What is your experience with mares whom have "slipped" a foal?

[T.C. Miniature Horse Farm]

Hello,I have a mare who has thrown a life,healthy baby colt,beautiful I might add,it was the year before lasts foal(as I gave her a break,thought I might show her in 05') We took her to breed to this beautiful stallion,and she took,well around 3 days ago,I saw her in heat,now keep in mind I tease them throughout thier pregnancy and this is the first time she come in, it also was a very long heat on which she was bred, the foal would have been 4 months into pregnancy. My questions are, will she have problems from now on out? Should I have found any part of the fetus,or was it really too early? Do you think this could be a false heat? Do you think she will get prego this time around? Just lots of questions I am asking,and looking for answears,thanks in advice you guys,I am really

: about this! Lastly the stud is proven,and has mares for sure in foal that have stayed in foal this year,as well as last year.

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

Ug... when you read that, there are a LOT of questions there!!

Let's see if I can't try to answer some...

Will she have problems from now on out? I doubt it, unless something HAPPENED to cause her to abort that would be a perminent problem. That's not exactly common though.

Should I have found any part of the fetus,or was it really too early? Well, probably not. Its so easy to just muck a stall and throw it away without noticing, its so small. Contrary to popular belief, a fetus is NOT "reabsorbed". The fluids are, but the fetus, if its too big to be removed cell by cell, is removed through the cervix.

Do you think this could be a false heat? Could be! No way to tell without an ultrasound though. You could also have a speculum exam done. They are dirt cheap, and if her cervix agrees with her behavior, chances are she's open.

Do you think she will get prego this time around? Unless something bad happened, sure! Why not?

There are so many things that have to happen perfectly in order for a foal to be born I wouldn't worry TOO much if something went wrong and the foal was lost. I mean, its horrible she lost it, but I wouldn't worry about her health. You might consider picking a different stallion. As one of my vet coworkers says, some mares don't accept some stallion's genetics. For some reason they just don't mesh. But that's usually much earlier, like they NEVER take rather than loose the foal at a later date.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

To reassure you, annoying though it is, this is the usual time for a mare to lose if she is going to.

It is unlikely that you would find anything, the whole thing breaks down and a lot of it is "reabsorbed" as it used to be called- what is actually ejected is usually undetectable.

Once, and only once, I have had a mare actually abort a three month foetus complete.

That mare got back in foal no problem and the abortion was "just one of those things"

By the laws of the Universe it is always the ones you particularly want that are lost!!

On the up side, believe me, it is better to lose the foal now than have a full term abortion, that is tragic.

 

[Bluerocket]

If you are concerned about your mare - have your vet give your mare a breeding soundness exam and do a culture - there could be nothing wrong, or she could have an infection that needs to be cleaned up before she would carry the foal to term.

 

[HGFarm]

I would personally do a culture on the mare and have her flushed, just in case she picked up a low grade infection from the time she previously foaled. Ask your vet what they would recommend then.

She could also just be having a hormone imbalance this year.... I had a mare, who was a good broodmare, do that one time. Put her on regumate that year and she never had the problem since and has had many foals since.

I would start with your vet and see what they recommend.

 

[T.C. Miniature Horse Farm]

Ug... when you read that, there are a LOT of questions there!!

Let's see if I can't try to answer some...

Will she have problems from now on out? I doubt it, unless something HAPPENED to cause her to abort that would be a perminent problem. That's not exactly common though.

Should I have found any part of the fetus,or was it really too early? Well, probably not. Its so easy to just muck a stall and throw it away without noticing, its so small. Contrary to popular belief, a fetus is NOT "reabsorbed". The fluids are, but the fetus, if its too big to be removed cell by cell, is removed through the cervix.

Do you think this could be a false heat? Could be! No way to tell without an ultrasound though. You could also have a speculum exam done. They are dirt cheap, and if her cervix agrees with her behavior, chances are she's open.

Do you think she will get prego this time around? Unless something bad happened, sure! Why not?

There are so many things that have to happen perfectly in order for a foal to be born I wouldn't worry TOO much if something went wrong and the foal was lost. I mean, its horrible she lost it, but I wouldn't worry about her health. You might consider picking a different stallion. As one of my vet coworkers says, some mares don't accept some stallion's genetics. For some reason they just don't mesh. But that's usually much earlier, like they NEVER take rather than loose the foal at a later date.

Sorry for the ton of questions! So it IS possible that this time around she could get in foal,I think I will have an ultrasound done first,just to make sure!! I figured it would have been too tiny to notice,thanks for the advice!

To reassure you, annoying though it is, this is the usual time for a mare to lose if she is going to.

It is unlikely that you would find anything, the whole thing breaks down and a lot of it is "reabsorbed" as it used to be called- what is actually ejected is usually undetectable.

Once, and only once, I have had a mare actually abort a three month foetus complete.

That mare got back in foal no problem and the abortion was "just one of those things"

By the laws of the Universe it is always the ones you particularly want that are lost!!

On the up side, believe me, it is better to lose the foal now than have a full term abortion, that is tragic.

Yes I have had one mare abort full term ,well lacked about 3 weeks,but still yet, and I'd do anything if I could have saved him,and the mare the heartache,if they gotta loose one I prefer it now,as to later..

and to everyone else,thanks ya'll are a big help! :aktion033: