Problems & Situations Left AND Right!!!

[Little Wolf Ranch]

Before I get started, let me first say that if you are wanting to read my post you better grab your pants and hold on tight because it's going to be a rough ride! Anyways, below is everything that I have came across in the past 48 hours. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

POSSIBLY PREGNANT TWO YEAR OLD FILLY

I was gone in the summer of 2009 for several weeks and I trusted my best friend, who has cared for my horses in the past 4 years while I have been away and has always done a good job, to take care of my horses for me while I was gone. Anyways, my whole family was out of state for about a month and half for family issues and my best friend was the one to take care of my little herd. The way I had farm set up at the time, two girls were in with my stallion, one 2008 model girl named "Allula" by herself and my other three colts were by themselves. Well, two nights ago my friend came to me and said she needed to have a heart-to-heart with me. I figured maybe she had gotten pregnant, was getting married, etc. ----> NOT what she was about to say. Turns out, she got "cramped for time" and so she decided to put my 2008 model girl in with the other girls and my herd sire so she only had to throw out hay in two paddocks and not three. She said for the whole month they were set up that way SOOO now I am stuck with just finding out she could possibly be bred.

Is it even possible for a 2008 model filly to conceive/go into heat during 2009? I have never seen her in heat but cannot guarantee that she hasn't come into heat. Anyways, I have her seperated into the pen of mares that "should" be pregnant and thus are away from any fescue whatsoever. I am covering my basis and I have put her on what my "should be pregnant mares". I am so worried and when I first found out, I busted out crying! I was planning on breeding her until 2011 because I REALLY wanted to show her this year

She's just now gotten so great with handling and I'm so disappointed. If she is pregnant, is there any way that I could even possibly have the foal registered? Both are AMHR only.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"SHOULD BE BRED" MARES MAYBE NOT SO BRED?

To start off, Missy and Sassy were pasture bred from June to September of 2009 to two different stallions. Missy is a maiden mare and this will be her first foal. Sassy is a proven mare and the previous owner has already told me that she never did get all that big during pregnancy but always had a nice full bag a few weeks before birth. Problem is, my stallion is in the pen next to them (no way for them to breed through the fence) but I have noticed that Sassy has been showing possible heat signs to him by peeing, raising her tail and the occassional "wink". She even presents her butt to him on occassion. Missy has only "winked" at couple of times but is this something that should make me think that they are not indeed pregnant? Previous owner has said that this did not sound normal for Sassy so what would you think?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MY FIRST CASE OF CHOKE ON MY FARM

The same filly that may possibly be pregnant experienced choke last night. She had apparently been so excited over her feed that she took too big of a bite and just couldn't get it all down. It was alfalfa pellets 1/4" size. To make a long story short, vet came out, we put a tube down her throat and flushed it out. $250 later. . . . .He gave her some banamine last night and then a dose for this morning. Also gave me two days worth of antibiotics. He suggested that her feed be wetted down and a little mushy before feeding her as well as adding some large stones in the bucket to make her slow down. Anything else that I should be doing to make her more comfortable?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"COCOSOYA" PRODUCT CALLED EQUI OMEGA COMPLEX

After hearing about all the good things about cocosoya, I decided to look further into it. My horses don't like oil products so I was hoping for either pellets or powder. I was made aware that the same company that offers cocosoya offers Equi Omega Complex so I bought it yesterday and the great news is that ALL my horses love it even my super duper picky eaters. I have a few that are underweight and I am feeding them 1oz. twice daily and the others in good weight I want to add shine to their coat so I am giving them 1/2oz. twice daily. Does this sound about right? Can you tell me your experiences about equi omega complex? So far I really love it I am just praying that it puts weight on because I have been let down by so many products so far in hopes that it would cause weight gain. About how many pounds would be normal for a miniature to gain on equi omega complex over 30 days?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I swear - my life has been so hectic and busy these past two days that I wanted to lose my mind, but my Minis and my family are keeping me going strong. I love everyone here on LILBEGINNINGS and I look to all of you for so much advice, I look to y'all for advice that I may find questionable from my veterinarian

.

Just as a side note I just wanted to say. . . .

[SIZE=36pt]I LOVE LILBEGINNINGS!!![/SIZE]

 

[MBhorses]

my heart goes out to you and your minis

pray all turns out for you and your minis

 

[Mominis]

Oh Katie! I am so sorry to hear how tough things are for you. For your 2008 filly, when your vet was out to take care of her choke, did you happen to have him check to see if her hymen is intact? If not, to save yourself some worry, maybe having him pop out for a quick visit and have her checked out. If the hymen is not present, then the cost of an ultrasound may save you all of the worry and determine if she is carrying.

