Update on the "bred " Yearling

[HaazeMinis]

Hi ( My post has been edited since I NEED TO CLARIFY THAT THIS MARE IS NOW 3 YEARS OLD THIS YEAR!)

I thought I would give you an update on the filly I thought was bred as a yearling at the original breeders. I am on mare stare now. So I am watching my 30" little maiden mare who is 325 days today :new_shocked: so I will be on the forum alot at night now. :bgrin until this is over. Then I am good until April when the other 2 are due within the same week! :new_shocked:

Anyway, as I was reading I remembered that I had not updated anyone on her at all and I am sorry about that, but she really had me guessing for a VERY LONG TIME. She is NOT PREGNANT! :aktion033: :aktion033: :bgrin Just Fat!

So she has been on a diet for the last 2 months and has trimmed down some. But, let me tell you I could have swore, like some on the forum did when I posted pictures of her. So it goes goes to show me that just because they look PG does not mean they are.

: :lol: He He!

:

But ,now my question is. We NEVER SAW HER IN HEAT? Does anyone have any experience in this? She is NOW 3 Years old. What are your suggestions to have done or to do when I have my vet out to do a complete Repro Workup done on her as well as another little maiden mare I have with the opposite problem as Star.

I will have him out in early spring,so I would like anyones opinions and experience if any with this type of situation. She is a pretty nice mare that is AMHR & I will be hardshipping her into AMHA if everything works out the way I would like. I have learned so much from this forum and am still learning every single day so any information would be very helpful to me. I will be saving any replies I get so I can transfer all the info to my vet so we know where to start.

:

Thanks

Jeri

 

[Bess Kelly]

Do you have any stallions around? If not, you may not notice her cycling. It is something that is most obvious when she is showin to a stallion and almost undetectable otherwise. Just a thought.

If you DO have a stallion, depending on many things (weather, closeness of animals, time of year) she may not be cycling at this time. Some will shut down in winter, some won't (the little hussies :lol: ).

 

[HaazeMinis]

Do you have any stallions around? If not, you may not notice her cycling. It is something that is most obvious when she is showin to a stallion and almost undetectable otherwise. Just a thought.

If you DO have a stallion, depending on many things (weather, closeness of animals, time of year) she may not be cycling at this time. Some will shut down in winter, some won't (the little hussies :lol: ).

Hi Bess

Yes we do have a stallion and we have had her since May of last year and this past summer I thought she may have been pregnant since she showed no signs of heat at all and we stall our horses at night and her stall was next to his and they were next to each other even then and over the summer and even now she has been with him everyday and still no heats at all so that is why we thought she was accidently bred already when we bought her.

I know that it is unlikey that she would cycle this time of year, but it bothers me that she has shown no sign what so ever of anything resembling a heat and even when my stallion get near her she will not allow it. He has jumped on her just playing around and she wants no part of it.

So that is why I wanted some advice and/or opinions on this sort of thing just in case she may have something wrong. I have never encountered anything like this before, so I thought I would ask. Maybe she has SILENT HEATS?

 

[Ashley]

I have a mare who is in foal with her 8th foal this year. She is a silent heat mare. You honestly dont know she is in heat basically until it is time for the stallion to breed her. She for this reason is a pasture bred mare.

 

[HaazeMinis]

Hi Ashley

Does your mare show any tale -tale signs of heat( like dirty legs...ect..) I know this mare doesnt and as a matter of fact she was out with my stallion practically all summer after we assummed she was already PG. and even then when he would play around or seem interested in her she would immediatley detour his advances. Since we stall ours at night we are with them every single day so it would be hard for us to miss something like that so I am at a complete loss on this one.

:

I have had horses (big ones) most of my life and these little guys really keep ya guessing alot!

: They also appear to have the most reproductive problems. I have 2 other young mares ( 1 is a maiden and the other foaled last year) with problems as well only its the opposite of this situation. They both were hand bred numerous cycles and then pasture bred through their remaining cycles until August and still came up open. :no: Now Poppy (the one that foaled last year) will really miss not having a baby because she was such a wonderful mommy who watched over the other foal we had too and was really upset when we took her baby away for weaning, so I hope she doesnt try to steal a baby. :new_shocked:

Like I said I am collecting the information from here so I am prepared for what might have to happen and what we might have to do, so thanks alot for information I can gather on other peoples experiences.

