Any guesses as to when she might foal please???

[cariadssogreat]

You may have seen some of my other posts . Basically I have bought a wild 18 year old in foal mare. We have absolutely no idea when she is due! Any ideas from the photos below. I believe that her muscle tone has changed - she is not yet runnung milk.

-------------------------------------------------------------
Brand new SMB Elite boots available - most sizes - just £50 per pair - PM me for details

 

[cariadssogreat]

Oh - and these pics were taken today - but she is no longer in the small paddock with barbed wire - she is now in 3 acres with electric fencing

 

[Super_Kat]

Impossible to say really, mares can bag up and give birth in a few hours (my old semi-wild welshie did) so without a covering date it's pretty hard to say. Sweet mare though and by the way you described her I thought her condition would have been alot worse than that, what breed is she?

Kat
xx

 

[cariadssogreat]

Shes a forrester. The weather is so crap at the moment its frightening me for her sake and the foal! I just hope we get some more better weather and that shes not too late.

 

[Marnie]

As long as she has some shelter, she should be ok. I remember somone in a similar situation a few years ago. The mare foaled in bad weather and other people got involved, mentioned reporting to the RSPCA etc and basically forced the girl to bring the mare and foal into a stable in the main yard. The mare was so stressed that she refused to let the foal feed, and it died. If they had been left in the sheltered field, and kept an eye on and fed, I am sure that things would have been ok - remember, she probably did fine in the wild.

My mare waxed up 2 days before foaling and gave us plenty of signs, but there are other mares in our yard who really caught us by surprise - no signs until a foal at foot!

It looks as though you are doing all the right things - just one question though, in the second pic she almost looks as though she is back on her heels as if she is laminitic -or was she just wary and ready to move?

Jen

 

[cariadssogreat]

The 2nd pic is this mare all over - wary and ready to go! Thanks for your kind words- its nice that some people agree with me - i.e. that stabling her would stress her that much that it would probably make things worse. I will let everyone know how she goes on - either way I dont think we've got very long until she foals! Crossed fingers and toes!

 

[brighteyes]

Having seen the pics, cancel the calls to the welfare societies! Bless her and bless you for taking her on. She's better off not being stressed and subjected to too much interference. Keep things to what she knows.

I'm wondering if eventually you might be able to 'get to her' by taming the foal, but that's out of my area of expertise (if indeed I have one!).

All the best - bet she foals really fast and while you aren't looking. Hope she manages OK. Do let us know straight away.

 

[cariadssogreat]

Thank you very much brighteyes - I shall keep you all posted