What do you do to really know that your mare is in foal?

baybeka · May 19, 2022

What do you do to really know that your mare is in foal?
Thanks, Marco

LostandFound · May 19, 2022

Best is ultrasound if your vet is good. Then blood test if you know when she was bred, maybe. You can tease her and see if she comes into heat. The nail test...where you tie a nail or a ring to a string and hang it over the horse. Supposedly if it doesn't move she is not in foal. Or you can wait 11 months and keep checking for feet coming out of her back end. If you see feet she is definitely in foal.

baybeka · May 19, 2022

LostandFound said:
Best is ultrasound if your vet is good. Then blood test if you know when she was bred, maybe. You can tease her and see if she comes into heat. The nail test...where you tie a nail or a ring to a string and hang it over the horse. Supposedly if it doesn't move she is not in foal. Or you can wait 11 months and keep checking for feet coming out of her back end. If you see feet she is definitely in foal.

How many days after breed? is this ultrasound like the ones they do with the bigger horses or does he/she just put the probe on the belly to check it out kinda as we do with humans?

LostandFound · May 19, 2022

They do it with the probe if it's early, just like the big horses. But a lot of vets are scared to do it, and some can't if their arms are too big or the mini is too small. Just like a regular horse, 21 days or later. Some vets will only do the outside the belly one, but I think that's after 6 months.

baybeka · May 19, 2022

LostandFound said:
They do it with the probe if it's early, just like the big horses. But a lot of vets are scared to do it, and some can't if their arms are too big or the mini is too small. Just like a regular horse, 21 days or later. Some vets will only do the outside the belly one, but I think that's after 6 months.

Interesting. Thanks.