Ripped off Again

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Dandy

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Well, looks like I've been ripped off again. I think. Anyway, I bought a mare supposedly bred, got the certificate and all and you could express quite a bit of milk so I thought Yeah Team, she's close to due. That was last March. No sign of milk since and not much growth. (She wasn't big to start with) Called the folks I got her from to ask if she might have possibly lost the foal real close to when they sold her to me and was told that they had put the stallions in with mares late that year (my certificate showed April 15 to Nov 15). Her last foal was born May 2, 2004. So my question is, Can they have milk earlier and then not have milk and still have a foal? I bought two suppposedly bred mares from the same people and the other one came in heat and doesn't appear there is a young one in there either. The year before I bought two mares, one supposedly bred...waited months..no foal. It's almost to where I want to just raise my own mares. I know there is no real guarantee that a mare is bred, but it would seem to me if they lost a foal, the people should know. Don't mean to sound bitter, it's just disappointing to put these mares up, and monitor them for months for no reason.
 
Are you sure it was really milk that came out?

I'm not sure this will be useful, but I know that years ago I thought a mare I own was pregnant. She wasn't (which was actually a relief). She had foaled before I bought her, and we thought she was pregnant but happily to me, she wasn't. However, as I fed and fed and fed her to maintain the supposed foal, she gained weight but never had a foal. But, I could express "milk" from her all along. It was opaque, not really like milk, but not the color of water either. She produced this even though she was not in foal and had weaned her foal almost a year prior...
 
Jill said:
Are you sure it was really milk that came out? 
I'm not sure this will be useful, but I know that years ago I thought a mare I own  was pregnant.  She wasn't (which was actually a relief).  She had foaled before I bought her, and we thought she was pregnant but happily to me, she wasn't.  However, as I fed and fed and fed her to maintain the supposed foal, she gained weight but never had a foal.  But, I could express "milk" from her all along.  It was opaque, not really like milk, but not the color of water either.  She produced this even though she was not in foal and had weaned her foal almost a year prior...

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Well it was white like milk, not sticky and not what you sometimes get from mares. And it was a lot. And yeah, she probably gained weight from my feeding program. The other mare from the previous year was kept up 3 months past her so called due date.
 
There are a lot of others here who know way more than I do about pregnant mares. Hopefully they can give some insight.

In my situation, I ended up with what I thought were two pregnant mares (and really didn't even want one of them pregnant... long story). One gained like I thought she should (the pg one), and the other didn't really "look" pregnant. She wasn't, but by the time I realized she wasn't going to foal (by the time she'd been here 13 mos....) she was like a mini hippo. Even a hippo-like color.

I hope it works out. I can only imagine how disappointing to wait for a foal so long, and then not get one.
 
Maybe they didn't pull last years foal off of her until they sent her to you. That would explain her having white milk. You should have your vet out to check her. Good luck.
 
I know that has to be terribly disappointing, but it sometimes happens. Sounds like you have had more than your share of it.

I have been told that unless they are ultrasounded, don't consider them bred. Even then, sometimes things happen.

I'm not good at judging due dates. I sold one in late March that I thought sure would have a foal within a month. She finally had it in late July.
 
I guess I would have to "assume" that the sellers "thought" the mare was bred.

I ultrasound my mares in foal for that reason if I am going to sell them.

Things can still happen though. I have a mare for sale now that I ultrasounded, early, and then followed up with another ultrasound "just to be sure" that all was progressing normally. She will be due early Apr 06 and is past 90 days bred, so all "should" be good. However I can't contol what happens when she leaves here,,,,, so I can't "guarantee" a live foal.

But I do KNOW she is pregnant now, when she was bred and an approx time to foal.

oops edited to add that I do have one mare on my sale page "exposed" for sale, my vet tried ultrasounding her in the past and she was VERY "tight" we managed it then (she does not have a really good foaling history and we were checking things out also cultured her to find everything "normal") but she did not recommend trying it on a regular basis for this mare, so she's a 'wait and see" girl.
 
