Excessive weight gain in mare?!

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If you are worried about her.... have a Vet check her out.

If she isn't in foal, she could have Thyroid issues.
 
Shari said:
If you are worried about her.... have a Vet check her out.

If she isn't in foal, she could have Thyroid issues.
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Vet did come out, the morning after she seemed colicky. Said she was acting colicky, but also kind of like a pregnant mare. The banamine worked, she seemed fine and happy once we gave her the banamine. She is still bloated/fat and we did tell the vet about her weight gaining and she said it could possibly be a grass belly, or a bloated belly from the colic, if it wasn't a pregnant belly. That is why I posted this here, for opinions, to see if people thought she seemed/looked pregnant, or if they thought she had coliced and was bloated + had a grass belly.
 
How big is she? What is her diet? Grain? Pasture? Hay? How much of each? maybe she is lacking something or getting too much of something.
 
chandab said:
How big is she? What is her diet? Grain? Pasture? Hay? How much of each? maybe she is lacking something or getting too much of something.
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She is 34" tall, and 50 1/2- 50 inches around her stomach. She has a half cup (like the actual measurement, not a jug or a cup or something) of grain in the morning, and evening and has a supplement that benefits the coat, muscles, and energy. In the morning and evening, I also give her half a flake of hay so she can munch on it until she gets to go outside, and at night to hold her over until morning. When she goes outside she wears a muzzle, and we recently started to bring them in earlier because of the richer grass, and the flies and such. She goes out from about 1pm to 3 or 4pm, with a muzzle. She could be getting more grass through the muzzle than I think. Today I turned her out in a dry lot, incase it was a grass belly.
 
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She has more of a refined build than my other horse, who looks like a full miniature quarter horse. She is kind of a quarab/arab type build.
 
That is an old show picture of her, 2012 or back, and a picture of her now.
 
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If you are able to, try turning her out on grass in the morning. Grass is usually at it's lowest sugar content overnight and in the morning, and it's highest afternoon. Check out the Safergrass.org website
 
chandab said:
If you are able to, try turning her out on grass in the morning. Grass is usually at it's lowest sugar content overnight and in the morning, and it's highest afternoon. Check out the Safergrass.org website
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Thanks, okay, thats interesting. I will try it in a few weeks, Im just trying putting her out on dry lot right now.
 
I wormed her last night. This morning, I came out and measured her stomach, and she is still at 50 1/2 so I don't think her stomach is bloated. She must just be fat. However, she was really touchy about her stomach, touchier than she was yesterday. She was touchy like that when she coliced and the morning after, but she was fine yesterday. If you touch her lower belly near her flanks she will pin her ears to her head. Do mares do this when they are in heat? Maybe do they bloat too? Only asking because yesterday I saw her holding her tail up a little when she was in her stall. But, I haven't really seen her do anything else that would make me think she's in heat (a lot of short pees, showing herself off, squatting like she needs to pee, etc). She has been kind of irritable not just since the night she coliced, but since the day before she coliced. Do their stomachs hurt, and are they touchy about it, when they're in heat?
 
Maybe the breeder is mistaken. All the signs you are talking about point toward pregnant. Some mares get grumpy towards the end when you get near their flank. Vets have known to check mares and say they are open. Eleven months later there is a foal. I would seriously treat her as a pregnant mare. If you get clear pictures of her broadside and from behind at her level, the mpre experienced breeders will be able possibly give you a better answer. Also a picture of milk bar if she will let you. Put the pictures on the Mare Stare Forum. If she is pregnant and you limit her food and she doesn't get the extra nutrition she needs, it could harm baby and mare.
 
Magic Marker Minis said:
Maybe the breeder is mistaken. All the signs you are talking about point toward pregnant. Some mares get grumpy towards the end when you get near their flank. Vets have known to check mares and say they are open. Eleven months later there is a foal. I would seriously treat her as a pregnant mare. If you get clear pictures of her broadside and from behind at her level, the mpre experienced breeders will be able possibly give you a better answer. Also a picture of milk bar if she will let you. Put the pictures on the Mare Stare Forum. If she is pregnant and you limit her food and she doesn't get the extra nutrition she needs, it could harm baby and mare.
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Oh, wow, okay. I will raise her food back up to what Ive been giving her before all this. I will try to post those pictures in the marestare forum today. She was winking, though, and I think thats a sign that shes in her heat cycle. If she was pregnant, would she still do this? I'll post those pics later today and keep an eye on her. Is the milk bar her udders? She has no udder development.
 
Yes milk bar is udder. Sometimes they don't develop a udder until after. She could still wink if pregnant. Mares wink after urinating for a minute or two. Also if pregnant, may have pressure so winking.
 
gel's back at it again :/. The whole thing she was doing back in June is happening again. Im thinking she colics due to temperature changes? Shes touchy (today she squealed, pinned her ears, and tried to kick and bite me when I lightly touched her stomach). This has been going on for the past few days. Minimal gut sounds sometimes, other times they are regular. She hasnt tried to roll or lay down though. She's also been bloated. On the first day, she bloated four inches. (her regular measurement of 54" at her biggest point went up to 58"). I've been giving her banamine (from the tube, not shots) every 12hrs to make her feel better but it doesnt seem like its helping.
 
What is she currently eating? Maybe it's something to do with the season/temperature changes, if she's on pasture it might be changes in pasture quality due to changing seasons. Hope you can get her right quickly.
 
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