Jeri

 

[DebiM]

Jeri, Not all of my yearlings come into heat. Last summer only 1 of my 3 yearling fillies showed heat. The year before my yearling didn't come in but sure had strong heats as a 2 year old! LOL One of the stallions is always kept beside them. I wouldn't worry abt her unless she doesn't show this year.

Debi

 

[HaazeMinis]

Hi Debi

Well, I guess I should edit the original post to clarify that This mare is NOW 3 YEARS OLD

: . So, I just dont have any idea what is going on with her :no: Maybe I will go and edit my post and see were that gets me.

I was hoping for more response, but like many here I sometimes feel since I am not in the "click" I dont get many replies.

: But, oh well I will just stay in lurk mode since I dont feel I want to be judged on what I do or dont do.

Jeri, Not all of my yearlings come into heat. Last summer only 1 of my 3 yearling fillies showed heat. The year before my yearling didn't come in but sure had strong heats as a 2 year old! LOL One of the stallions is always kept beside them. I wouldn't worry abt her unless she doesn't show this year.

Debi

 

[Becky]

I'm just now reading your post and will offer my 2 cents.

Some mares are just very quiet about their heat cycles. You really, really need to observe them daily and they need to be where they can interact with a stallion on a daily basis. I currently have 3 breeding age stallions here. I have mares that won't obviously show to one, but will love another and go through all the motions of a very obvious cycle.

I have one stallion that all the mares love!

: There's not one mare that won't show to him in some fashion! I just purchased a little mare last fall that the former owner was having trouble getting bred. She had one foal in 2004 and the owner hadn't been able to get her bred since as she supposedly wasn't cycling. Been vet checked as normal. I bring her home and guess what? She's in heat when she gets off the trailer! I bred her and believe her to be in foal for late this year.

 

[Ashley]

NOpe. The only think you will notice and that is when I am working with her is the slight smell they give off.

Also..........your saying your other mares came up open could it be that your stallion isnt very fertial?

 

[HaazeMinis]

NOpe. The only think you will notice and that is when I am working with her is the slight smell they give off.

Also..........your saying your other mares came up open could it be that your stallion isnt very fertial?

Hi Ashley,

Okay, now that you mention that there is a very slight odor I have smelled a slight odor once in a while, so maybe she is a silent heat kind of girl and I do notice that at times my stallion is much more interested in her than others, but she is never messy back there.

Oh and in regards to my stallion he did cover 3 other mares I have here and they have all be confirmed in foal by the vet. So, I dont think it is a fertility problem as he only covered those three in one cycle and all three were in heat the SAME WEEK :new_shocked: :bgrin . So, he was a very busy guy that week. I also thought at first it might be him, but after having the other mares palpated since they are 35.5 " to 36.5 and not maidens it is apparent that even though he was so malnourished when we got him in November of "04" it did not appear to affect his sperm count in "05". I think I will go ahead and have him tested to though just to see how good his swimmers really are.

:

Thanks A Bunch!

Jeri

 

[HaazeMinis]

Some mares are just very quiet about their heat cycles. You really, really need to observe them daily and they need to be where they can interact with a stallion on a daily basis. I currently have 3 breeding age stallions here. I have mares that won't obviously show to one, but will love another and go through all the motions of a very obvious cycle.

Hi Becky

I guess with her maybe I will have to observe her even more becasue as Ashley stated her mare just barely gives off any sign. :new_shocked: Just a very faint odor which I have indeed smelled with mine. Very faint but still there as well as my stallion being more interested in her. But the thing is if she is not interested in him at all

: Oh and she is in his paddock during the day and is stalled next to him were they can touch noses at night. Like I said before we handle all 10 of our minis daily so I thought a heat cycle would be hard to miss in any of my minis. But I guess I wasnt watching close enough for this sneaky one

: :bgrin

I have one stallion that all the mares love!

: There's not one mare that won't show to him in some fashion! I just purchased a little mare last fall that the former owner was having trouble getting bred. She had one foal in 2004 and the owner hadn't been able to get her bred since as she supposedly wasn't cycling. Been vet checked as normal. I bring her home and guess what? She's in heat when she gets off the trailer! I bred her and believe her to be in foal for late this year.

