Opinions on if my mare is pregnant is appreciated

[PaintMeAMini]

Hi! I bought a mini mare a couple months ago and the lady said there was a small possibility that she was in foal. Opinions on what you think would be appreciated!

 

[Taz]

Has she had a foal before? Any idea when she would be due? It looks like she could have something going on wit her milk bar, is it different than earlier? Could you get a picture of her from behind at her level a few feet back? She's very cute.

 

[PaintMeAMini]

Thank you! She has had a foal around 2 years ago but I did not own her when she was pregnant. As I get home I will get more pictures!

 

[PaintMeAMini]

Her utters have grown in the past week. Her past owner said she hid her pregnancy until she was far along. She doesn’t look like she is dropping but she seems to have something going on with her milk as you said.

 

[Ryan Johnson]

Welcome to the forum Paintmeamini

When you are taking pics next, can you grab down at her level , standing behind her say 5m back. It will give us an indication on how the foal is riding.

best to treat her as is until you know if she is carrying or not

 

[PaintMeAMini]

I did the best I could lol she is really wiggly and really nervous about people being behind her. Also sorry she is really filthy right now the pasture is so muddy right now.

 

[PaintMeAMini]

Sorry for all the questions but I am feeding fescue hay should I stop?

 

[elizabeth.conder]

Yes, definitely stop the fescue ASAP. Some mares hide it extremely well. So I agree, treat her as if she is until you know.

 

[Taz]

Agree with everything they said! If she's starting to get an udder watch closely and be ready in case. I have one who had a foal 3 years ago(experienced mom) who didn't show at all until 3 weeks before she foaled except for a bit of change in her udder. Will she let you feel for any movement?

 

[PaintMeAMini]

I felt for movement and might have felt something but I watched her at feed time and it looked like there might be some movement.

 

[Pitter Patter]

Wow. Her shape, etc remind me of my large mini. She is pregnant, although we don't know how far along. Been a guessing game and everyone here has been so helpful. Stop the fescue. All I know is it is bad for mom, baby, milk. We just found an aborted fetus and didn't know mini was pregnant (vet said no). My other one is due, well, whenever it decides to come I guess. Do what everyone here tells you in treating her as if she is pregnant (and I do think she is!) so you don't have a tragedy. I am so excited for you! Welcome to the Forum!

 

[PaintMeAMini]

Thank you! Good luck with your mares to!

 

[Maryann at MiniV]

Just adding my Ditto to what others have said......Treat her as if she's pregnant and that includes NOT feeding Fescue. Her bag looks like something is developing. I'd be giving her lots of scritches daily, and slowly getting her used to you scritching her belly so you can reach her teats. Then you can gently wash her bag with wash cloth and warm water and possibly see if there is any "milk" that you can test. It will take you several days for her to get used to you handling her, but eventually I bet she'll like it.
If you eventually if you DO get a little bit of "milk" on your hand, you can judge if it's sticky or not.

 

[PaintMeAMini]

When I bought her she was pretty much unhandled and since I have been working with her she has become very trusting and loving, so I’m sure she will take to it well. Thank you for the recommendation!

 

[Ryan Johnson]

Sounds like she is already starting to trust you

 

[PaintMeAMini]

Yeah she used to be uncatchable and now she walks right up to get her halter on.

 

[PaintMeAMini]

Here were her udders today.

 

[Ryan Johnson]

The pic on the right is the perfect angle.

She looks as though she is starting to develop an udder. There looks to be some edema in front of her udder also.

There's some really good articles "pinned" at the top of this section of the forum that you should have a read of. Ask away any questions you may have

 

[PaintMeAMini]

Thank you so much!

 

[PaintMeAMini]

Oh glory if Faye is in foal I have so much preparing to do lol. My bedding is wood shavings so I need to switch them to straw and my pasture is pure mud so I would need to fence in the grass area across the road.