need advice on possible pregnant mare

[Alisha514]

So I'm getting really nervous here. I bred 2 mares last yr at about the same time. My one mare lost her foal back in Feb. She was HUGE and my other mare didnt have much of a belly at all (this is a mare that is usually pretty big even without being pragnant) so figured she must not of took or absorbed the foal early on since she never came back in heat. Well I noticed the other day that I was able to see her udders from a distance. So I checked them and they are starting to develope and I am able to get clear liquid out of them. they are slightly fuller today. She would be due May 6th. My problem is is that she really doesnt have a pregnant look to her. Her belly to me looks like her normal big belly. She never got wide and her belly always kinda hangs low. I never got her checked becuase she didnt look pregnant so didnt think it was needed. Is it possible for her to be pregnant? I also have not seen her come in heat yet this yr. she usually has a regular heat cycle.

not the best pics as my phone sucks with pictures but this is what her udder looked like a couple of days ago. It was easy to get liquid from them and there is a fullness thats beginning in the udders that you cant really see in the picture

here is a side view of her. (please excuse the dirtyness) To me this is what her belly always looks like but since I thought she wasnt pregnant I have been conditioning her for the upcoming show season

edited to add a pic i found of her that was taken over the winter. I want to say around jan. (didnt realize till i seen this pic that her belly does look bigger now and I dont understand that when I have been working her almost every day for 20 mins for about a month now and shes shedding big time)

any advice would be greatly appriciated.

Thanks,

Alisha

 

[disneyhorse]

You could always have a vet check her, just to be sure...

Her udder doesn't look like a horse that would foal in a few weeks... and some horses do express milk even when not in foal, especially if she's had foals in the past.

Can you feel a foal in there? With some patience you should be able to...

Andrea

 

[Miniv]

I'd have her vet checked.

I agree with Disney. She doesn't look pregnant......especially for one due in just a couple of weeks. And her bag looks like a non pregnant one.

And yes, if she's had a foal before it's not uncommon to be able to get a little bit of liquid from her teats.

Sorry.

 

[Lucky-C-Acres-Minis]

I agree her udder doesn't look that big for a mare due May 6th (what's that due date calculated on?) My bay mare that is due June 2nd (by 330 days) is not very big in the belly, but she was confirmed in foal and if she's not she's got an alien bumping and rolling in there, plus she's starting to bag up..

 

[vickie gee]

I agree to get her vet checked. Meanwhile watch for movement. What does she look like when you are looking at her headon? I have seen mares that do not look pg at all until you are looking headon. She looks to me like she has slight udder development. But my experience is limited to only a few. Watch that bag daily for any changes until you can have her vet checked. Good luck! Is there swelling or a lump in front of her "would be bag?"

 

[Alisha514]

May 6th is calculated at the 330 day mark. She does have a little bulge before her udders. Its actually pretty easy to express liquid from her teats. She has only had one foal and that was last yr. To me she doesnt look pregnant head on either. Shes not wide like a pregnant mare would be. Can they get "puffy" in the udder area right before they come into heat?

Alisha

 

[disneyhorse]

I'm not sure it has anything to do with being in heat... but there is a mare in my barn who had a false pregnancy. Got a real bag and all!

Andrea

 

[chandab]

Hopefully the attachment will be big enough to see, this is a fairly old picture, and don't care to put it on my website to share. Anyway, here is a picture of my AQHA mare on March 2, 1997; she foaled march 30, 1997 (almost a full-year from her last breeding date). She doesn't look that pregnant, and no one at the boarding facility believed she was pregnant til after she foaled, on EAster Sunday.

 

[Alisha514]

Chandab, Thanks for posting that pic, were u able to feel the foal? I havent been watching my mare because I didnt think she was pregnant to I havent noticed any movement. I tried feeling for the foal but Ive never been able to feel the foal unless it was moving. Im just going to keep an eye on her and watch her like she is for sure pregnant, if just sucks becuase now im afraid to continue working her. I wanted to show her this yr since she came up open but if shes really pregnant its probably not safe to work her.

Mares drive me crazy. LOL

Alisha

 

[chandab]

Chandab, Thanks for posting that pic, were u able to feel the foal? I havent been watching my mare because I didnt think she was pregnant to I havent noticed any movement. I tried feeling for the foal but Ive never been able to feel the foal unless it was moving. Im just going to keep an eye on her and watch her like she is for sure pregnant, if just sucks becuase now im afraid to continue working her. I wanted to show her this yr since she came up open but if shes really pregnant its probably not safe to work her.

Mares drive me crazy. LOL
Alisha

Its been so long, that I can't remember if I could just see her foal move, but I could feel it... I could put my hand on one particular spot on the mare's belly, and just pat her belly a little bit and the foal would kick me back, much to my mare's displeasure. [it took me awhile to find that spot the first time, then once I knew where it was, I'd just check periodically to be sure all was still ok.] As this mare was a full-size mare, she was ultra-sounded at like 14 days post breeding, then I moved across two states with her, she acted like she was in heat, so I U/S again and she was still pregnant.

 

[bannerminis]

You are in the same boat as me.

I have a mare that is 19 now and hasnt had a foal since 2005 (lost foal and got lamanitis).

Had her washed out this time last yr and vet said she was clean as a whistle. Stallion covered over a few months and last cover was in July for a June 3rd Foal.

External Scan in Oct 09 and vet couldnt find anything, external scan in early Feb and still couldnt find anything - Rosie had bad dose of lamanitis as we had our coldest winter in decades so she lost a lot of weight.

Decided she wasnt in foal as she had no weight on her but then around end of March she doubled in size with no change to food or routine and she is looking even bigger still.

Here she is March 7th

Then 2 1/2 wks later

And April 19th - Its hard to tell but she is looking slightly larger. She still has 7wks to go.

There is a small chance that Rosie is due July 30th as she showed a season in early Sept and I panicked and put her in with the Stallion for an evening but then decided that I didnt want a late foal so took her out. Might explain why the vet didnt find anything in his scans.

So I wouldnt rule out a pregnancy but might be worth getting her checked. If you have been exercising her everyday then it might explain why she isnt looking like a small house.

 

[Sandee]

Alisha, I'm no expert but I do know that some mare can hide their pregnancy just like humans can and do. At a show some people were surprised one morning with a baby in the stall with their mare. They just got her home in the spring and were driving her and showing her and didn't see any signs of pregnancy. Another lady that bred to my stallion said she didn't think her mare "took" as she wasn't getting larger. I told her to wait until closer to the due date to look for a bag. Sure enough she delivered about a week early. But then there's always the false pregnancy so a vet check might ease your mind.

 

[Make A Wish Miniatures]

I would get her checked by a vet. I have a n 18 year old mare who the vet said would probably never get bred again as she had endometriosis. I bred her one time and assumed she was not pregnant. well three weeks before her due date she started to look like she had a little belly .I pulled her in to the barn and got a blood test on her. My vet said she did not look pregnant but the blood test came back positive and she had a beautiful cremello filly for me last year. This same mare's daughter never looks pregnant when she foals and does not make a bag until 4 or 5 days before foaling. Good luck ,I hope she is bred and gives you a beautiful foal

 

[Alisha514]

Thanks for all the replys. With her due date so near will a blood test still work and how long would it take to get results? One thing for sure is I will keep an eye on her and treat her like she is pregnant.

Alisha

 

[Make A Wish Miniatures]

The blood test will still work. I don't know how long it would take your vet to get the test back. I would probably just treat her as if she were bred,unless you could get her palpated. I have also had a mare who did not get a bag until after foaling. Just be prepared . If she isn't well you don't have very long to wait. Good Luck