Molly, Little bit.

[ratzo155]

I was wondering how long a mare could stay pregnant? I got a mini mare and a stallion last year in February and was told she was with foal. I kept the two together until sometime in April when I noticed him trying to mount her. I was never told when she was due so I had the vet come out to confirm that she was pregnant late in the summer. He didn't palpitate her he said she was too small but by all the signs she was showing he said she was. I watched all fall and no baby so I convinced myself that she must have been just really fat. Now she is showing more sign that she is about to foal. Her bag has gotten bigger and the milk has gone from clear to yellowish to white. Her vulva is now swelling and I can move her tail with no resistance. she has also gone from having all of her belly out to the side to having it all underneath So I am wondering if she wasn't with foal when I got her is it possible that the stallion could have gotten her before I separated them back in April? I am thinking that it has been too long and that this is just a phantom pregnancy. I would love to have some more opinions. Thank you.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/molly-foalcam

Phone 309-369-9792

 

[AnnaC]

Welcome to the Nutty Nursery - glad you decided to join us!!

From what you have said I would say that your little mare was not pregnant when you got her, but she is now very close to producing her baby! If she will let you gently look inside her vulva, you need to check the colour - it is normally a pale salmon pink, but will change to a deep blood red just prior to foaling, so will give you that last minute indicator. But with her milk already going through those changes, I wouldn't be taking my eyes off her for a moment!!

Have you got a stall set up ready for her to foal, lots of clean bedding to keep the new baby warm and comfortable? A call to your vet to say that you have an possible foaling coming up is always useful to at least comfirm that he/she would be able/willing to come at short notice, day or night, if it should be necessary.

There is a lot more that we can suggest to help you, but as we have only just 'met' I'm not sure how experienced you are with horses, and therefore dont want to be giving you info that you may well already know!

Perhaps you could tell us a little more about yourself - and your mare - her size, age, any foaling history etc - and of course pictures - we love pictures anyway,but in this case it would help us to see and watch her progress. But from your discription I would say that a baby will soon be arriving.

 

[Eagle]

Hello and welcome, Anna has started off with the most important questions so we will give you time to answer those before we go ahead with many more.

If you could just post some pics so we can see how the foal is riding.

Once again welcome

 

[Gone_Riding]

Pictures please! She sounds like she's ready to have that baby if the milk is white!

Oh, and WELCOME! This forum rocks and the people are wonderful.

 

[ratzo155]

I will tell you a little bit about my experience. I worked for a large stable for seven years taking care of horses and teaching riding lessons. I have one full size mare and the one mini mare. I got the mini for the kids to have something to learn with that was their size, and for a companion for my mare also I have always wanted to have a mini that would drive.

She came with a cremello stallion that had never really been touched he was around four and very untrusting. I broke him to lead and then sold him to a lady who was going to put him in her breeding program. He was beautiful and smart I just didn't think he would be happy here in a pen by himself, (he wouldn't leave the mares alone) and I knew he was going to a great home. We do get to go see him and he is doing great. Anyway he would be the stud if she is with foal.

I don't know much about breeding or foaling. I did care for three horses that were with foal but I never got to see them foal so I am excited to see that if she is. This is my first mini and am learning about them as I go. Her name is Molly and she is six, she is not a maiden mare I was told she had a baby before and was a great mom. I have some pics but cant seem to get them to load.

I do have a stall ready for her and a great vet on standby. I haven't looked in her vulva I will try to look tonight if she lets me. I have been testing her milk with the strips, the calcium has been rising and the ph is really high.

I did get a picture of her to load for my member icon.

 

[JAX]

If you happen to catch her ph dropping then the wait should not be much longer. Not all but most will drop their ph just before foaling. So how high is her calcium and Ph and how often are you checking her milk? Very excited for you!

I am also having an issue with posting pictures.

