Bandy's Foaling Thread - Round 2!

[Brody]

Hello All,

I'm new to the forum, as I only discovered it online a few days ago, but I think I am addicted already. I have learned a lot from others posts and threads, and hope to gain some further insight by sharing my mare on this thread. I have a lot of experience foaling full size equines, but this will be only my second mini foaling. The first one was by this same mare, Bandy, eleven years ago.

'Bluemel's Bandy Beauty' (aka Bandy), my mare, is a 35" pinto and is bred to 'GRF Designer Starry Knight' (aka Knight) - who is a 29.5" black stallion. I have two potential breed dates to calculate from - as I bred her through two heat cycles. Since she came back into heat a second time, I assumed she didn't catch the first time and have been going off the last breed date - but due to her udder development and current size I am thinking she may have settled the first time and then had a false heat the second time... She is 17 years old and this is her second foal. She had her first foal 11 years ago when she was 6. Her two breed dates are 6/29/13 (which would make her 301 days today), and 7/21/13 (which would make her 279 days today). With her first foal she went 310 days, and so I am estimating a due date of either May 5th (first breed date) or May 27th (second breed date).

She started bagging up a little over two weeks ago, I first felt a difference on April 10th, and her udders doubled in size over night this past Thursday (4/24). Her vulva has had no changes at all yet. I had the vet out for pre-foaling vaccinations and a check-up this past week and the vet estimated maybe 3 more weeks or so until delivery. So, based on the vet's guess and my mares udder development, I am now leaning toward the earlier due date and thinking I might have a foal in the next 1-2 weeks. I should also note that it is hard for me to go off of foaling signs from her previous foal, as she had almost no udder development with her first foal until the night the baby came. (Fortunately she is giving me a bit more warning this time)!

At this point, I would like to ask those of you much more experienced than me your opinions - does she look 1-2 weeks away from delivery to you? Also curious about others thoughts on size - as the stallion is about 6" shorter than the mare I'm expecting a smaller foal - and just curious as to size guesses people might have. Last, with the stallion being black do you think there is any chance of my mare's blue eyes being passed down to the foal?

Thanks all - and below you can see photos of my mare that were taken today (4/26).

 

[eagles ring farm]

Our much more experienced aunties will be a better gauge for you to tell how close she is . I even ask them what they think

But I wanted to say welcome and that your mare is a beauty

The blue eyes should be in my experience from your mares type of pinto breeding

so I would think yes she can pass that on. again others more knowledgeable than me with color

But again you choose a great place for help

 

[AnnaC]

Hi and welcome to you and Brandy - what a pretty girl, good brood mare type too! I would say that you may well be seeing a new baby in a couple of weeks or so looking at her udder development. Yes her actual tummy size isn't that large, but she is a good roomy mare and it may be a small foal if it takes after Daddy (do you have a picture of him that you can post or does he belong to someone else, in which case you will need their permission?).

Really happy to have you join us here, please join in with all the threads, also read the pinned threads at the top of the page (lots of useful info there) and keep those pictures of Brandy coming so we can help you watch for any changes.

 

[Brody]

Hi Anna, the stallion does belong to someone else. I believe I can share the link to their website, though, right? If that is permissible then I will do that, otherwise he can be found easily by simply doing a google search for his name.

 

[Ryan Johnson]

Hey Brody , welcome ! Looking forward to seeing your mare thru her final few weeks before foaling . It's great on here , I also had a lot more experience with full size foaling , but I have found this to be the biggest wealth of knowledge when it comes to the Miniature horse breeding world .

Best of luck with Brandy

 

[Brody]

Thanks for the comments, it's great to have some reassurance about her likely foaling date. I'll plan on updating some new photos every few days, unless there are bigger changes, then I'll update photos more frequently.

Also here's a link to the stallion. I didn't realize, but he is for sale now and listed on the lil beginnings sale board. He is the first guy shown (the all black). His sire (Fallen Ash Farms Designer Label) and Dam (GRF Royal Star Starlight Shadow) are both listed on allbreedpedigree.com

Link: http://www.lilbeginnings.com/saleboard/adsDetails.php?adid=64565&page=1&catid=&keyword=

As asked, I'll share a little bit more about our animals - I only have two horses at the moment (of course with the third one on his/her way in the next couple weeks). As I have two very young children we decided to wait before getting more again as I simply wouldn't have the time to devote to more right now. In a few more years we'll definitely be building up the farm

. So, we have Bandy and her long time companion, Buddy, who is a 17 year old large size mini gelding. I've had these two since they were weanlings (so a little over 16 years).

We have just a small farmstead right now with some chickens and a couple pygmy goats (who are actually both due to kid about the same time as Bandy foals) and our time consuming garden. Within the next couple years we are planning to relocate and upgrade to a bigger property and expand our numbers. So, our farm is at its beginning right now.

 

[AnnaC]

I agree Diane - a good looking little lad - cant wait to see what he and Bandy produce!

 

[Brooke S.]

Looking forward to following this thread...I just love foaling threads!! Beautiful mare and stud, can't wait to see what the baby turns out to be. (hopefully blue eyes!!!)

 

[Brody]

Well, your thoughts on color have me hopeful! I don't have access to the studbook, but the stud's sire and dam are both listed on allbreedpedigree, and free to access. Below are the links to their pedigrees:

Stud's sire: http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/fallen+ash+farms+designer+label

Studs dam: http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/grf+royal+star+starlight+shadow

The dam's pedigree doesn't have any colors listed at all, but the sire's pedigree does - and included in there are a couple pintos and a black tobiano - so there is a bit of pinto coloring at least a few generations back.

Also, a brief update on Bandy - she is easily expressing milk now. It is still clear at this point, so I'll keep an eye out for a change. Her vulva and hind end have noticeably relaxed (pretty dramatic actually). I'll have to put some more photos later after I get some work done. Also, she spent most the day yesterday rolling and getting the baby into position. I went out and checked on her a couple times and her stomach was constantly changing shape - so I'm sure there was a lot of shifting going on yesterday.

 

[poniesrule]

Welcome Brody & Bandy! I am not a breeder, but a stalker of the foaling threads... Learning a ton without having hands on experience. I also have 2 young children and we are starting slowly like you. The experienced people here will be your best friends. I simply love reading all of the questions and answers, and of course seeing the happy little bundles. Best wishes for a safe foaling!

 

[Brody]

So a brief update.... as there isn't much to update right now. Bandy seems to be holding course for the moment and no real changes. Keeping a close eye on her and waiting for her milk to change. I was going to take some photos and update today, but I might have to wait until Thursday or Friday. We are getting a lot of rain right now - so I can't take the pictures outside, and I can't seem to get any decent pictures in the barn. I took a few but they are all pretty unclear - guess that's what happens when an iPad is your camera. So, as soon as we get a brief window of sunshine I'll get some more photos. Hopefully by then I'll have changes to update with!

 

[Ryan Johnson]

Good luck Brody, Sending what left of the Sunshine down under to you.

 

[vickie gee]

Welcome to you. I used to be a regular but have not let the mares breed now for the past few years so I don't come here very often anymore. Just want to say you are in good hands with these aunties although sometimes you will surely say "I will have one of whatever she is consuming." Long nights of waiting and watching tend to bring on delirium. Other than a great place for knowledge it is a great place for late night entertainment. Miss all you zany folks!

You were wondering about the size of the expected foal. I will say expect the unexpected. I have two full brothers in my herd. The sire around 31" and the dam is around 32" (Memphis and Faith). Aunties will likely remember JR who was my first born on the farm. He is around around 33" and then there was the last one, his little brother Elvis who is now 2 years old and would have to stand on his tippy toes to be 27".

So just dropped in to say hi to the aunties and good luck to you!

 

[AnnaC]

Hey Vickie - great to hear from you! As Diane says, it would be great if you could stick around and help us all through the rest of this foaling season. And YES a few updated pics would be fabulous.

Hows Bandy looking this morning - hopefully the weather will let you get some pics for us soon Brody.

 

[Brody]

Photo update:

First, thanks for the comments. I guess, Vickie, your conclusion is that I'll just have to wait and see to figure out how big the foal will be

. We finally had a break in the rain so I brought Bandy out for some grazing and a few photos. Below are a series of photos from this afternoon. Her udder definitely looks larger, but milk is still clear and hasn't changed yet. She is also a lot more uncomfortable today - as I was brushing her she tried to bite me as a brushed her sides. She hasn't ever tried to bite before (in all 17 years that I've had her) - so she is obviously having some pretty severe discomfort in her abdomen. Otherwise she is doing well, and we just have to keep waiting. Any and all thoughts on how things are progressing are much appreciated!

- Also, I don't know how to get all the photos to appear upright. They are all correct and vertical before I upload them, but some of them turn horizontal once I publish the post :/

 

[AnnaC]

I agree with Diane and think she has a little while to go yet (that's 'little' not 'long'!!) Baby needs to line up and her udder could fill a bit more so her teats separate. But she's making good progress and looking great.

 

[Brody]

Photo Update:

So, she is coming along, but it feels like she is sure taking her time now. When she started making making her udder April 10th I was sure I'd be welcoming a baby within a couple weeks. Obviously, Bandy feels the need to let this baby take its time. Today she is at either day 289 or day 320 gestation. Her milk is still clear and hasn't changed at all yet.

 

[AnnaC]

She certainly at the 320 days not the 289! Without reading back over all your posts,I am presuming that you have a safe stall ready for foaling, and you are stalling her at night? Now would be a good time to arrange some comfortable seating arrangement outside her stall - you really need to start thinking about watching her closely all night from now on - and make sure she is rarely out of sight of someone during the day. Things could move very fast at any time - a day or two or a few good rolls could line baby up and hey presto you are ready to go!! If one of my girls had a udder like that I wouldn't be leaving them for a second, even if it proved in the end that they still had another couple of weeks before they decided to give birth.

 

[Brody]

Thanks for the comments. Yes, Anna, I've got her foaling stall all ready. She has an 8 ft X 16ft indoor stall that I have been locking her up in at night for the past few weeks now. During the day the stall opens up to a small corral, and then I usually let her out on the pasture for a couple hours a day for some grazing and exercise. Having an infant and a toddler I am currently well equipped with a video baby monitor so I fixed the camera in her stall a couple weeks back and have the monitor set up next to the bed. Between my wife and I, one of us is up every couple hours at night with the baby - so it makes it easy to just look at the monitor and check how Bandy is doing. So - she doesn't get too much privacy these days! I have been a little lax about keeping watch at night the last few days, but I think I'll have a renewed vigilence starting tonight. Fortunately I am currently working from home so I am keeping a close eye out. I'm grateful for that as we also have two pygmy goats that are due to kid at any time and now a hen that should be hatching out chicks in about a week. So, I think we are going to be overcome with all sorts of babies before long! It is making me a bit anxious, though, I was thinking about going to the miniature horse auction in Greencastle on Saturday - but as it is a couple hour drive I am not sure if I want to travel that far from home!

 

[Brody]

Getting close! So, for a while this morning I thought the baby might be on its way as Bandy spent a good few hours getting up and down and and quite uncomfortable. At a couple points I was thinking she might be starting to labor. Things have calmed down for the past few hours - so I think she was just working on getting the baby into position. Her behavior today, though, has changed quite a bit so I don't think I'll be getting much sleep tonight! I let her out for a couple hours to graze and stretch her legs like I normally do. Today, however, she didn't roam too far and by the time I put her back in her corral she was quite sweaty. It is a bit warmer today than it has been, but I think she is working to get that baby shifted. I uploaded several photos, and I think they confirm what I am seeing looking at her. Her belly seems to have dropped. The photos from behind don't really show it, but her sides have definitely shifted. Also, her vulva is a lot more swollen and elongated. Last, her udder is larger but now not producing anything. For the last couple weeks she has had clear fluid easily milked out - today there is nothing - so changes are happening there too. I'm starting to get excited, but don't want to get too excited as it could easily be a few more days before baby comes.