Is this normal gut movement? I dont think shes bred but this is throwing me. Photos and video throug

[Watcheye]

You only have to watch the first 5 seconds of video. It was happening a lot so I got out my ipod and recorded it and only caught the tail end of it. It has happened on several occasions and its really throwing me. She seems really small and by looks I dont think shes bred but the movements stump me. I tried to see the videos on the "confused" post but they are down.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsWxjVS-_dU&feature=youtu.be

 

[little lady]

I am by no means an expert but sure looked like a foal kick...have you felt movement? Hope some more seasoned folks can chime in.

 

[Watcheye]

I have felt kicks bumps and rolls on multiple occasions but she didnt get very big and I recently clipped her. She looks way smaller than I would expect for someone due late June, early July. If I looked at her today I would say she wasnt pregnant EXCEPT for all the shenanigans I have felt going on in there over the weeks. I have felt nothing this week though. I struggle to believe that she had a miscarriage as the pasture is not that large and I feel I would have seen something. In the past when I had mentioned feeling foal kicks I had people ask me if I was sure it wasnt gut movement. I know it wasnt twitches. The bumps and knocks I felt were just like the other baby kicks Ive felt from mares in the past but I have never felt gut movement that I knew of so I am looking for peoples input.

 

[Flyin G Farm]

That looked like a kick to me too! I have had several mares who I would have never guessed were in foal, up through and including the DAY they foaled. I knew the mares and knew that's what they did, but they were tricky! LOL My mother in law sent me a mare one year, a maiden mare. She is a VERY refined mare and had no place to "hide" a foal. When she dropped her off, she was about 300 days along and the first words out of both our mouths (myself and my husband) was "are you sure she's still bred"? I even sent pictures of every angle to several other breeders around day 330 asking if they thought the mare looked bred, because she REALLY didn't...and with her being really refined and not a long bodied mare, I couldn't for the life of me figure out where she would hide a foal. But, I still checked her bag every morning/evening just in case there were any changes. One night (I think she was around 345 days along at that point) I felt a very tiny but firm bag, so I brought her up to the foaling stalls that were closer to the house just in case (of course with the breeder alert), and sure enough, she foaled that night. But I still would have bet good money, even on that day, that there was no way that mare was in foal! So I wouldn't necessarily judge her by her "width" LOL That being said, I've had others that don't seem to really start looking bred until the 1-2 months before they foal as well. Once they hit those last 2 months is when they really start widening and actually looking very pregnant. If she is due early July, maybe you'll start noticing her really plumping up here pretty quick

 

[Watcheye]

This mare has had babies before. I did see a picture of her pregnant and she looks very bred in it. She has the V and everything but I dont know how pregnant she is in the photo and I need to contact her original owner to see if she knows when it was taken. Can they look that different with different pregnancies? She might look a pinch (a tiny pinch) rounded but since I have clipped her she looks quite open. It just leads me to question what I had been feeling kicking around in her gut. =/

Here she is May 6th I believe

May 9

And here she is May 11.... Please excuse the crazy clip job. Apparently clippers are scary things and we are working up to a good clip.

And here she is last summer about 3 months after she came to live with us. Open here of course.

 

[Mona]

That DEFINITELY looks like a foal kicking! That is NOT gut movement. LOL!!

 

[AnnaC]

Well I think she's in foal going by your pictures. Mares that are pregnant - however much they seem to hide it - always look that litle bit different in their 'under tummy' line when viewed from the side. They develop a straight line section from the front of their udder down to the lowest point of their tummy which then curves away and upwards towards their front legs - see the 'straight' line in that second pic of yours? In non pregnant mares the tummy may be low but the under line is a gentle curve from back to front - is any of this making sense/ LOL!!

In your clipped picture, it looks as though she is carrying a little more weight overall and therefore the 'straight' line is not quite so obvious, but it is still there. As she possibly has another 6-8 weeks to go before foaling (longer if she follows everyone else this year) then I would say that you will be welcoming a little baby sometime in early July.

 

[Watcheye]

I do appreciate the opinions of everyone and will still keep a close eye on her. She just seems so small to me. Here is a picture from the person I purchased her from where she is obviously in foal. I do not however know how far from her due date she is here. Can each pregnancy be different for them (size wise? Dramatically)? I have not felt movement in at least a week and a half or so. I have only tried to feel it a hand full of times but still. I was only trying here and there several weeks ago and was having much better luck (feeling kicks and bounces - or so I thought). She seems so tiny compared to this Im am very skeptical but if she lost it, I have not seen it and their arena is a dry lot that isnt that expansive. I will include a photo of it.

Our current arena. It does go out past the photo to the right a bit further but you get the idea.

I suppose there is that chance that shes hiding it in there somewhere. Im just paranoid but I will continue to watch her of course. Thank you for your input!

 

[Watcheye]

OK - I did hear back from the old owner who says that that pic where she looks pregnant was taken a few days before she foaled. She says she normally holds them up way high and has had her fooled a few times. I will continue to treat her as though she is bred and go from there.

 

[Mona]

So was she bred while at your place, or hers?? That may better help you figure out a timeline for the foaling date?

 

[Watcheye]

She was bred at my place August 1-7th. She refused the stud on August 8.

 

I'm agreeing that she appears in foal. And yes, they can look different with different pregnancies -- some depending on the stallion size and her original condition. Even comparing the first pictures when you got her to her current one, there are definitely signs that say pregnant to me. She will be fun to watch and see how things change.

Pretty girl!! Who's the daddy?

 

[Watcheye]

Thank you Castle Rock! The sire is this guy right here. He is my resident clown and I usually use him in my caricatures. Kita was tested for LWO and is negative.

This is an older one but one of my favorites of him. It fits his character very well.

 

[Mona]

She was bred at my place August 1-7th. She refused the stud on August 8.

Oh, OK. I thought when you originally posted, it sounded like it was all a surprise to you. I didn't realize you had actually bred her.

 

[Watcheye]

I bred her but this is the first time I have had her in foal so I dont know her habits and shes so small I thought maybe I was mistaken and she didnt take.

 

[AnnaC]

Love that caricature of your boy - just billiant!!

 

[Watcheye]

Thank you AnnaC! Well, I felt wild kicking again in there tonight so I think we are go for babies this year.

 

YEAH!!!

 

[Tab]

I'm late at this, but that was definitely a foal kicking!