That is too funny Becky, but in my case I dont have another stallion of breeding age. Well I have one other stallion that just turned 2, but I dont know if he will be ready for breeding this year or not and besides I have read here using 2 year old stallions is not a good option due to registration problems. :no: If I read the threads regarding that issue right.

:


Anyway thanks for the reply Becky!


Oh did you get your streaming camera stuff yet?

 


Jeri

 

 

[Songcatcher]

I am really quite confused here. I must have missed some very important details somewhere, possibly on another post. You say you thought she was bred as a yearling, but she is now a three year-old??? You say she is NOT pregnant NOW but she is not having heats. Has she been checked by a vet? You also say she was running with a stallion through the summer.

I am totally confused here, but IF she was NOT bred as a yearling when you bought her, and she DID run with a stallion through the summer, and she is NOT showing heats, and she has NOT been vet checked as open, she MAY very well be pregnant.

 

[HaazeMinis]

Sorry for the confusion. Maybe I need to edit the post again. She has been unltrasounded (external) by my vet and he said she is open

:. So that is why I am questioning her lack of cycling. I have had a previous thread about her during this past summer before my vet got his new unltrasound machine, so my vet would not palpate her then because she is under 34" so I asked forum members to look at photos of her (as a then 2 year old) and the majority stated that she looked bred which was what I had thought with the abscence of heat cycles once can only assume that would have been the case and judging by the date I puchased her and her not being exposed to my stallion after purchase until it was ASSUMED she was bred already I and my vet calculated approximate due date of August or early September and those dates came and went with no baby which was a relief. So I had her Externally Ultrasounded and my vet found that she was indeed open.

I hope that this cleared everything up. Again I am sorry for the confusion.

:

Jeri

I am really quite confused here. I must have missed some very important details somewhere, possibly on another post. You say you thought she was bred as a yearling, but she is now a three year-old??? You say she is NOT pregnant NOW but she is not having heats. Has she been checked by a vet? You also say she was running with a stallion through the summer.

I am totally confused here, but IF she was NOT bred as a yearling when you bought her, and she DID run with a stallion through the summer, and she is NOT showing heats, and she has NOT been vet checked as open, she MAY very well be pregnant.

 

[Becky]

So, this mare was running with your stallion during the day this past year up til now? If that's the case and you haven't seen her cycle, she could very likely be in foal. Sometimes my stallions seemingly ignore mares in heat, but the mares turn up in foal, so the stallion is doing his job even when I don't see it! :bgrin

Ultrasounds and even palpations don't always give the right answer. Now, none of my open mares are cycling right now; they likely are shut down for the winter. So if you're concrened that she's not cycling right now, she could either be in foal or just going through winter anestrus.

 

[Songcatcher]

OK, I just missed a major part of the story. I have had ABSOLUTELY NO EXPERIENCE with ultrasounds, but from what I have read here on the Forum, they can sometimes be unreliable, especially the external type. I am certainly not argueing with your vet, I'm sure s/he knows far more about it than I. However, If I were in that situation, with the mare running with the stallion and not showing heats, I would still be unsure.

Sorry for the confusion. Maybe I need to edit the post again. She has been unltrasounded (external) by my vet and he said she is open

:. So that is why I am questioning her lack of cycling. I have had a previous thread about her during this past summer before my vet got his new unltrasound machine, so my vet would not palpate her then because she is under 34" so I asked forum members to look at photos of her (as a then 2 year old) and the majority stated that she looked bred which was what I had thought with the abscence of heat cycles once can only assume that would have been the case and judging by the date I puchased her and her not being exposed to my stallion after purchase until it was ASSUMED she was bred already I and my vet calculated approximate due date of August or early September and those dates came and went with no baby which was a relief. So I had her Externally Ultrasounded and my vet found that she was indeed open.

I hope that this cleared everything up. Again I am sorry for the confusion.

:

Jeri

I am really quite confused here. I must have missed some very important details somewhere, possibly on another post. You say you thought she was bred as a yearling, but she is now a three year-old??? You say she is NOT pregnant NOW but she is not having heats. Has she been checked by a vet? You also say she was running with a stallion through the summer.

