Pregnant mare not so tidy suddenly

[CrescentMinis]

I have a *probably* pregnant mare here who is always extremely neat in her stall and uses only the space along the back wall for the toilet. The last 2 nights, she is leaving a few puddles randomly around the stall, plus has stomped little bits of manure all over. What's that all about?

I am wondering a couple of things?

- does she have an infection like a UTI? She is acting normal in every other way and is bright eyed and perky.

- is she not pregnant and in heat? (We have no stallion here)

- is this normal at a late stage of pregnancy? She was pasture bred so we can only watch closely. She seems to have the start of an udder with a pouch of edema in front of it, and I am pretty sure I had observed foal movement earlier on, not so much now. Biting at sides a lot the last month. Though the vet did palpate her and said she was open back in November (we had been told March 14 was the due date, so the vet was looking for a pregnancy 3 months more advanced than what this is).

These mares!!!!!! OH! Help--if you have any ideas, please share.

 

[Jill]

Not an expert yet and have only had four foals born here, but I did notice that my girls were pooping "around" the stall much more when they were close to foaling time.

 

[Lucky-C-Acres-Minis]

Our mares get untidy as they draw nearer to foaling because the foal is so big it doesn't leave much room for her to hold her urine/poo and with the baby bouncing around in there it presses against the bladder making her have to pee more often too..

Do you have any pictures of your gal?

 

[CrescentMinis]

I also meant to mention this is her first full term pregnancy, lost last year's foal at 10 months, before I bought her.

Here are a couple of pictures:

Back view (Annie is the horse farther back)...

Lying down...

Side view...

And udder (used to be wrinkly and nothing at all...so this is a small development)...

 

[muffntuf]

Has been moved recently to near a stallion or gelding? Have you moved her stall mats around or her around who she normally houses with?

I would keep an eye on her. She could be...

I don't think UTI is suspect here, she looks normal and healthy.

 

[CrescentMinis]

Thank you for the responses!

No boys anywhere near us (OK there are 2 geldings to the west of us, but there are at least 10 acres of space between us and them, and no one can see each other).

No changes around here to speak of, other than the little 2 year old chestnut pinto filly is new a week ago. I brought her home when I took another mare out to be bred.

 

[muffntuf]

Was the mare you took for breeding this mare's bff?

 

[CrescentMinis]

Good question, MuffnTuff........they have been together a lot over the last year. That was a week ago, and she started this stuff up the last 2 nights. She did have a few cow pies the day I took her pal away, but seemed to settle back down by that evening.

 

[Reijel's Mom]

Not an expert yet and have only had four foals born here, but I did notice that my girls were pooping "around" the stall much more when they were close to foaling time.

Only 1 baby here - but same thing happened with my mare.

 

[Lucky-C-Acres-Minis]

Well she sure looks preggo to me!

 

[shelly]

I'm no expert on minis either...both my foals were from full size mare, but she sure looks pregnant to me!!!

Do you have any idea of a due date? She looks about 10-11 months along from the pics and with the udder starting...keep an eye on her and I suggest having the vet come back out again just to be sure.

 

[Keri]

She looks pregnant to me too.

Just watch her.

Biting their sides is also an indication of ulcers. Just a thought.

 

[love_casper]

well she certainly LOOKS pregnant!

Hoping all goes well.