# phantom prengancy



## cilla (Mar 18, 2013)

Hi i have a sheltland mare six years old that i got in december. She has baged up and is skirting milk . Her bag is big but not hard. I got her scaned last week and was told she is empty. Why has she milk.


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## AnnaC (Mar 18, 2013)

Hi Cilla and welcome to the Nutty Nursery! It does sound as though your little mare is having a phantom pregnancy - sometimes it happens. Do you know if she has had foals before and also if she was run with a stallion Spring last year.

Some scans do make 'mistakes' but, if she was actually pregnant, then I would think there would be something to 'see' at this stage, especially as she is running milk.

Could we possibly have a few pictures of her?


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## cilla (Mar 18, 2013)

Will try and put up some photos. She has milk for over a week now so i was thinking i would see some thing by now if she was in foal. It was an external scan i had done if she was in foal i was thinking she would be well along with milk so it foal should be seen. Have you heard of this before ? I have never had it happen before


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## Eagle (Mar 18, 2013)

Yes one of my girls did it 2 years ago, her tummy looked like she had a foal in it and she started to grow an udder and gave milk. I was convinced she was due in about a few weeks until my stallion told me different.


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## targetsmom (Mar 18, 2013)

Yes, this happened to me in 2007 with a mare that had been confirmed pregnant by ultrasound. My understanding is that this can only happen if the mare was pregnant and lost it, probably early and no one noticed. I was testing the milk and it went half way across the color scale and then just stopped. An external U/S was done to confirm she was empty and then moments later she cam into heat! That would have been right on schedule for her foal heat ......


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## Eagle (Mar 18, 2013)

Yes now that you have reminded me my mare had aborted too, I just thought that she had taken again as she was in with my stallion but obviously not. Her milk progressed on the strips up to 7.0 and then stopped there. Once she went over what would have been her due date she dried up.


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## Eagle (Mar 19, 2013)

ok girls so here is a little pony porn ( cover the kids eyes)

This is how I found out my mare WASN'T about to have a baby.









As you can see, he was a happy bunny


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## cilla (Mar 19, 2013)

Thanks for all the info. Ya i plan to put he in foal this year so will see if my stallion can take her mind of things. I have two mares in foal due in a few weeks. So will be on looking for more advice from the pros. This will be my first year foaling had one mare in foal last year but lost both mare and foal. Broke my heart. So i am one worried mummy this year.


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## cilla (Mar 19, 2013)

Can someone please tell me how i go about putting photos up here thanks


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## cilla (Apr 27, 2013)

Hi i was asking awhile back about my mare that had a phantom prengancy. She was scaned not in foal. She still bags up from time to time and will have milk. Blood work came back normal. Just want to ask if ye think putting her in foal this year would be a good or bad idea. Was going to leave her but also wounder would it get the phantom prengancy out of her system. Dont know if she will come into season if the mad mare thinks she is already in foal. Advice welcome


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##  (Apr 27, 2013)

As long as she's healthy and at a good weight, she should do fine. Her cycles may be a bit off so you'll have to watch carefully. Are you going to pasture breed her or hand breed her?


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## targetsmom (Apr 27, 2013)

Our mare that had the false or phantom pregnancy started cycling on her own, as I mentioned earlier on this thread, so not sure what to tell you. A vet could Ultrasound her and tell you what stage of her cycle she is at and possibly give her a shot to bring her into heat. We were never able to get our mare bred again and found her a living home instead, but I am not sure that was related to the false pregnancy.


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## Eagle (Apr 28, 2013)

One of my girls slipped a foal at 2 months but continued to think she was preggo. She produced milk and really had me fooled until a week after what would have been her due date and then she just went back into heat. I covered her and she gave birth to a live colt the following year.


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