Expert opinions please…not sure if she’s in foal

[elizabeth.conder]

I agree with Taz,

Belle is doing well, I’ll update on my thread to avoid clogging up your thread.

 

[HersheyMint]

I love Indi as a name. How exciting for you. Keep the updates coming.

 

[Laura&HerMinis]

I love Indi as a name. How exciting for you. Keep the updates coming.

Thank you! I definitely will! I’m off to get bloodwork done this morning but I’ll update when I get home and hopefully I’ll grab some more photos

 

[Cayuse]

I have not read the entire thread but when I saw her pictures on your other thread the very first thing I thought was "is she in foal?" Good luck if she is, she's a cutie . And this is why I only have geldings !

 

[Laura&HerMinis]

I have not read the entire thread but when I saw her pictures on your other thread the very first thing I thought was "is she in foal?" Good luck if she is, she's a cutie . And this is why I only have geldings !

Haha really?? I didn’t even think of it till the day after I got her. Haha thanks!! Lol much less stress but you don’t get cute babies!!

 

[LostandFound]

She could be. Or not. It's so hard to tell from looks, which of course is why we have so many of these threads. And it seems pretty common for minis to have what I would call a "false" pregnancy. Complete with what sure feels like kicking, bagging up, and loosening of the back end. My mare has quite a bit more udder than yours and has been vet checked as not in foal.

 

[Laura&HerMinis]

She could be. Or not. It's so hard to tell from looks, which of course is why we have so many of these threads. And it seems pretty common for minis to have what I would call a "false" pregnancy. Complete with what sure feels like kicking, bagging up, and loosening of the back end. My mare has quite a bit more udder than yours and has been vet checked as not in foal.

Hmmm thats interesting! I wonder what the “kicking” is then? Also since the minis can’t really have internal ultrasounds, what is the best way for a vet to pronounce them pregnant or not pregnant, or are there any reliable at home tests I can do that aren’t expensive? Also the reason I’m thinking she is, is because she was running with a stud for years and then was brought into a rescue and I’m pretty sure she stayed with that stud until he was gelded and after he was gelded, idk though!

 

[Laura&HerMinis]

Here is today’s update on Indi:

I felt something similar to her breathing, where I think the foal shifted a body part closer to her skin but it wasn’t a kick. More like a slow shift then moved back. Then I walked her around for probably a minute and felt some quicker shifting back and forth. I’m fairly positive it’s a foal!! Went up 80% positive today lol I also noticed that she needed a lot more encouraging to speed up and still didn’t want to go too fast, whereas yesterday she was more willing to go quicker. Could this mean she’s getting bigger and more uncomfortable?

Pics from today:

 

[LostandFound]

It has to be just worst gas ever, I think. Last year I had a mare that had a blood test and ultrasound and was in foal but must have lost it and reabsorbed at some point. She went through the whole thing and I waited and waited and waited. Some vets will do an external ultrasound. I have heard good things about wee foal tests but I think you need to know how far she would be. Running with a stud gives her a better chance of being pregnant, I would think you need to be prepared for either way.

 

[Laura&HerMinis]

It has to be just worst gas ever, I think. Last year I had a mare that had a blood test and ultrasound and was in foal but must have lost it and reabsorbed at some point. She went through the whole thing and I waited and waited and waited. Some vets will do an external ultrasound. I have heard good things about wee foal tests but I think you need to know how far she would be. Running with a stud gives her a better chance of being pregnant, I would think you need to be prepared for either way.

I don’t think it’s gas lol, but I could be wrong as I’ve never really done this before. I looked up wee foal but it’s so expensive for just one and personally I’d rather spend that kind of money on a vet who knows what they’re doing, then I could get a more accurate result. How much on average would a blood test or external ultrasound be? I’m in Canada so it’s probably slightly different but I’d love an estimate so I can see what I’d be looking at

 

[elizabeth.conder]

Wee foal tests are very accurate for 120-300 days. I think my vet charged $45 for either a blood test or an ultrasound. Plus the visit. Really depends on the vet.

 

[Laura&HerMinis]

Wee foal tests are very accurate for 120-300 days. I think my vet charged $45 for either a blood test or an ultrasound. Plus the visit. Really depends on the vet.

Hmmm okay, the only issue is that I have no idea where to get wee foal tests in Canada lol, Amazon used to have them but not anymore.

 

[LostandFound]

I didn't think my mare had gas either. And while I'm still newish to minis, I had years of experience breeding horses. I've never seen gas kick from across the pen before. But I can't think of anything else it could have been. I paid over $150 for blood work and $75 for an ultrasound, plus farm call. And the vet wasn't real certain about either of them being accurate, which was why I did both. These little things can be frustrating.

 

[Taz]

The vet did an external ultrasound for Izzy. She said 'sometimes you get lucky and see bone' which she did on both sides but not seeing anything isn't a definite no. I know someone who had two negative ultrasounds and then her mare foaled. I didn't do a blood test because at the time we thought she was overdue and she would have been past the point where it would have been accurate. I'd call your vet and ask about a blood test or join the rest of us who are playing wait and see . I think the only place to get the wee foal tests right now is Australia and then you have to get her to pee for you.....
From those pictures Indi looks about the same as Izzy but going by Izzy's last foal she doesn't get a belly until about 4 weeks from foaling, barely shows anything else, and took 3-4 hours to get her milk in after foaling. I go with feeling foal movement

 

[elizabeth.conder]

I took this video over the summer of Belles foal movement. You can clearly see kicks. These are smaller ones because she was not near as far along. I want to say approximately 225-250 days. Kicks feel like they look lol.

 

[Laura&HerMinis]

The vet did an external ultrasound for Izzy. She said 'sometimes you get lucky and see bone' which she did on both sides but not seeing anything isn't a definite no. I know someone who had two negative ultrasounds and then her mare foaled. I didn't do a blood test because at the time we thought she was overdue and she would have been past the point where it would have been accurate. I'd call your vet and ask about a blood test or join the rest of us who are playing wait and see . I think the only place to get the wee foal tests right now is Australia and then you have to get her to pee for you.....
From those pictures Indi looks about the same as Izzy but going by Izzy's last foal she doesn't get a belly until about 4 weeks from foaling, barely shows anything else, and took 3-4 hours to get her milk in after foaling. I go with feeling foal movement

Gotcha, I’ll maybe look into an external! Or a blood test lol, I may be following what Izzy does and seeing if Indi does the same thing lmao

 

[Laura&HerMinis]

I took this video over the summer of Belles foal movement. You can clearly see kicks. These are smaller ones because she was not near as far along. I want to say approximately 225-250 days. Kicks feel like they look lol.

Interesting! I’m going to see if I can get some footage like that. Also, I was trying to google a foal’s position in utero so I could figure out the best place to feel for kicks…but Google didn’t show anything except when the foal is moving into birth position. So does anyone have either 1. An idea where I could feel for movement/where is the best place to feel for movement or 2. Where I can find an article/photos of where to feel for movement?

 

[elizabeth.conder]

I usually feel flanks/in front of the udder. Foals move around a lot in utero which makes it hard to predict. Not until they are in foaling position is it easy. When they get super close sometimes you can see/feel kicks by the tailhead

 

[elizabeth.conder]

Here are a couple more movement videos. This mare was about a month out from foaling. Pay attention to how much different breathing looks vs the actual movement.

 

[elizabeth.conder]

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