Can it be real?

[minister man]

so your mare's udder is more developed than mine.. maybe at least that is the way I would evaluate the pictures.

.....wouldn't 342 days be full term?

 

[Magic Marker Miniatures]

Yes but I have had two different maiden mares foal healthy foals at 354 and 355 days. Also have had a maiden foal at 319 days and than went to 342 days with her second.

I have three mares right now that are 310, 309, and 308, all have had foals before. The 310 day mare is almost fully bagged up and is close to foaling. She foaled at 332 days last year. The 309 day mare is just starting to bag up. She foaled at 323 days last year. The 308 day mare has no bag. She is the one who foaled at 355 days as a maiden, than her second foal was 328 days. Last years foal was 340 days.

Mares have their own rules and rarely let you in on them. Miniatures usual average foaling date is 330. They can go as early as 300 days with a healthy foal. Some as early as 290 days with a healthy foal.

 

[chandab]

Horse don't have due dates, they have averages. Full-size horses average 342 days, but can go early or well over a year. Minis have even a bigger range, with an average around 320-330, depending on who you talk to; and range from 300 (and a few that go even as short as 290) and they too can go well over a year.

 

[minister man]

So, The whole thing is a mystery, lol

When Should I have her stall ready for a foal? With the udder development that I showed in the pictures, Should I have her bedded down now, thinking it could be anytime in the next ............ year?

 

[minister man]

Is it possible that a mare will foal with no signs of foaling? I have read that she will sink in on the sides, belly drop closer to the ground, wax up teats, ect........... but if mares don't follow the rules, is it possible that all those signs can happen really fast? and you go to bed seeing none of the signs and get up in the morning to a foal?

On the farm where I grew up, my grandfather had always worked horses. We always had a team of drafts. He claimed from his younger years that you couldn't raise a foal there, because they always died. ( I did raise one welsh pony foal there though).

Anyhow, all his talk of how risky foaling is, and them always dying, and "IF your lucky You MIGHT save the mare" has me scared and expecting the worse. When the welsh foal was born, I had a monitor system from the barn to my bedroom. One night it was really windy and the barn was rattling, so I turned it off, and the foal was on his feet when I went to the barn in the morning. I really hope it is that easy this time.

Something else Granddad always said was that if you wanted to rebreed a mare, ( which I don't right now) if you didn't breed her on her foal heat, you would probably never get her in foal again. Is that true? I might want to breed her someday, I don't know.

 

[Magic Marker Miniatures]

The last is not true.

Most of our Miniature mares don't have a foal heat. They have a baby at their side and just won't come into heat. Also we like to wait. Give the mare time to heal and get body parts back in order.

We have had several mares that would not come into heat until weaned from their foal. We usually have to pen them next to the stallion.

 

[minister man]

I usually turn her out in a paddock with a paint gelding. I will stop leaving them together in case she foals and he hurts the foal.

How large a paddock would you build for a mare and foal?

 

[chandab]

How large a paddock would you build for a mare and foal?

Bigger is always better. Spring hasn't quite arrived here yet, so my horses are still on winter drylot. My mare that foaled in March is in a paddock that is about 24x24'; if my two year old wasn't being so nasty towards the new mare that foaled, I turn her out with the other mares, and then they'd have access to the big paddock (50x100').

 

[Magic Marker Miniatures]

We have our two mare/foal pairs in a 1/8 acre dry lot with shelter at night. During the day we turn them out on a acre pasture. Tried to turn out on the 12 acre pasture but have a couple mares that are butts. One is a mare that aborted her colt and is just reestablishing her dominance. The other is a coming three year old. She loved the babies last year and still hangs out with them. I think she was trying to steal the baby.

One of our mares is high on the pecking order and will fight back but her filly is tiny, so was worried about the baby. The other mare is lower on the pecking order and continued to separate her from her baby. Doesn't help that he is a independ little fart.

We finally just put them back in the smaller pasture.

Both foals are expected to mature 30" and under so they are still small.

Will try again when they get older. Only two weeks right now.

I can turn the four pregnant mares and a coming two year old colt out with them, with no problem.

 

[chandab]

Is it possible that a mare will foal with no signs of foaling? I have read that she will sink in on the sides, belly drop closer to the ground, wax up teats, ect........... but if mares don't follow the rules, is it possible that all those signs can happen really fast? and you go to bed seeing none of the signs and get up in the morning to a foal?

Yes, they can show minimal signs and go through them quickly, especially maidens.

Here are two pictures of my mare on the same day, she foaled at day 307, and I wasn't expecting her to go so early (this was her maiden pregnancy, so I had no history to draw from).

First thing in the morning:



After lunch:



I wasn't expecting, so came out after lunch to bring mares in from pasture, and had an extra horse in the pasture. LOL

 

[minister man]

We aren't really to spring yet, the grass is just starting to green up, but with melting snow we are in mud season, so i am figuring she is better off in her stall.

I am going to try and build a paddock for mom and baby.......... part of me wants to wait to see that all goes well. But a 24 x24 paddock with a little shed would be nice for a mare and foal or a future stallion.

How do you keep your dry lots dry? so they don't get muddy?

 

[Magic Marker Miniatures]

Hope it doesn't rain much.?

Otherwise I think you can put something down gravel wise but can't help you with what. And how to keep it from disappearing in the mudd.

If it rain a lot our dry lot turns into a mud lot. Thankfully its not level. Higher on one side, so the top part dries faster.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

To keep an area from sinking into the mud, you can use old carpet. Usually carpet stores give it away for free. Turn it upside down so the jute backing is on top--doesn't matter what color/kind of carpet it is. It works amazingly well. When I got my last piece, the store said it is in big demand for kennel runs also. I keep a piece in front of my run in shed. The horses like to stand just at the edge, in/out, and the carpet really helps that area.

 

[minister man]

Picked up a bag of 16 percent mare and foal feed. The ticket says in the last 3 months of gestation to feed a 1000 pound horse 5 lbs of fgeed a day. I birthed my mare and she is 51". According to the chart, she weighs 330 lbs, so I have to feed a 1/3 of 5 LBS, so 1.5 lbs.

 

[chandab]

Picked up a bag of 16 percent mare and foal feed. The ticket says in the last 3 months of gestation to feed a 1000 pound horse 5 lbs of fgeed a day. I birthed my mare and she is 51". According to the chart, she weighs 330 lbs, so I have to feed a 1/3 of 5 LBS, so 1.5 lbs.

How tall is your mare? Her build (when not pregnant)? Weight tapes and charts aren't always accurate for minis. That said 1.5# doesn't sound to far off.

 

[minister man]

I just gave her a tuna can full last night and this morning. I will increase it every few days. Unless she foals, then I will increase it more quickly for milk production purposes.

 

[Ryan Johnson]

As your mare nears foaling you are going to notice many changes with her udder. Many of them will drive you crazy. You will notice it go up and down and up and down and in some cases a mares udder may not completely fill until after she foals.

One thing when doing "checks" on her udder department is when she is laying around, standing quietly, you will notice an increase. When shes out and about you will notice a decrease. As she nears the end of her pregnancy , you will notice less movement and kicking as there is less room to move.

from the start of udder development until foaling is "roughly" 4-6 weeks ( and I use the term "roughly" very loosely)

keep us posted on her progress and ask away any questions you have

 

[minister man]

So far I can't even get excited. I have been disappointed too many times. I have prepared for a foal, three years in a room, and no foal yet. This time I can't even tell anyone I think she might be in foal, cause they make fun of me.

I was talking about possible foal names with my teenagers, they said let's wait to see if there is one. I scan the stall everyone I walk in the barn. Had to force myself to go check on her at bedtime last night, cause I knew it was pointless.

I think I should be excited. I see the udder, but can't let myself believe she is in foal.

Should I buy a lamb bottle, incase I lose the mare or something?

 

[chandab]

Mare will probably be just fine, but I've read that human baby bottles and nipples are fairly well accepted. And, the other nipple widely accepted is a Pritchard nipple, I'll see if I can get you a link for that one.

 

[chandab]

I'm sure they are available elsewhere, but this is the first link I came across. https://www.jefferspet.com/products/prichard-teat-nipple