Do your mares foal consistently at the same # of days?

[Rachel]

I know mares can vary so much but in general do your mares foal right around the same number of days each year - 310? 320? 340? you get the picture. The reason I'm curious is my one mare due to foal this year is due June 8th (330 days). Two years ago when she foaled for me, she foaled at exactly 330 days (what a good girl). I am starting to think she's going to go early this year because she is already bigger than she was the day she foaled in 2006. Now she did have a wee little 18" colt that year so maybe she is having a larger foal this year. How do your mares tend to work? BTW this is my black Mickey granddaughter bred to Lucky Hart's Yahoo Aroo Aye (buckskin). I would really love a little buckskin filly from this cross!!!

 

[kaykay]

Mine do tend to foal the same every year. For example last year Bailey foaled at 333 days and foaled at 333 days this year too! But I try never to get too comfortable just in case LOL

 

[RockRiverTiff]

Typically, our mares do foal around the same time every time, but this year May carried to 351 days, whereas she had her last foal at 335. Oddly enough, her dam always foaled early (321, 318, 325).

 

[lilnickers]

I have one mare that went 300 days in 2005(maiden), 321 days in 2006, open-2007, and 300 days in 2008 . She surprised me again this year at 300, thought the 321 would be the rule

 

[Candice]

I have one mare that foaled at 312 days last year and again this year at 312 days. The difference with her though is that last year she had a filly and I consider her to have been full term. This year she had a colt and the colt seemed a bit premature to me. He had a really fine coat and dark gums and was a very sleepy boy for the first few weeks.

Another mare that I have, her previous owner says she is reliable and foals at 315 days every year. This year she carried 330 days.

For me this has been a bit of an odd year though. I have one mare now that isn't due until around the end of May and she is under camera and looking like she'll foal in the near future.

 

[barnbum]

I had read--and it hasn't been mentioned yet, that the gestation period can change with a different sire. That was the case with mine. Both went 318-319 with a 29.75" stud, and both went 330 with a 32.5" stud. I never expected them to follow each other.

I'm glad I'm using the same stud next time, but as Kay said, I'm not going to get comfortable.

 

[Irish Hills Farm]

My mares generally go around 335 days, until this year. One was on time, one 9 days early and the last one 7 days late.

 

[Rachel]

That's a thought Karla. This is a different stud than '06 but I just realized the 2 studs are pretty much exactly the same size. Time will tell I guess....this waiting is just so hard!

 

[Magic]

At first I was going to say "no", but I looked through my records for just the last several years and some of the mares are surprisingly quite consistent, at least for the most part.

One mare went 323 days, then 326, then 325. That is the most consistent one.

Another went 314, 332, and 337 (getting longer all the time, lol)

One from several years back went 292, 291, and 310, all live foals though the first one was dysmature, as my vet phrases it.

One mare went 347 and then 358! That was tough.

One mare went 315, 322, and 324.

The last pregnant mare for me this year has yet to foal, and last year she went 341, and that was her first. I'll be interested to see how long she goes this year, though at the rate she is progressing, she won't go a whole lot longer and she is at 317 days today.

Very interesting thread!

 

[Kim~Crayonboxminiatures]

I have found the gestations do vary by the stallion they are bred to as others said, but also some mares are never consistent.

We joke here because all my taller "B" size foals have longer gestations, so we joke it takes longer for the legs to grow.

1. mare went 337 & 338 bred to Chips, 327 to a different stallion and 331 last year to my little snowcap stallion, I'm thinking she will go around 330 again this year. Previously I was told she always foaled consistently in the 325-327 range, so I've concluded there is something in the water here!

2. mare 312, 333, 313 by three different stallions

3. mare 342, 352 both times bred to Chips

4. mare very inconsistent regardless of stallion 353, 340, 329, 350, 342, 327

 

[Charlotte]

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Mine sure don't!

Right now I'm sitting here watching Buttons. she foaled at 316 last year and today she's at 332 and looks like she could hold off for another week at least. Same sire. But this time she's carrying a colt.

Then we have Dinah who has foaled anywhere from 308 to 359. Some of those were by different stallions. All were colts, 9 of them, untill this year.

Always a guessing game! Sweet mares!

Charlotte

p.s. If you are wanting to hurry them along I have it from an authority (Viki of TC Mini Farm) that you need to go out to where the mares are and pace up and down and wring your hands. The mares want to see us nervous and stressed according to Viki!

 

[Jill]

I am fairly new into breeding, but one of my mares carried a colt for me in 2003 for 329 days and then a filly born this year at 337 days. The 2003 foal was not her first.