Do you test your mares for pregnancy?

[Tremor]

This discussion came about on an all-horse forum I'm on, and its actually pretty heated. The thread is pointed towards miniatures and was started by a new mini owner with a supposedly bred mare, who was asking for different methods to test because her vets (and surrounding vets) refuse to ultrasound.

So. I must ask. Do you? If so, what methods do you use?

EDIT: Votes are private btw so nobody knows your secret. Or whatever.

 

[Maple Hollow Farm]

We do not always test but those that are not tested are treated as though bred for sure so that we dont miss any foalings if possible! We have our mares palpated or ultrasounded and have found them extremely accurate. Never have used Weefoal so no experience there but have heard that the bloodtests are VERY inaccurate and unreliable so havent wasted our time with those. We are lucky to have a vet that specializes in equine reproduction so is willing to palpate and ultrasound even on the minis. We have NEVER had a mare harmed or lose her foal due to ultrasounding either. Just wanted to state this as I know a lot of people worry about the risks but with a vet that knows what they are doing, it is much better. I am glad that vets are not affraid to say no to doing it though, if they dont feel comfortable, then they may not have the experience or knowledge to do it safely. JMO

 

[eagles ring farm]

I tried to vote no but the vote didn't seem to work

We always checked our mares usually by blood test sometime just palpitate by our vet

but last year was the first time we opted to wait and see. as it was getting too costly to check

more cost affective to just give rhino shots and have them open.

We may do the same this year as we haven't checked anyone yet. We did fine last year just looking for signs

as we hand breed so know when due dates will be

Yes we gave 1 mare rhino shots that weren't needed as she was open but still better than paying for all the testing

I prefer to know for sure but in this economy we felt it was a safe way to save, without compromising their care.

 

[AnnaC]

While I answered Yes to whether we test or not, we dont actually use any 'test'. We use one of the stallions to walk the mare's fence several times each day and rely on him to tell us, also watching for any reactions from the girls. We want our mares to foal in a 'close' window so rarely cover for a second time should a mare show that she has missed. From this point on the mares are on their own as we simply watch for signs later in the pregnancy to prove that they have held and will produce babies for us.

 

[Carolyn R]

No longer breeding, but I was very proactive about recording dates and testing. Used US, both wee foal tests and an at home blood test. I think my favorite with the most accurate test results were the at home blood tests. There was no question with the blood tests, the wee foal were convenient, but the wee foal 120 gave me inconsistent resulopen areas tested open but were pregnant, and visa versa. I had more accurate results with the regular wee foal, but having to repeat the tests could become costly.

 

[targetsmom]

Our very first breedings (to outside stallions) in 2006 resulted on one mare that didn't settle and one that had a false pregnancy (after a positive ultrasound) so now we not only ultrasound early but we also recheck with a WeeFoal 120 to make sure she hasn't aborted without us noticing. This lets us know if we need to give Pneumabort shots, whcih we found out the hard way are absolutely critical for US because we show. We also give the Rhino/flu shots to most of the rest of the herd every 2-3 months too, because the immunity for those shots does not last more than 3 months. Doing all these things - and re-homing the mare we could never get settled - drastically improved our success rate. Of course cameras, Mare Stare, Equipage, and the Mare watchers/chat forum on here also helped a lot!

 

[Minimor]

We do not test. We know when our mares are bred so know when they are due to foal, and we can generally tell if they are or are not in foal quite early in the pregnancy. Even a couple of 'accidents' have been identified early on. I have seen no need to spend money on testing.

 

[happy appy]

I haven't tested the couple of times I have mares in foal. My vet charges $110 for a visit and its $90 for the blood test. I would rather wait and see as they get bigger than put that money out to test. My vet also doesn't do US on miniatures so I don't have that option available.

 

[bullockcorner]

I'm with AnnaC. I "test" with my stallion. Actually, I was surprised that wasn't one of the choices to vote.

After a breeding cycle, I bring the mare around the stallion when it's getting close to when she would be coming in again. I do that every other day for a few days until she either shows, or has no interest. Yes, I realize some mares will show to a stallion no matter what when he's talking to her, but I know my mares pretty well, and am pretty confident in telling whether they're really in, or just being a "hussy"!

 

[REO]

DITTO Minimor

 

[Tremor]

I figured teasing and heats would go into "OTHER" because I know some people use those methods and others. I also know some you live by the Almanac and always have.

 

[Riverrose28]

I only test mares that are being sold, so it is confirmed, I have used a blood test in the past, but it is expensive, back then it was $125 plus call out fee, now my vet can do ultrasound with a probe that was made for llamas and it is $60 plus call out fee. For my own mares, no, I don't test, I use the stallion to tease and if the mare is non-reactive then she is pregnant. I also hand breed, so I know dates, and sometimes will hand breed one cycle then put the stallion with them in pasture for another month, but I learned the hard way not to keep the stallion with the mares after the first trimester. OUr stallion caused one of our mares to abort, so never again will I leave the mare and stallion together for the whole pregnancy. On another note, I'm no longer breeding, due to my health issues, and the bad market.

 

[Barefootin]

I voted that we check. How we check depends on the mare and the stallion. When we send one of the "big girls" to an outside stallion she is checked before coming home to ensure she is both in foal and that there isn't a twin. Mares that come in to our stallions are required to either stay long enough for our vet to check or provide proof of pregnancy or lack of pregnancy by their vet. Our big maiden mares we often have US to check for twins but experienced mares, especially mares with many foalings, we check with our stallions. The boys can tell us usually sooner and more accurately than the vet. My senior stallion will often quite breeding a mare as soon as she settles in foal even though she is still in heat.

This past year we've had some trouble with the neighborhood boys letting the stallions out. So we've had some mares bred when we didn't plan on it or know about it until late pregnancy. At the same time we then noticed a couple of the younger girls looking a little too round and then worried. With the funky weather this past spring nobody was showing signs of a heat.So we tested a few with a blood test to see what was up. Our vet only charged us $35 for each test that we drew the blood ourselves. They all came up negative. Which was good except for the one mare I paid big bucks to be bred, naturally she slipped her foal sometime during the winter.

 

[weerunner]

I use weefoal 120s (which are the original tests). Have had great success with them. The weefoal 38s sounded like a good idea, but I've tried them many times and got about 50% success! LOL. I'd rather just guess and not pay out the money.

But like I said, weefoal 120's give me perfect, clear results. NEver had one wrong except for this year one tested negative and then aborted, so I guess the test sensed the foal not correct somehow.

 

[djskid]

My Dad has an accuracy rate of 100% using the way we test!!

Call us crazy but we use the string and nail test, similar to the old wives tale way of a woman using her wedding ring on a necklace!! We don't always get the sex correct but have never had a bred mare show up not in foal and vice versa.

We have had no success with the blood testing so use the nail test as well as the wait and see!

 

In the early days, I had a great woman equine vet who ultrasounded the girls 3 times during their pregnancies with a probe made for the minis. That was the "good ole days". When the economy went "south" I opted to use my boys and they were pretty accurate (although I did have a hussy in the group that would breed regardless of being in foal).

Not breeding now -- semi retiring, and took hard times with the economy slapping me in the face. But, still liked the ultrasounding the best, as we could monitor conception, when to put a mare back with a stallion if she was open, check for twins any look for problems during pregnancy.

 

[frostedpineminis]

We started two years ago with blood testing and it has been 100 percent and I love it!!! I don't think it is necessary as usually regardless all the mares are treated about the same although I think I may pull the open mares as everyone is starting to get a little chunky lol. With the tests only costing 25 dollars it is way cheaper than ultrasound or even the weefoal, of course I have to send them to the states as it cost 125 dollars for the same test in Canada

 

[sfmini]

We have gotten pretty cavalier about it lately. Pasture breeding and they are or aren't. We know our mares well, and they are physically obvious when pregnant. We do start watching early, but probably would even if we had actual dates. We use Foal Alert and a camera system.

If we need to check for some reason, we ultrasound. Our vet is a repro specialist and does a great job.