How long is gestation for minis?

[spindleberry]

Just as the title says, how long is the gestation for miniature horses?

I sent a photo of my mini to a friend and she thinks she looks pregnant and says I'll be on baby watch in a month or so....

I don't think she looks pregnant but if she is, she's only 7ish months along. She was in heat around June 19th.

Thanks

 

[shalakominiatureshowhorses]

10-11 months I think? Just off the top of my head. I'm not a breeder though

so I wouldn't know for sure.

 

[happy appy]

I count for the standard of 340 days. Lots of mini people count to 330 days though.

 

[chandab]

Well, in 2012, my mares foaled on days 320, 307 and 324; all were maidens. Minis can have viable foals at 300 days, some have had them even a bit earlier and they were fine. by the same token, I know of mini mares going around 365 days or even a bit more. But, many use 330 days as the average for minis.

 

[JAX]

Mine have birthed anywhere from 308 days pregnant to 355 days pregnant but most of mine tend to go at about 322 days.

 

[targetsmom]

Individual mares will foal when they are ready, BUT someone did do a study over several years and found the average gestation for miniature mares was 317 days, so I use 320 days for calculating due dates. I think I saw this on the Stars website.

 

[targetsmom]

It won't let me edit the previous post....

If you think you can tell if a mare is pregnant by looking at her, check out the photos of our two mares at 7 months pregnancy in the On Target Miniatures thread on the mare stare/chat foum here in LB. The one who has had 5 foals looks pregnant but I doubt that you would think the maiden look pregnant at all. Both have been confirmed in foal - the maiden TWICE - and we have felt both foals kick. Please don't guess, get a Wee Foal 120 urine test and find out for sure.

 

[Matt73]

From as early as 300 days (or even a few days earlier) to my maiden going to 372 four or five years ago :/

 

[Field-of-Dreams]

We start watching our mares at Day 300. One mare goes anywhere from 305 days to 320, one year I think she went at 294 or something like that, and that baby was DONE! Otherwise ours seem to go about 320 days.

 

[Becky]

I start watching for udder development by day 280 of gestation. Any udder before that, can be a red flag and I may choose to treat the mare for placentitis. Mares here generally foal between days 300 and 340. So, they can really be all over the place and it pays to watch them closely starting early.

 

[drmatthewtaylor]

Although most mares will be pretty consistent from year to year and generally have gestation lengths similar to their mothers, sex of foal, time of year bred, stallion used, maiden and age of mare can all effect length.

Dr. Taylor

 

[Lil Eowyn]

The average is about 11 months--like a regular horse =)

 

[spindleberry]

It won't let me edit the previous post....

If you think you can tell if a mare is pregnant by looking at her, check out the photos of our two mares at 7 months pregnancy in the On Target Miniatures thread on the mare stare/chat foum here in LB. The one who has had 5 foals looks pregnant but I doubt that you would think the maiden look pregnant at all. Both have been confirmed in foal - the maiden TWICE - and we have felt both foals kick. Please don't guess, get a Wee Foal 120 urine test and find out for sure.

I never said anyone could tell if a mare is pregnant or not by looking at a photo. I've been around horses long enough that even seeing some in person doesn't look bred when they are or vice versa.

I was asking what the gestation was for minis because I wasn't sure about that.

Thanks for all the replies.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

300 days on.

I have had foals born full term at 297 days (that was the earliest proven) and then at 320 and be premature so there is no rhyme or reason to it- but I have to say that, I had the same thing with the Arabs! I have found no correlation between a 10 month mare and her daughter- the 10 month mare's daughter went 12 months so possibly it is the anomaly that is inherited, not the gestation length. One thing I have noticed is that if a mare has a short length of time between her seasons, normally, - ie less than 21 days from start to start- she often will have a shorter gestation. Not definitely but often.

 

[Charlotte]

We have had a number of mares over the years foal in the 290s. 291 I think was the earliest. All live healthy foals. Have also had a few carry into the 350s. And everywhere in between.

 

[weerunner]

311 to 337 here. But average about 325. ONly had 14 foals so far so not a huge data pool, but seems to consistant with most peoples findings.

 

[REO]

300 days is 10 months.

There are many factors.

One thing that breaks my heart is seeing new-to-foaling minis people come here and ask, and many people say 11+ months and then the people come back and say their mare foaled "early" and the foal was lost because they were not expecting her to foal so soon.

So this time I'm so happy that the answers are varied, because mini mares have varied gestations.

My mares generally foal 304-320 days. But I have had a few mares that have shorter gestations and have had healthy babies born at 292-297 days.

.

 

[tagalong]

Our range has been 296 - 337. Maybe 60% of those in the teens... 310 - 320.

One thing that breaks my heart is seeing new-to-foaling minis people come here and ask, and many people say 11+ months and then the people come back and say their mare foaled "early" and the foal was lost because they were not expecting her to foal so soon.

This ^ is me as well. So many mares that have "foaled early" really didn't. Or someone is not watching as "Tessie" always foals on day 340 - so when she "had the foal early" at day 314 - no one was there. I had a mare foal 3 times in a row on day 318 - it was as if she kept an eye on the calendar. But I knew better than to trust her - her last foal was at 301.

 

[Minimor]

I count my due dates as 320 days. I have had only a couple go beyond that, and a number have gone less. The shortest was 297, 305 to 315 is most common.

No one should take the advice that 11 months is normal, because so many minis carry a much shorter term.

 

[Lewella]

308 to 368 here.