though for best accuracy (beyond that the results are about as good as guessing), but it's totally non-invasive and essentially stress-free for the mare. The nearest ultrasound for us is 2 hours, so that's not always viable. I don't know if it's another one of those "mini things", but the last time we had mares ultrasounded we only had 25% accuracy. So I would check ahead that the facility is accustomed to ultrasounding minis.

 

[MBhorses]

Hello,

We had a mare ultrasound one year vet said in foal and she wasn't.I know vets make mistakes as well. Where would I get a bloodtest kit? Do you have the site?

thanks melissa

 

[Gena]

I have had the same experience as Dona, we did have one mare just like hers, someone told me once that some mares can continue to drop follicles even after they settle, I don't know? Our stallion would not breed our mares unless he smelled the follicle drop, in fact he could be clear across the field and know when this would happen and come breed the mare. There would be days of the mare flirting and winking but until he smelled the follicle he would just throw his head and ignore them until it was time. If we had a mare that was new to being bred our stallion would not let "himself out" until he practiced jumping on her a few times and when he felt she was okay with that he then would let out and breed. He was a gentleman breeder. We have always pasture bred during the summer and had very good luck with most of our mares settling this way. Its possible she settled but also possible she is in heat but the stallion knows her follicle hasn't dropped or is past the time it would have, this time of year here in WI is harder time for them to settle JMO. We usually took the stallion out in September and put him with his gelding buddies. We never vet checked our mares anymore (we used to ultrasound) to see if they had settled, we knew by 6 months we would feel movement if they had. We have never missed a foal being born, we were there for every one. We always knew when our mares were bred and kept careful record of the dates and always watched them very closely when day 300 approaches. I realize and respect everyone does things differently, just sharing what our experience has been and what worked for us

: