Mare not settling

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AJ

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Have a 5 yr old mare that had her first foal in '04 and open for '05. She has bred through 3 cycles and is not settling. The stallion is not the problem , as his other mares are confirmed in foal. What tests/checks should a vet do to ascertain what the reason for not settling might be? She is a bit overweight .
 
could she have an infection or poor hormone level.
 
I have a mare doing the same thing this year. Last year was bred for the first time as a 4 year old in March. She settled, and never came back in. This year came up "open".
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So, she either reabsorbed, or aborted very early on when the fetus was so small we missed it. But that doesn't explain whey she never came back in all summer.

Now, this year, she is breeding over & over....thru 3 cycles so far. I have my vet doing a pregnancy check first, as there ARE some mares who will continue to show signs of heat & allow the stallion to breed...even when they are in foal. If the test comes back negative, we'll start looking for problems.
 
[SIZE=14pt]HAve them culture her , she may have a low grade infection. Also have an ultrasound done of her ovaries to make sure they are not cystic. That happened to an arab mare of mine. [/SIZE]

The mini mares seem to be doing wierd things this year. I have a friend that bred her 4 year old mare last year ....swore she was pregnant, due dates have come and gone by months . now she is in heat. She had silent heats apparently after being bred last year. She is going to have her flushed and then bred to Uno in spring.

Lyn
 
As everyone has already mentioned.........internal ultrasound and culture. The best time to do both is during one of her heat cycles, preferably towards the end when her follicles are larger.

Good Luck
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We have had the same problem with a 9 year old mare of ours. Two former foals at age 3 and 4 with no attempts to breed her until age 8. Never could get her in foal last year despite breeding her every cycle from March through November to a total of three different stallions. She cycled regularly, though at times would stay in heat for 10-12 days, then be out for 7, then come right back in. We had her cultured and biopsied with negative results. All indications were that her uterus, cervix and ovaries were all competent and non-infected. The one striking characteristic was that she is a very "messy" mare when she's in season and I frequently have to wash her hind legs because she was so soiled. Took her to a reproductive specialist who did an internal ultrasound and found she had delayed uterine clearance, i.e. she was not expelling fluid out of her uterus post-breeding. She felt that the mare was indeed conceiving, but the uterus was not a healthy environment for the conceptus, so therefore it couldn't attach and grow. She recommended that we flush the mare post-breeding to clear the fluid. When she started cycling this year we took a systematic approach:

1) First cycle - No real action taken. Bred her every other day through her cycle of 10 days like you would with a normal mare. Did not conceive.

2) Second cycle - bred her on day 5, 7, 9 and attempted to flush her on day #10. Cervix was already closed. She had ovulated several days previously, but had kept breeding past her ovulation day. Could not be flushed due to closed cervix. Did not conceive.

3) Third cycle, bred her on day 5 and 7. Flushed her on day #8 with perfect results (antibiotic flush and Oxytocin injection). Cervix was just starting to close which meant she had ovulated on the prior day. She was just confirmed 56 days in foal last week.
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Just some ideas for your investigation! Good luck.

Robin C
 
What colour is she?? Which stallion are you breeding her to?? has she had a foal by this stallion before?? Humour me, it's just an idea I had!!!
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If her culture and ultrasound are normal, check her thyroid levels. Often the only sign in minis is failure to concieve or carry. Much more common a problem than in full size horses.
 

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