What should I do?

[spindleberry]

Pictures.

 

[AnnaC]

Thanks - she's looking good. She needs to do a bit more 'shopping' with her udder - as it fills her teats will get further apart.

Could you do us a full side on shot - get down on you knees so that you are at her level and not standing up above her - a nice clear side on shot of the whole of her, please.

 

[spindleberry]

Yes but it will probably be Monday. I have class tomorrow plus work the weekend plus it's the end of the semester and I am swamped with so much homework. I can't wait to see her baby but I wouldn't mind one bit if she held off until after I am done with 2 of my 3 classes!!

 

Nice pretty round tummy!!

 

[spindleberry]

OK I had time to snap a few photos while I was waiting on her water trough to fill. Sorry about the sun. She kept wanting to follow me around every time I went to the other side. Goofy horse. lol

 

Her tummy is looking just great!!!!! A bit more work on the udder please......!

How is baby riding? Do you have a picture of her from the back looking down her sides? Just wondering, because baby has definitely dropped and looks very nicely centered, and if she's rolling baby into position, you should start to see her looking more "slab-sided". She'll start moving that baby "forward-of-center" and remember, these girls can go without an udder -- and if all other signs are showing ready -- it's possible that she'll go without a full udder!

 

[spindleberry]

What do you mean by 'slab sided'?

 

[Eagle]

Slab-sided is the term we us to describe the tummy. When the foal drops into the correct position for birth the tummy will drop down low. When you look at the mare from behind it almost seems as she is no longer pregnant but if you look at her from the side you will see her tummy is lower.

 

[spindleberry]

Here are some pics.

 

[spindleberry]

Through her whole pregnancy shes never looked pregnant from behind....but looking at her from the front shes really wide and round. Lol

 

[Eagle]

No we can see she is preggo in these pics

when they are fat their tummy is uniform but if you look at these pics she is bigger on one side than the other

 

[spindleberry]

New photos, decided to come home between classes today to get a bite to eat since we got out super early from anatomy. Thought I would check on her and get some updated photos since I probably won't have time later on.

 

[Eagle]

Great pics

baby isn't lined up yet as you can see her tummy sticking out from behind so she isn't slab sided yet. Her udder is growing nicely though and her hooha is nice and long. Keep a close eye on her as these last minute changes could happen fast.

 

[spindleberry]

You think I'll have time to get her on cam? Not really worried for the next 3 days but after that, we start our week where mom and i work the same days. Ugh.

 

[Gone_Riding]

Looking good though!

Question: How far from rump should the picture from behind be taken so that the picture is the most accurate?

 

[targetsmom]

There is really no way to tell how long she will take but I would guess it will be more than 3 days so I would definitely check into cams. If you have read other threads on here you will know how important it is for you to be there when she foals. And from my own sad experience, mares can go from calmly eating to foaling (and the foal not getting out of the sac) in 15 minutes or less. And if you check our thread on here this year (On Target Miniatures) you will see that our maiden mare has had a full udder, teats pointing down, and slab sided for over TWO WEEKS and we still wait. She is on cam plus wearing an alarm which will page me whenever she lies flat - which she does many times a night!!! Our other mare Toffee looks more like yours does right now - big lopsided belly, udder is filling but has a ways to go. I don't expect her to foal this week (but of course I could be wrong so she is also on cam and wearing an alarm).

 

[spindleberry]

To be honest, I haven't read very many threads on here. In fact normally I don't even get on this forum as much as I have recently. I normally do not have time to get online. It's not uncommon for me to go days with out posting or even checking in. Especially right now with my classes wrapping up for the semester. (YAY!) Means more time for my horses!! & goats....can't forget the goaties to. Any who, I am going to look into getting the cam....I really hate to have it shipped to me so I am going to check out Home Depot, they have quite a few listed on their site, hopefully they will have some in the store....I am pretty sure Walmart(our walmart) doesn't have them....I think I looked there long time ago when I first thought about having cams for the goats. I'm thinking about possibly making a trip to Kokomo, much bigger town, more stores....I just hate to order it and then she foals before it gets here. lol

Anyways, question, is it ok to go ahead and shave the underside of her belly? I normally clip her towards the end of May (earlier last year due to the heat) but we are actually kinda having a normal spring.....but it gets nippy at night, sometimes so definitely don't want to clip her completely yet....but her belly will be fine right?

 

[Vansplic]

Hey, I am over in Crawfordsville and we just had a foal if you need anything. I am new at this too but may be close by. My mares only sign that she was going to foal the night she did was that her Ph dropped. No udder (foal is 8 days old and still no udder to speak of but baby is fine), no slab sides, no relaxed hooha.. Just Ph then foal! I have Ph strips left and other stuff that I am not gelding to use as I do not intend to breed (this was a rescue who came in in foal). I don't have a camera that would work in your barn set up we used a web can and streamed it through google into the house (my boyfriend is a nerd).

 

[Eagle]

She is progressing nicely and won't be long now as you can see by her udder.

5 days ago

4 days ago

Today

As to how long, no one can say, milk testing will give you an idea, have you tried? I would go ahead and get a cam as you can always use it to keep an eye on baby and then after for the goats.

 

[Eagle]

You can go ahead and clip her tummy if you want cos it won't hurt her. You might want to up her groceries a bit as the foal seems to be dragging her down a little. The last 2 months can be hard on the mares as the foal takes so much out of them plus she will need plenty of feed to produce enough milk for the little one