OK
So here's the latest on what I think(hope!!) is going on. I am the only one who has felt any foal movement so I'm reserving the option that I'm completely wrong and there is no foal.....I do think there is though
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Obviously she didn't foal in April/May like I though she was going to. I finally by Sept. gave in and have been sleeping again, she's still on camera and I'm checking a few times a night but not what I was doing, man is it nice to sleep! I have been feeling quiet foal movement all summer, this is the sleepiest foal imaginable! She had a positive external ultrasound at the end of June, has had skimmed milk most of the summer, hasn't noticeably come into season at all. With that I'm still going with is in foal. So, the working theory right now is that she didn't hold the foal from last May, either absorbed or aborted outside during the day and I didn't see anything. I had 4 minis in one paddock and two in another. Izzy, Spirit, Tilly and Finn together and Joey and Oliver together in a second. Pay attention now or you might get confused
. Oliver is Izzy's 2018 colt, she came pregnant in 2017. When Oliver was born it was just Izzy and 2 jenny aunts for him as company. He needed someone to play with badly so I found Joey(born June 1,2015) at a local rescue, they were best friends at first sight. When Oliver wasn't able to be gelding by the time he was a year I split him and Joey into one paddock and Izzy and the donkeys into another, no oops babies thank you. Fast forward to end of March 2020, Spirit and Tilly(in foal with Finn) moved in. Spirit was gelded a week later, first week of April. There were some problems with the donkeys and Izzy ended up on her own so I had her next to Spirit and Tilly for a while and then she went out with them in mid May(6 1/2 weeks after gelding). Spirit bred her for 3 days and that was the beginning of me thinking she was in foal(read the start of the thread). Oliver was finally able to be gelded in Oct. 2020 and I tried to get the two groups into one paddock in Dec. That didn't go very well and I split them again by the end of Dec. thinking it would be permanent. Early Jan. Joey died very suddenly and unexpectedly so Oliver went back in with the group permanently. So, as of right now I think she was bred in Dec. 2020, waiting to see if I'm right. I'm mostly going with the idea of when you eliminate the impossible, whatever you have left, no matter how improbable is the truth. The improbable but possible are:
1) Finn(Tillys colt, July 2020) bred her at a very young age. This is my last choice.
2) Oliver bred her in Dec(8 weeks after gelding) even though they have always been in stalls and normally paddocks right next to each other and never shown and interest. This is mostly tied with above as my last choice.
3) Joey was a rig and bred her in Dec. I never saw any studdy behaviour from him but he was mostly just out with Oliver. He was very aggressively dominant when I put him in with the group, no one was hurt but her did a lot of herding them around and would grab them by the top of their necks and hold on until they gave. He knew Izzy and they were comfortable together and didn't do any of that with her but I did see him getting off her once. He had a blanket on and I was at the wrong angle to see if his landing gear was down, didn't think twice about it at the time except to say give me a break. That would have put a breeding in the third week of Dec. I think. I would really like it if this happened
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Did you get all that? If I'm right and she's in foal I'm hoping to get more of an idea of who dad is with colour and conformation. This is crazy but kind of typical for around here, let me know what you think,LOL!!