Ok I Am Going Insane

[CritterCountry]

Ok, one day Sable is in foal and the next she isn't. (to me at least) Please help me recover my sanity!!!

I swear I have felt and seen movement and then it is gone, or I discover that it is her muscles tensing or her 'double' breathing. Her belly seems nowhere near the size it should be for a mare at 319 days. I do not see outward limb movement or kicking from anything in there. Each day she changes from thin, un-pregnant mare to pregnant mare about 8 months along-but certainly not 10.

She has not made an udder. It is is slightly puffy, but still wrinkly, saggy and empty. BUT her milk veins are HUGE. I can get a stream of white fluid from her udders since about 4 weeks ago. She has always had clear fluid in her bag, but not white. Her tailhead loosens and tightens every other day. Her croup sinks in one day and then it firms up the next. She was winking about a month ago and I attributed this to hormones, she even squatted when I groomed her tail. She started that again yesterday and stopped today.

I noticed blood colored stuff on her vulva lips and tail the day before yesterday which I thought was a mucous plug. She shifts her weight at night from hind foot to hind foot and finally lies down. She lies down about 4-5 times a night.

I went out today and can feel NOTHING in there. I can squish her sides almost together and feel nothing. She tenses her muscles up and it really frustrates me. She also yawns, flehmans and swishes her tail when I try to feel her belly. I am thinking that if I have to push in to feel the foal that she isn't in foal. But then the next day I will go out and swear I feel it in her belly again. Her ribs have expanded from the top view..is it possible for the foal to be lying horizontally in her rib cage? ZThat is the only explanation I can think of.

I have so much emotional investment in this foal and this mare already did this to me last year.

I am thinking false pregnancy?

I should mention she is on 3 flakes of hay a day and a balancer two times a day. (2 cups a day). She is also longed 2X a week and in good shape physically as I like to keep her fit.

Here are pics from today...please give me your honest opinion. If she isn't in foal I want to quit watching her every night and stop drawing out the situation. If she wasn't my only mare I don't think it would bother me so much.

For comparison..this is what she looked like when she faked me out last year (only she did not have the signs above-just the belly) ..see why I am spinning???

 

[Endless]

I am no expert but it looks like she is to me! Maybe the baby is tiny I dont think all mares get huge! I am sure hoping so for your sake!!

 

[CritterCountry]

Hi Kelly!

LOL, see I am still going through this, OH!

But guess what? Apparently posting your doubts on the internet gleans some sort of response because I went to check on Sable and she has about half a bag all of the sudden and it is warm as heck. Milk is not sticky yet. I was reading up on false pregnancies and from what I have read, mares do not have milk with false pregnancies or get larger bellies. The milk is hormone related (if the mare is not in foal) or could be ovarian cysts, etc. SO...I am hoping that she just has a little one in there that hides really well!!

 

[kaykay]

Years ago Patches had a false pregnancy. She had thick yellow sticky stuff in her udder too. She had a ton of use fooled

After her due date all signs stopped. My vet came out and declared her fat and told me to get her on a diet. Mares that have previously foaled sometimes have white milk all year. Some call it witches milk as there are no nutrients in it

Hoping the best for you

 

[Keri]

Well, her baby will quit moving when she gets close. Mine did. And she would have a bag in the morning and then nothing later on that day. So it was all confusing. And my mare didn't get that huge either. She foaled at 371 days. I think the earth is tilted wrong becuase I know lots of people whose mares are way late! Good luck!

 

[CritterCountry]

Kaykay that scares me!

BUT the main difference is that Sable is pretty fit. I don't overfeed her and she is not on grass and she is exercised all the time. If she is not being longed I walk with her everywhere.

Keri I know about bags disappearing during the day and that when it stays bagged during the day to expect a foal (in my experience anyway). 371 days? OMG I think I would go nuts. I am going nuts as it is. I am in the exact same state as last year and I was devastated when she turned up open. And here I sit again, except with different signs.

Hoping she will decide one way or the other soon!

 

[Reijel's Mom]

I know it's hard, I went through much of the same. Now I'm 99.9% sure my girl is pregnant at 344 days - if not it is a false pregnancy.

All I can say is next time - test. I didn't, either - so I'm not judging you

. I drove my husband and friends nuts with the "yes she is" "no she isn't", and I have seen your posts and know you have gone back and forth on this for a long time.

I just don't think it's easy to tell if they are bred or not from pics, no matter how far along. They all look so different. Up until a month or so ago, my gelding looked bred - we've got that under control now

.