# Do you think she's bred?



## ShaleenaKay (Jul 22, 2022)

I have a 12 hand bay tobiano mare who was in with my 34 1/2 inch leopard appaloosa stud from August 26th 2021- February 20th 2022. She was preg checked (palpated) May 6th 2022. Our equine vet said she was open. We took her to a stud June 17th-July 20th. She never came into heat. Her last heat was October 28th 2021. 

She's never had a foal before and never had a bag. Last night i noticed her nipples are bigger and she has a smallish bag. 

What do you guys think??


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## Standards Equine (Jul 25, 2022)

It's so hard to say. I've had mares in for live cover with my stallion that were open but didn't come into a good standing heat over more than a month. They lived WITH the stallion during this time. And no breeding. The size difference might have been preventative for the little stallion, or she may just be really stoic with her heats or something else may be going on. Depending on where she might have been in a pregnancy, the vet may not have been able to palpate a fetus. The uterus will drop away with the mass of a baby keeping it out of reach of palpation or even ultrasound until the fetus matures and grows. 
There are SO MANY possible issues with a mare that can cause them to not get pregnant. I would suggest that you take her back to the vet in another month or so and see if they can palpate at that time, or do an ultrasound of her ovaries and culture the uterus. You can talk about doing a hormone injection to cause her to come into season as well. 

Best wishes with your breeding!!!


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## ShaleenaKay (Jul 25, 2022)

I agree! She's always went into heat every month. Never had any issues with that. We had her ovaries and culture done in March. Everything was good, no cysts or anything else. 

We had another mare preg checked with ultrasound the same day. Vet said she was open too. I knew better by by her belly. She just foaled 2 days ago! 

If this mare is bred, she'd be due sometime in September. I'll see how she looks in August. Might be taking her back in to see if she's got a foal hidding in there.


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## LostandFound (Jul 25, 2022)

Could be the start of something. It's hard to know for sure, but you will probably get a good idea if you take pics again in a week and compare.


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## ShaleenaKay (Sep 22, 2022)

Here's her bag a few days ago but it went down again (2nd picture)


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## LostandFound (Sep 23, 2022)

I don't know. If that was the start of a bag 2 months ago you should see more development by now. That first picture looks like she is starting but the second looks the same as 2 months ago. If she had been bred before I would say not but that seems like a lot for a mare that's never had a foal.


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## ShaleenaKay (Sep 23, 2022)

Yes that was her bag 2 months ago. It keeps going up and down. She's never had a foal before.


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## ShaleenaKay (Sep 23, 2022)

Belly pictures


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## LostandFound (Sep 23, 2022)

Belly doesn't show much, but that's hard to tell in a maiden. Since she was big enough to actually palpate I'm going to guess that no, she is not bred. She would have been 7 months then and it's hard to miss something that big. If it were me, I would have the vet out again. Palpate, confirm if she is open or if they missed a foal last time, and then maybe there is some bloodwork or testing that they can do to figure out why she didn't take or come back into heat. And why she is developing an udder. You can save yourself a lot of worry and sleepless nights if you know for sure.


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## ShaleenaKay (Sep 23, 2022)

I agree! We are going to have the vet out soon. For blood work another ultrasound and palpitation.


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