Fescue Scare Preggo Mare

[Quester]

Hi, I bought a wonderful mini mare from High Meadow Miniatures a few months back. She is bred and her aproximate due date was today. Which is not the problem, I know horses really don't have due dates. My problem is she is a maiden mare, 30.5 " and honestly I have no clue if she has been exposed to fescue or not. I have no clue what it even looks like and please forgive my stupidity but I just learned about it recenlty and the harm it causes bred mares. Since she is a maiden, I also don't know her patterns and she also may not ever show clear cut signs like a seasoned broody might. Here are some pics I took of her today, does she look close? For a small maiden? The pic I took of her bag is from a slight behind and low angle, her teats have been straight down for awhile but she doesn't look full at all in this pic which is weird because she usually is fuller than this. She went out in a pasture today and ran around like a wild women and when I brought her back up her bag looked much smaller...? If I could know what fescue was and if I might need to get a vet out to counteract it or if her smallish bag is coinciding with the rest of her not being due soon or if it is normal for a maiden...any help would help lol, first maiden mini...

 

[mini horse mania]

Pretty girl..Fescue is a type of grass....that is believed to cause problems in bred mares if it has enphodite (sp)

http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/plants/toxicagents/fesalk.html

I think she may have a bit to go maybe a month or two? some mares can drop last minute though...Was she pasture bred..if so the due date can be off

 

[Quester]

She was bred and then they felt she never cycled, so put out with stud...SO, if going by the time they felt she bred and didn't notice again that she cycled, due around now...if she didn't take and bred later out in the pasture...then who knows lol. Thanks for the compliment, these are AWFUL photos of her, she is actually a really nice Buckeroo g-daughter and looks much better not fuzzy, tied up quickly for photo shots and preggo lol. I guess I should clarify, I know what fescue IS, I don't know what it looks like, in hay form lol.

 

[chandab]

Don't know if this will help, but did a google for fescue hay, and came up with this picture page: http://www.google.com/search?q=fescue+hay&hl=en&qscrl=1&nord=1&rlz=1T4GZAG_enUS455US455&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=13NZT5yDNamciAKy2826Cw&sqi=2&ved=0CEQQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=796

 

[happy appy]

The grass that you should be concerned about is any type of lawn seed. All lawn seeds now carry the Endophyte fungus because it causes the grass to be more hardy. I lost 2 unborn foals and one mare to it from complications last year. My vet didn't even know that much about it at the time. It's not common in Canada yet. My neighbor built his house next to my mini pasture and seeded his whole lawn with grass seed. We thought nothing of it. After we had my pasture tested and found the endophyte fungus had spread to my pasture. My vet and the vet college wanted me to rebreed for this year but I couldn't. I am going to try for next though. They want to be involved so that they can learn more. I have no one on the pasture now. It is thought to of caused my stallion to have a low sperm count and my mares to not come into heat. They are starting this month with testing on the herd to see how it is going. I have told them that this is the last try. My stallion is being gelded this summer and no more breeding for me after this summer.

 

[Charlotte]

I didn't 'think' Utah was a state where fescue is common. Where is your hay coming from? Her udder pic doesn't look like a ready to foal mare, but with maidens I have had them foal with an udder like that. What you want to be doing is checking that udder by feel morning, noon and evening. Look for any time the udder area feels a bit tighter. Exercise will always cause the udder to reduce in size but it will come right back after mare is quiet for a while.

 

[Quester]

Charlotte, all my hay is Utah grown and fescue is very common, in almost all the grass hays grown. I presently can not find ANY grass hay that doesn't contain atleast 5% fescue. I had some hay from last year that is orchard so I am giving her that mixed with alfalfa. Her udder did actually come back as you said after she sat awhile, it isn't a HUGE udder but it is pretty tight and firm and has been for a few weeks so I was surprised when I snapped that pick and it was a dry...I figured it had something to do with her little hyper spell she had but wasn't sure. Thanks for the comments.

 

[Charlotte]

"Charlotte, all my hay is Utah grown and fescue is very common, in almost all the grass hays grown. I presently can not find ANY grass hay that doesn't contain atleast 5% fescue"

(Hmmm, can't get the quote thingy to work) Anyway, I'm always learning something new on here.

In a situation like yours I would keep preg mares on a hay product that was fescue free. Standlee has various packaged hays and they are consistent in quality. You might do a search for hay products and see what you come up with then see what the feed stores around you carry.

Boy I would hate to be in your shoes. A maiden mare with no for sure breeding date and then throw fescue into the equation. Geez. Fescue can also cause prolonged gestation among all the other issues. Such a pretty little mare. I hope all goes well for you.