I am totally confused here, but IF she was NOT bred as a yearling when you bought her, and she DID run with a stallion through the summer, and she is NOT showing heats, and she has NOT been vet checked as open, she MAY very well be pregnant.

 

[DebiM]

Ok, I understand now, Jeri. I've had very accurate results with bloodtest for pregnancy. You may want to get that done then if it's negative get a culture run on her. She may need a good flushing before breeding this year.

 

[qtrrae]

Jerri,

Isn't it fun? These precious little minis are sometimes so darn hard to figure out! I had basically the same thing with Kristi, she ran with our cremello stallion, Gold from May thru Sept.

I never once saw her in heat so assumed she was bred for "06. When I went to do my chores late Nov. there she was with a beautiful little palomino colt standing at her side. She did NOT look bred, had no bag but of course I wasn't really watching her with the idea that she was close to foaling. I was NOT expecting a baby until at the earliest April of '06.

I am still "wondering" how on earth she ended up bred for a Nov. foal. We watch our mares closely and they are pastured next to their little brood mare band in the "off season."

Somehow Gold bred her without our knowledge.

Good luck with your mares, I know you take the very best care of your horses. Little Miss Tequila Rose can attest to that. She is looking so good, I just LOVE that little mare!!

 

[Magic]

Perhaps she is just a "late-maturing" mare, and she just isn't ready to get pregnant? I had a full-sized mare that had basically silent heats until I had her bred as a six year old or so. I also had a mini mare that had mostly silent heats like her dam and she didn't settle til she was a few years older too.

Most of my mares (fillies) are in full heat as yearlings though, and that can be really annoying, lol! Gotta keep those yearling and two year old and even three year old fillies FAR from the stallions. I have one two year old filly, never been bred, that shows non-stop to one of my geldings when he is turned out in the pen next to her.

Which also gives me an idea-- when breeding season starts (this time of year most mares aren't even cycling yet)-- try a different stallion to tease her, maybe the two year old, or borrow someone's stallion.

Sometimes those "silent heat" mares are just looking for a stallion they can't resist.

:

 

[Bess Kelly]

.

I was hoping for more response, but like many here I sometimes feel since I am not in the "click" I dont get many replies.

: But, oh well I will just stay in lurk mode since I dont feel I want to be judged on what I do or dont do.

:

:

Don't even go there! You will get replies from those who may have anything to share that they feel is helpful. You are just as important as anyone on this forum and so are your questions. There are times when LOTS of people are on and reply, other days not so. Please know this and understand. The time of day and time of the week plays a part in who has "time" to be onliine.

:

NOW -- I agree with the others, some mares have silent heats and some stallions are just "sexier" than others. :bgrin IF your stallion was not able to get your other mares in foal -- yes, check this stallion. Perhaps he has a slight urethal infection -- perhaps he's young/old and fertility challenged....who knows! Only some testing will tell you, for sure, IF there is an issue to correct. Know anyone else with a stallion?

Perhaps you could take her there and see how she reacts. Of course, it would need to been every few days to "catch" her cycle

: but, doable.

The fact that she was stalled by him may play a little part in how she reacts to him, also. I put a filly next to her sire in a barn stall when weaning -- they had been in pasture together, so it was HIS turn to babysit

: -- and she never showed heat to him through over 18 months of age. Took her away from his stall and put her with others. At three, guess what, she will sure show to him now! Filly may not be "in the mood". Separate the stallion for a couple of weeks.....see if that makes for an attitude adjustment. Have him checked while he's not so close. There are just many factors, especially with young ones be they mares or stallions. Do remember that weather plays a roll in when they will/won't breed also. Extreme heat has been known to keep some stallions from being interested.

 

[bevann]

When your vet did the ultrasound for pregnancy did he do a good check of her reproductive system?When I first got Minis almost 20 years ago I bought a beautiful little mare for breeding.She had no heat cycles and when I had her checked her ovaries were almost not even there-they were so tiny.It is rare, but it does happen.She may be a silent heat mare.Some of mine are like that if they ahve a foal on them.so we get a baby every other year.