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I know there is no real guarantee that a mare is bred,
A vet could have verified if your mare was in foal once you got her home....................... I am not saying the people you bought from are like this but I have known of several horses that were supposeably sold as bred..... Since I know some of these breeders that would mean the mare was in with the stallion but no I did not see him breed her................ We have been in this business since 86 & I have learned that if you are buying a mare in foal then you must be willing to accept the mare only for the price paid..................... Since your mares are not in foal I am assuming you will be looking to breed them again. I suggest a vet exam to determine if your mares are sound & breedable.. I would not want you to go through the waiting again. Like the people I know that bought a mare without a uterus or the buyer that was sold a mare that kept having abortions & could not have live foals......... Having said that travel does stress mares & they could have lost them.
 
Well..here is what happened to us..we had a similiar experience and the mare ended up open..the prev. year foal was being weaned by selling the mare to us..and she was with other mares..One had a foal on the ground..this little stinker was stealing milk from her..therefore stimulating the milkflow..
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Tell me if I am wrong, but you bought her "bred". You said you got a certificate saying she was bred? Well, is there anything on there that says if mare looses foal, a breed back? I don't know.. But to me, it sounds like she isn't in foal. There are lots of reasons she could have been lactating... Hoping you the best!
 
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_minihorses4ever_ said:
Tell me if I am wrong, but you bought her "bred". You said you got a certificate saying she was bred? Well, is there anything on there that says if mare looses foal, a breed back? I don't know.. But to me, it sounds like she isn't in foal. There are lots of reasons she could have been lactating... Hoping you the best!
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A breeding certificate means she was exposed to a stallion, not a guarantee that she is in foal unless that is spelled out in a contract.
 
Songcatcher said:
_minihorses4ever_ said:
Tell me if I am wrong, but you bought her "bred". You said you got a certificate saying she was bred? Well, is there anything on there that says if mare looses foal, a breed back? I don't know.. But to me, it sounds like she isn't in foal. There are lots of reasons she could have been lactating... Hoping you the best!
439853[/snapback]

A breeding certificate means she was exposed to a stallion, not a guarantee that she is in foal unless that is spelled out in a contract.

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Thanks.. I knew it was something like that.. I am new to all this breeding stuff
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thanks for the responses. In the case of the mare I bought the previous year I was told she was untrasounded in Oct as being in foal with a due date of April. I bought her in NOv and the ride was only 2 hrs to my place. I kept her up until the following July. No baby, no miscarriage either. I chalked it up to just a mistake with the ultra sound. The other two mares I bought at a sale that I had been warned about before and after the fact. I knew there was no guarantee, but I fully believe they knew the one mare had lost her foal cause she had so much milk and was added to the sale. The ride to my house was just 3 hours and both mares were kept up until last week. This person also told me when I called back that they had sent some mares who were messed up inside and could not have babies to a sale in Tennessee. I was told they didn't take them themselves so they would not have to lie to people about the mares! I honestly don't know why someone would do something like that and be so bold as to admit it! BUT, you always take a chance at an auction. So, I guess I can't really blame anyone. I was just so looking forward to the baby from one of the mares.

These are young mares and I don't believe there is anything physically wrong with them, I just think they knew they had lost their foals. I've got them with my stallion now and will see what happens next year. I could be full of "poop" too and they still thought the girls were pregnant. I think I'll just end on that note and chalk it up to bad luck.
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I'm so sorry you didn't get your foal! Truthfully, if I buy a mare that is suppose to be bred then I usually have her palpated or ultrasounded prior to buying her. I know it is an added expense but then you are absolutely certain and in the long run, it is a small price to pay for peace of mind. Any outside mares I breed or my own mares I sell, I have that mare ultrasounded prior to leaving my place - so much can happen to that foal prior to being born that I want my clients knowing that mare left my place pregnant so there are no hard feelings.

SHaron
 

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