 

[ratzo155]

On the strips I have the calcium goes from under 100 to 200 to 250 to over 1000, it is testing around the 1000 color. The ph is testing at the highest level i believe it is 7.8. I have been testing her every night now for a couple of weeks, I had tested her last fall because I thought she was going to foal then and the calcium was lower but the ph has been the same.

What do you mean by if? Does it drop really fast making it hard to catch? I have never used the strips before I found a web site that told how to use them so I thought since I didn't have a date to go by I would try it out.

 

[Eagle]

Are they the strips that go by colour?

If so can you post a pic of the last one you tested please.

 

[ratzo155]

Yes.

 

[Eagle]

Can we see?

 

[AnnaC]

She's a very pretty little girl - how tall is she, and are there any details of the stud that came with her - size, breeding etc (so glad you were able to find him a good home, well done!)

Please keep giving us regular updates, ask as many questions as you like and we will do our very best to get this foal safely delivered for you.

Looking forward to some pictures!

 

[ratzo155]

I finally got some pics to load up. The first is of molly looking a little lopsided, then her backside, her big belly, and the last is of the sire. She doesn't look as swollen in the picture of her backside I don't know if that is because I was holding her tail more upward. Her belly has gone from all to the side(like she had swallowed two basketballs) to all underneath. I looked at her vulva tonight too and it was the salmon pink color. I sure hope she waits for a little while it is so cold here still. I am soooo looking forward to warmer weather.

 

[ratzo155]

I couldn't get a good picture of her udder, she has way too much hair. It is getting big and goes up her belly, is that normal?

 

[AnnaC]

She really is such a pretty girl - the stud is a handsome fella too! It sounds as though she is developing what we call edema (fluid) in front of her actual udder - this is perfectly normal, so no worries. If she is a bit 'hairy' under her tummy at the moment, try doing a close check and gentle feel of her udder from between her back legs - it is often easier to see any 'growth' from this angle. When taking pics of her vulva, try gently moving her tail to one side a little way - moving it 'upwards' usually makes the mare tighten up the area and you dont get a properly relaxed picture.

Keep the pics and info coming please.

 

[Wings]

Hi and welcome

I've attached a pciture of one of my mare's udders, she tends to be 'somewhat textbook' in her development. I thought it might be helpful. Which udder stage is most like your girls at this time?

 

[ratzo155]

I would say she looks like the photo 22/08. she is full but her nipples are pointing toward each other.

Does the edema go away at all?

 

[Eagle]

yes as her udder goes up her edema should go down

 

[Wings]

I'll stick them up there Diane

Well depending on how your mare develops you might see nothing between now and when she foals, you might see a steady increase until foaling.... you might see anything in between

That mare foaled the day after the last pic and after she added a bit more to her udder. I kick myself for not getting a pic that morning!

 

[ratzo155]

About how long before foaling will the color in her vulva change? Will it always change color?

Has anyone had a mare foal who was using the test strips that the ph never went down?

 

[Eagle]

First question, the vulva always changes colour but you need to check regularly as it can change fast, the same goes for the milk test. Some mares progress on the test slowly and make it easy to read others don't. All of my mares were easy as they had read the book apart from one mare whose milk went from 6.4 -6.0 in a few hours. She was checked at midnight and wasn't testing ready yet at 6.00am she had a dry foal. Normally I would never leave my mares alone once they get to 6.4, unfortunately last year was a nightmare as the Aunties know. I had 10 pups that the mum couldn't feed, my stalllion had just had surgery and I had a dummy foal to look after

oh not to mention 2 young children

After having read the terribly sad news that a foal was lost last night I just want to make it clear to everyone just how IMPORTANT it is to be there for the birth. Cassie and I have web cams, Anna's daughter sleeps in her horsebox outside the stalls, Bree wonders around her fields all night with a torch and Diane spends her nights in the barn. This is the only way to make sure the foal gets out of the sac.

Sorry for hijacking your thread for a public announcement

but a lost foal is 1 too many for us Aunties