Please give me opinions on this mare

[Marnie]

Is it humanly or Horsely possible for this mare NOT to be pregnant? A mare can't look like this without a baby in there, can she? Our vets can't help, won't palpate, they don't have the wand for the ultrasounding, can't accurately do the external ultrasound. I've wanted to sell this mare all summer but was waiting to see if she has her baby, so I know what to tell people. I just need to cut down, she's one I want to sell and it's Sept and I still don't know what to tell people. I've never seen her in heat all summer and I do watch the horses close. Any opinions would be appreciated, can she actually look like this and be open, if she were just fat, would she have a gut like this?

 

[lvponies]

I have 2 mares just like that. No heat all summer. Last time with a stallion was 8/04. No babies, no heats!! Both are fat as all get out.

Sorry I can't help with your mare!! I'm clueless!

 

[small herd]

Why don't you try the Pregnamare test ? You can buy them thru Valley Vet.

 

[littlesteppers]

Marnie..I got One just like her..I KNow she is NOT pregnant..because I did test her with PregnaMare test ..BUT I thought I knew better..she HAD to be pregnant..well I was wrong and the test was right- again-

You only can test up to max 120 days after last breeding..so test would be prob useless by now.

 

[Buckskin gal]

An ultra sound could be done. She looks way to fat if she isn't pregnant and a diet would be beneficial for her to get pregnant at a later date. Mary

 

[Marnie]

I don't know how an ultrasound can be done, can you tell me? The vet won't go inside rectally, they dont' have the wand and for an external one on there $20,000 machine last yr, they said my mare was open and a couple wks later she aborted an 8 month fetus. So if you know something that I don't know, will you tell me how an ultrasound can be done? She only gets hay like the rest of them in her pasture, very little grass pickings. I wish there was a way to tell.

Edited to say, I don't mean to sound rude, Buckskin Gal but seriosuly, if theres something I don't know about ultrasounding, please do tell me how it can be done.

 

[capall beag]

Well I am no help at all!

But she must have something in there she didn't eat!

She is huge!

 

[DunPainted]

Hi Marnie:

As you know, my vet just ultra sounded Nissi....both internally and externally. The vet couldn't get a reading. Never did get an adequate answer. Then she wanted to send in a blood test to she when/if she'd foal. With her bag full and hard as a rock, and the results not due back for four days, I figured "why bother". Probably, by the time she had a foal, the results would come back.

Has anyone had an ultra sound performed on a late-term mare?

I understand where you're coming from, Marnie. If someone were to purchase her from out-of-state, it would be just awful for her to foal in route. OR, if someone with limited mini horse foaling experience were to purchase her and she foals with difficulty, I know how badly you would feel.

This is an excellent post and sure hope people, especially those with many years' experience, will provide their input.

Cindy

 

[ChrystalPaths]

Ok Marnie, she's adorable, pregnant or not. What are her breeding dates? If you just can't take it, pack her up and bring her here to the hollow. Ok?

 

[Marnie]

I don't know her breeding date, the girl who had her ran the stud late into the winter and doesn't even know when she took him out. Ok, I'm bringing her out, where are you? NY? I'll be there asap!

I see you have no foal yet Cindy, I guess it doesn't bother me except I wanted to sell this particular mare yet and don't know how to proceed.

I have pretty much come to the conclusion that the only sure way to know is when the baby is on it's way out!

Thanks for the answers everyone, I hope to get more, I guess what I really want to hear is a long time breeder say -Yes, she's got to be bred! Funny, aren't I?

 

[Minimor]

I just don't know, Marnie; there could be a baby in there, but then I've got two geldings that are shaped pretty much exactly like her.

Could go either way, so I'm no help!

 

[ChrystalPaths]

Ok Marnie, head south and find Route 15 on the NY Map (I'm almost on the Ny/Pa border), then off onto rt 417.................

I'll watch her for you.

 

[DunPainted]

You know, Marnie, I've reached the point with my hubby being MIA (business), running the farm, waiting for two mares to foal and keeping David up on schoolwork that Miss Cindy doesn't know whether to scratch her watch or wind her fanny!

Came home today and found minis all over the farm (out of their pastures). According to his note, Hubby left ten minutes earlier for the airport, I forgot to say goodbye in the midst of preoccupation. Hmmm, methinks the minis on this farm are smart enough to know when he leaves to make their escape.

We're two peas in a pod, we just don't see gray...only black-n-white will do. If not, then is stress-out time! With all the modern vet medicine, one would think that something as "simple" as telling us if a mare is bred is frustrating at best.

Let's start a lottery pool to see whose mare foals first! LOL!

Cindy

 

[Becky]

Well, she looks pregnant to me, but looks can be deceiving! Hope I'm not wrong about a mare I'm watching here that I hope foals tonight!

Too bad you're so far away from OK. I'd tell you to bring her down. My vet could palpate her and you'd know in a minute if she's in foal or not.

 

[minimule]

Marnie send her down! I'll watch her......or put her on a diet! One of my mares has a belly like that but she isn't due until next year. She just doesn't get her girlish figure back. She isn't fat anywhere else, just the belly.

We have a repro specialist here that can ultrasound or palpate late term. She is a tiny lady with tiny hands.

 

[Bess Kelly]

There is a blood test that can be done for pregnancy after the 120 days....it requires blood to be drawn, not just the prick a lip type.

Looking at your mare I see that she is overly well padded all over

yep, that gal bellies right up to the feed! I'd say she has a very good chance at just being overly plump and not preggers at all. She does need to diet.

You can see the fat pads hanging over her front legs, below the shoulder, the hips are so volumtuous that they dimple....and she barely shows a point of hip because her back is padded too well.

Sorry to say

but she's obese. Help her out and get the weight off of her, slowly but continually. She needs your help and can be such a beauty if thin

 

[Toyhorse]

Please forgive me, my spelling is bad but had to ask have you had her thyroyd checked.

Toyhorse

 

[Mona]

Gosh Marnie, I don't know what to say. She does look fat, yet to me, it does not look as though that belly is just fat...it looks like a baby belly to me. Have you tried to feel for movement? At that size, if she is pregnant, I would think she is far enough along to feel foal movement.

 

[Marnie]

Mona, If I tried to touch her belly, I'm the one that would be moved, you'd probably see me fly by your place, way up to Canada!

 

[Marion]

She looks like my mare that went six weeks over her due date. But I had a mare that was due for two years so I don't know one way or another. My husband said she looked preg. He is also the one that said the other horse was not bred for two year.