As far as Sassy and Missy are concerned, I have heard that if a mare is showing signs of heat while in foal that the foal will be a filly (and we had one at a barn I was in at one time that was a real hootchie, even though she was absolutely pregnant). I know it's an old wives' tale, but I saw with my own eyes this mare showing definate signs of heat and later foaled a very healthy filly. So you may still be okay with Sassy and Missy both.

Choke is terrifying! I will never forget when I was 15 and my yearling choked. To this day I refuse to feed pelleted feeds because of that incident. Instead of putting rocks in the feed bucket, I used to take one of the smaller stall sized salt blocks and throw them on the ground (usually several times) to break them into big pieces. That's what I put in the feeder to slow my colt down because he was a real piglet at feeding time. I totally feel for you. That must have been awful for you to have her choke on top of her possibly being a young mother.

I wish I could offer some sort of help on the Equi-Omega Complex, but I've never tried it. I'm sold on CocoSoya Oil. With our new guy, this will be my first try with the CocoSoya Ultra SP, which is a granular formula as opposed to the Oil. But I hope to hear how you lke the Equi-Omega.

You and your horses will all be in my prayers tonight. After the week you've had, you deserve a hot bath, a good book, and a nice cup of cocoa. Best wishes to you.

 

[Farina]

I am so sorry for your rough times.

We had a mare three years ago she signed heat also. Five months later a really nice healthy filly was born. That filly died by tragic accident last summer, so we breed her again.

Now she should be carrying and she signs heat. I hope again for a filly...

Perhaps the former owner doesn't watch the mare closely so he didn't see or she had had colts...

I hope your 2008 filly isn't carrying but to be sure let your vet take a look.

 

[Rocky1]

Give your filly Lutacite(sry my spelling sucks) it's a shot to give horses that *may* be bred and gets them to abort the fetus. If she's not preggers then the shot won't hurt her, but if she is and you don't want the fetus, get rid of it...easy solution.

 

[Frankie]

I hope you did scream,,,it always helps!!!

I hope the filly is doing better and I wish you the best of luck with her. Did the vet check her to be in foal while out there? Maybe that would put your mind at ease.

 

[weerunner]

I believe it would be too late for the abortion shot, but you should definitely have her checked by a vet to see if she has been bred or get a weefoal test. The 120 day test would definitely show you if she was bred back in June/July and pregnant. I sure hope she was too young to be in heat and get pregnant. She's too young for that, I've got a 2008 filly or my own breeding that I also want to breed in 2011, that will be soon enough for her and gives me time to show her this coming year and some of next year.

amanda

 

[Little Wolf Ranch]

Thanks guys so very much! I knew coming to LILBEGINNINGS members for support would help out a lot.

I still feel so bad for my little filly Allula! She is such a hoot to be around but only likes women, apparently she is feminist! While the vet was out I did mention it to him but he seems to think that she was a bit too young at the time to have been cycling and told me not to worry but if I wanted to be safe, just to take her away from all fescue and put her in with my bred mares and put her on the same diet, which I have. Unfortunaetly my vet is 6'5" with monstrous hands so there isn't a way he can palpate or do an ultrasound.

I thought about ordering weefoal but I would have to order both since I don't know her breeding date so I've decided just to play the waiting game.

Is there any possible way that the resulting foal could be registered with AMHR? I know the exact (and only possible) stallion she was bred to and the dates. . .?

That is very interesting about mares showing heat while pregnant and carrying fillies. . . .I have a new refound hope

. Sassy's previous owner has said that she's had both fillies and colts but never had a stallion near the mares so she wouldn't have known if she would have shown signs of heat or not. . .BUMMER! Anyways, I plan on continuing keeping them on their bred mare diet until either a foal is born or it is 100% obvious they aren't in foal.

Thanks guys so much - you have no idea how much I appreciate you guys!

 

[Sillylil'filly]

I wish i could agree with your vet, but sadly i have seen a 7 month old Arabian filly bred by an 8 month old colt because the management was too lazy (or stupid) to separate them when they should have.

The resulting foal survived, but both dam and foal are considerably smaller than they 'should' have been. Best of luck to you! I hope everything turns out for the best!

 

[mdegner]

Deleted

 

[Dona]

As far as Sassy and Missy are concerned, I have heard that if a mare is showing signs of heat while in foal that the foal will be a filly (and we had one at a barn I was in at one time that was a real hootchie, even though she was absolutely pregnant). I know it's an old wives' tale, but I saw with my own eyes this mare showing definate signs of heat and later foaled a very healthy filly. So you may still be okay with Sassy and Missy both.

Welllllll......I once owned a gorgeous buckskin mare who would ALWAYS show signs of heat after being bred & settled in the spring, & actually allow the stallion to breed her all summer. She had 3 colts in a row!

 

[sedeh]

We routinely have yearling fillies--born between april and june--in with a stallion and have never had any problems. Odds are very good there is no problem with her being pregnant. I've never even heard of a yearling getting pregnant, has anyone else?

