Did I do Something Wrong?

[IllusiveHussler]

I rescued a mare on October 28, 2005...She's a doll, I love her to pieces. She was very skinny when I first got her(though her winter coat hid it pretty well) and she had a belly...Turns out it was a baby belly! So in November she was ultrasounded(external) and we found a baby, moving and kicking, and the vet figured she was about 7 months at the time...She's been gaining weight well and I can't feel her ribs well and her back is flat.

We think she's close to having the foal, so we took pics. I posted these pics on another site and someone brought it to my attention that her bum looks "dead." The person said it looks nothing like what it did when we first got her...

Can someone please tell me what is wrong, if it's just the pic or if I did something wrong? I don't want to hurt this girl...She deserves so much more, especially after what she went through...

<-- First day we met...

<-- Yesteday(V-Day)

 

[nootka]

Ok, it could be her natural build, but it also could be the slackening of the muscles and ligaments prior to foaling. IME, that happens about a week, maybe ten days before, at least noticeably in my mares. Sometimes later in maidens.

She does tend to have a weakish hindquarter, and that should have appeared a bit better after more feed and she does look to have put on weight. Does she also have udder development?

Tail resistance? (pick up her tail and see if she has any strength to be able to resist it, many that are very near, just don't). Can you get any milk from her udder? What consistency and color...? Also look under her tail for changes in the shape and length of her vulva, as well as coloration of the inside membranes. All these things you want to know what are "normal" so when she does approach foaling, you can note them and be ready.

If she was, indeed, 7 mo. along then, then she could be due anytime, honestly.

What height is she? Her belly looks a little small for that gestation, but every mare is different and some can be surprisingly svelte. Pics taken from straight on at the front and/or back help a lot, too, to see if the foal is centered, rather than hanging off to one side more so than the other. A centered foal is closer to being born than a lopsided belly.

Best wishes!

Liz M.

PS-Just wanted to say kudos for rescuing her and I doubt you did anything wrong, it is mostly the way she is naturally built and possibly the angle of the photo, but like I said, a mare close to foaling gets a very steep/pointed croup in appearance often due to that natural relaxation of ligaments and muscles to help allow the foal to pass more easily. I'll see if I can find some comparison pics.

 

[mininik]

I agree 100% with Liz's (Nootka's) post.

:

Happy foaling!

 

[IllusiveHussler]

We picked up her tail yesterday and there was some resistence, but I was still able to pick it up easy enough...Not much milk though. She Has some milk we think towards the back of the udder but not near the teats...And I'm afraid to try and getting anything out. Can something bad happen if I try and squeeze something out? I don't know how to explain her vulva though...But it looks kind of relaxed, but nothing really extreme.

The pics we took of her from the front and back didn't turn out well...Oh, and her belly is out more on the right and a little lower then the left side.

Lucy is 33 1/2 inches.

 

[Bess Kelly]

OK -- I don't understand what "her "bum" looks dead" means........

The mare certainly looks better, and appears to have more belly, maybe slackening in hindquarters (which happens nearer to birthing). Hard to tell without a hands on check with all the winter coat. Feel for other close to birthing signs, udder development, etc.

Hey, some carry 300 days....and some carry 360.....whatever they decide! If she was not in good physical health when bred, there's a chance the foal developed slower. The vet made a guestimate....easier to come closer with palpating. So, any time between now and April 15, ya should have a foal. :bgrin

 

[IllusiveHussler]

Thank you everyone! I wish I knew more about minis. I've only been in the "mini world" since the beginning of last summer. I work for a woman who has 6 minis and I clean stalls, groom, and help with some training(I even got to show at the end of the summer! :aktion033: )

I only know how to handle abortions right now...I bred my big mare and she aborted(twin fillies...gorgeous little girls) and then bred again and she aborted at 8 months(a colt with some pinto color)...She has a hormone problem we figured...(Getting it all tested though).

Thanks again everyone!

 

[nootka]

I took the "bum looks dead" comment to mean that the hindquarters look almost like a horse that has had nerve damage or some muscle damage that causes the muscles to wither and atrophy, but that is what happens to mares about to foal (the same "look" certainly not the damage), too, so if she's getting lots of outdoor exercise, I'd hardly be worried over it.

I don't think you can hurt her by trying to express some milk, but if she's uncomfortably with it, watch out for being kicked or bitten. The milk you get out if it's clear and not sticky and rather thin, likely she's not super close. In my experience, when it thickens like honey and gets cloudy/milky looking, you are going to have a foal very very soon and don't take a nap or a long bathroom break! OH, yeah, and the milk comes out quite easily when she's close, rather than with some work. Also has she foaled before?

If you're worried about missing the foaling, using milk strips, a halter monitor and a camera system are all indispensible to me, but any one or combination will give you an edge.

Feeling her muscle tone through the coat is a good point. I noticed on my maiden the very day she would eventually foal, that one other sign was that although it was coolish out and she was standing in her stall, she was damp and warm, such as if she'd just been working moderately in warm weather. Also, I ran my hands over her hindquarter (as if you're giving her a massage, knead the muscles and feel the texture and bone structure), I could easily feel the points of her hindquarter near the tailhead, and her tailhead stood up over her croup points, something not normal for this mare. The muscles had just relaxed that much that her bone tips felt right below the skin. Her tail never did lose full resistance, but when she walked, she held it to one side a lot.

Another sign for me is the yawning and tossing the head, pawing, kicking the belly and generally being restless. The video camera really gives me insight into a mare's pre-foaling behavior, it is the most valuable of the tools that I have at my disposal.

Liz M.

 

[IllusiveHussler]

Lucy has access to her paddock at all times. Is this enough exercise? She walks around a lot. I took her on a walk(1 1/2 miles but with a lot of stops, including a half hour break) and when we stopped for the last time she layed down in the road...It caused worry, but since then she hasn't been taken on walks. But she still trots around and does some cantering.

She also coliced in early December(a day before my big mare aborted) and the vet came out and gave some shots and checked for the foal and said the foal was ok...

I'm so nervous the foal won't make it after all that has happened...

 

[IllusiveHussler]

Here are pics from the back and of Lucy's vulva.

Does this help?

 

[nootka]

:new_shocked:

Whoa, now that's getting personal, alright! *LOL*

Sorry, just had to say that.

I just can't say without seeing pics of her to compare from other times. For one of my mares that would be "ready" but for the other, it would be not near.

I don't know if someone on here has some "noonie" pics (to quote REO) to show the difference in a mare, but often the bottom of the teardrop shape of it is more slack, longer, and even sometimes puffy. Looking inside, the membranes are often a deep pink color, but close to foaling they turn more brick red, or bloody looking.

The access to a paddock should be enough exercise, provided the paddock is fairly good sized and taking her for walks is fine, too, along with some trotting. The day before my mare had her colt, she was galloping over our hills just like she did when she was a svelte yearling, and they do this just about once a day on their own.

I think she still could be a ways off from foaling unless she IS close, as I just don't see the baby anywhere near being big enough to cause a noticeable bulge (usually it is quite evident on both or one side, and then again down underneath just behind the rib cage). BUT, that said, again, there are mares that just don't show for whatever reason, and she certainly looks pregnant enough and in addition to your positive confirmations of being in foal, I would watch and check her udder often. You should notice that it gets noticeably larger, more firm and the teats themselves begin to fill out and wax forms at the openings (where the dried, sticky colostrum begins to stick).

Best wishes,

Liz M.