Personally I think that's a scary "routine". Once the fillies are weaned I seperate them from the boys. There have been multiple posts over the years on Lil Beginnings about yearlings gettig pregnant! See the post right before yours.

Katie I'm sorry your friend was too lazy to care for your animals properly. You're lucky no one got injured. As for ways of slowing your filly's eating down I've become a big fan of the Busy Snacker feed bags. They can't get more than a few strands of hay out at a time. Good luck with all your critters!!

 

[Little Wolf Ranch]

Oh my goodness, a 7 MONTH OLD FILLY??? Oh my goodness that's horrible. I am hoping that she isn't but I guess we will just have to wait and see! I still can't believe my own best friend could possibly betray me like that. Obviously she won't be caring for my horses again.

I will have to look into the Busy Snackers for her - she's such a ham!

I am praying so hard for her to be open so I can show her locally this year. I am expecting her to pull through for me so she can show her pretty stuff off this summer!

LAST MINUTE THOUGHT:

Should I try to contact AMHR and see if I should add her to my stallion's report that I sent in? I thought mares had to be atleast 2 years old for AMHR to be able to register the resulting foal? Not exactly sure what to do about this. . .I'm a newbie in this aspect!

 

[rabbitsfizz]

1) NEVER give a Lutalyse injection without getting a vet's advice. NEVER.

End of. Never attempt aborting a foal over around six weeks (vet would advise on actual timing as it does depend on how great the risk of carrying the foal is against how great the risk of aborting)but I personally would never give a lutalyse injection myself, anyway, If you need the jab, you need a Vet.

2) Yearling fillies can and do often get in foal. No idea where the scary, scary "management" ideas came from, but people, please DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!!!

3) Some lines of mare just come into season when pregnant , this has nothing to do with the sex of their foals, it has to do with the lines they are from, and it appears to be hereditary. Other than this, although mares do sometimes come into season when pregnant, it is not the norm. There are, however, loads of less invasive methods of ascertaining pregnancy than internalling the mare.

4) you need to get yourself a new friend. Seriously, anyone who will knowingly throw away the instruction list five minutes after the people have left is not worthy of the name "friend"....especially as, had she told you as soon as you got back, you could have had the filly injected, whether or not she was in foal, just to be safe.

 

[Little Wolf Ranch]

I completely agree with you RABBITSFIZZ! She does not deserve the name of friend. Besides, what was the trouble of walking to one more paddock?

If she couldn't have done it for whatever reason, she should have said so and not just thrown my filly out with the mares and stallion.

I personally wasn't going to go with the Lutalayse injection and my vet had told me the same thing about it not being safe after 6 weeks. He looked my filly over and said she was in good condition and health and if she is in foal, it shouldn't bring her down too badly but he has suggested that I put her in with my bred mares, away from all fescue and onto the diet that my bred mares are on. I will be treating her as if she is pregnant, it can't hurt her - I'm sure she'd enjoy all the extra attention.

I am thinking about getting weefoal and testing them around March. . .we will have to see how everything goes.

I appreciate everyone on here, y'all are great!

 

[rabbitsfizz]

I think, do not take my word for this I am not certain, but by March I think she will be over the WeeFoal limit??

Apart from that I have heard good things of this simple method and plan on importing a load (from source in Australia, it's cheaper for me!) for next year.

Since it seems likely that she is in foal, I would feed her as if this were a given, as she is going to need a lot of feeding up if she is to get past this.

I accidentally (I was going through a really vague minded time of life, but still, no excuse) put a two year old in foal and I know I fed her differently, and she was not even particularly small, and I left her out of foal the next year.

Accidents do happen, to the best of us, but it's the not telling me I would find hard to forgive.

 

[uwharrie]

Not sure but I think Parents have to be at least 3 when the offspring is born to be registered.

 

[MBhorses]

Not sure but I think Parents have to be at least 3 when the offspring is born to be registered.

So AMHA a filly and stud colt has to be 3 yrs old when the foal arrives?So for the filly who was 7 mos old and the colt was 8 mos the foal was not able to be register?

AMHR a filly and colt has to be 3 yrs old when the foals arrives are the foal is not register. Is this right?

 

[wingnut]

{{{{hugs}}}} What a rough couple of days!!!!! I hope your filly is NOT pregnant but that your mare is! Keep us posted!

 

[WJS]

Hello, if it helps your not the only one going through the treadmill!

lost my beautiful filly to colic on Monday, Tuesday my vet informs me my stallion may have cussons and on wednesday I found a large satsuma size lump on my favoriate mares belly...

on a positve note, I have had tremendous support from really good friends and family.

I hope things settle down for you very soon.

with kind regards and best wishes

WJS