Fat or in foal

shirl62 said:
The suspense continues....
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Unfortunately it does! M's udder is bigger again today and she's now started to swell up in front of it too. I'm still hoping it's the spring grass playing tricks, but it will be a little over week before I know for sure and the suspense is killing me!

I would also very much like to go back to a point where my camera roll is not so full of horse boobies!
 
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3Beasties said:
Can you not get a different vet out sooner?
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I can, but this is the vet whose opinion I trust the most. I'm going to have a think about it overnight, and if I really can't handle the waiting, I might call tomorrow and make an earlier appointment with somebody else.
 
I would suggest getting any vet tha knows how to put an arm in a backside and feel as if she is in foal and bagging up quickly it is possible for her to have foaled by next wednesday. some mares will bag up quickly and others will do it over a few weeks so you really do not want to be thinking you have plenty of time
 
Auslander said:
Yes, but you're not unravelling a complex veterinary issue here, so it doesn't have to be your preferred vet. Just one with eyes, arms and a box of surgical gloves!
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This!

You need to be able to prepare and get her on the appropriate diet either way. Alot can change in a week so you would be better knowing what you are dealing with asap!
 
So I've spoken to the friend I'm sharing the call out with. Luckily, she's been very nice about me wanting to move it forward, and has said she's happy for me to phone them tomorrow and arrange an appointment with a different vet if they're available sooner. So fingers crossed I should have my answer before the week is out!

M is also going to be moved into a separate paddock tomorrow to be on the safe side, with just her favourite field mate for company. He's the gentlest old Welsh gelding so I assume she should be fine with that set-up, but if anyone thinks differently, please let me know. She'll be able to see the others from the field I'm moving her into, so can be by herself if necessary. I just don't want to stress her out unnecessarily when she's used to being in a group.
 
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I have my mare out with my yearling. She's got quite maternal and will nicker to the yearling when it's "bed" time which she never did before lol I think keeping her in company until she decides otherwise is healthy. I won't have her with my gelding though cause he can get a bit too close and if she randomly popped out in the paddock I fear he would get into bother.
 
FfionWinnie said:
No way could I wait.
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Me too if the horse is not in foal and those things are being seen ( swelling Around the udder etc) the horse is at risk of a bout of laminitis and if there's no foal in there the mare needs to be on a massive diet immediately .
If the mare is in foal she needs to managed accordingly now.
 
I've spoken to the vets this morning and they still can't get her in before Monday. So Monday the 24th sometime between 9.30 and 12. I was very much hoping I'd know before then but unfortunately that's not an option.
 
JJS said:
I've spoken to the vets this morning and they still can't get her in before Monday. So Monday the 24th sometime between 9.30 and 12. I was very much hoping I'd know before then but unfortunately that's not an option.
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The waiting would drive me spare! Is she carrying any crest? The giveaway with the BOGOF on our yard last year was that she was a welsh mare with one very large tummy, but zero crest on her......
 
SEL said:
The waiting would drive me spare! Is she carrying any crest? The giveaway with the BOGOF on our yard last year was that she was a welsh mare with one very large tummy, but zero crest on her......
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It is driving me spare! When my friend spoke to the vets yesterday to make the original appointment, she was told we would have to wait until Wednesday for John Baird, or could do later this week with another vet. Less than 24 hours later they've booked up and can't fit them in until Monday morning.

No, no crest, and she's actually got a reasonably visible spine and hipbones too. If I didn't know that she was wormed up to date I might be suspecting that, but she definitely is, and is so easy to do that I'm 100 percent certain she's always got the full dose.

Despite that, we have a large belly and a bag that, although it's not full, is getting bigger each day. Fingers are still firmly crossed that it's spring grass, but our herd hasn't changed fields since the beginning of February, so she's not suddenly gone from poor grazing to rich.

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JJS said:
I've spoken to the vets this morning and they still can't get her in before Monday. So Monday the 24th sometime between 9.30 and 12. I was very much hoping I'd know before then but unfortunately that's not an option.
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Keep an eye on her, I was in your position and couldn't tell if my mare was carrying. So i booked up the vet and by the time he came she had bagged up and waxed up. When I asked him was she expecting , he looked and just laughed. Was wasted money really, nothing to do but wait.

I turned her out in a nice paddock and left her to it, a week later we had a lovely colt foal.
 
5 years ago my mare looked identical to yours and a month later she gave birth to a straping colt foal, i'm 100% certain is in foal and is due in the next few weeks.
 
I'm even more convinced now that she is. She's not ready to foal yet but I doubt it'll be longer than 3 weeks
 
She does look a bit suspicious! I don't think she looks fat elsewhere (a good rule of thumb is to hold your finger over the pic so you cover up anything below the line between elbow to stifle, and then you can assess the bit you can see, without being distracted by the saggy tummy - I do this with my horse, who isn't fat, but is lacking abdominal tone!)
I'm hedging my bets though - and wait to hear what the vet says!
 
Sukistokes2 said:
Keep an eye on her, I was in your position and couldn't tell if my mare was carrying. So i booked up the vet and by the time he came she had bagged up and waxed up. When I asked him was she expecting , he looked and just laughed. Was wasted money really, nothing to do but wait.

I turned her out in a nice paddock and left her to it, a week later we had a lovely colt foal.
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Same happened to me with my first foal - the stud's vet said not in foal and it was getting late in the season so I brought her home. By the following spring she was yuuge so I asked my vet to examine her and he laughed his socks off, told me to get her into work and work the belly off her. Glad I ignored his advice because she had a colt 6 weeks later.

OP, I reckon you've got a BOGOF on the way.
 
So today I've gone from being 50/50 to thinking that there really is a distinct possibility that we've got a foal on the way. M's bag seems to have doubled in size overnight, her belly has really popped out now, and her vulva is almost gaping at the bottom (although still a normal salmon colour inside).

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I'd say definitely in foal.

Watch the teats, at the moment they are close together, they will get further apart, soon pointing down, then point left and right ��

TBH she does look like she's foaled before,how old is she?
 
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At this point we are going with foal. So! Foals not in position yet, still needs to turn about so watch for her lying down and kind of looking like shes "rocking" and do little half rolls. As said, it looks like shes foaled before (same as in humans, there is only so much stretch before its ruined forever) so should know what she is supposed to do.

We're on foal watch together!!
 
tda said:
TBH she does look like she's foaled before,how old is she?
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She's four (rising five). As far as I know she was with whoever bred her until May when she went to a dealer. After that she was passed on to someone who got her to bring on and sell, and I bought her from them in August. From what I've inferred, I believe she's a proper gypsy horse, so it wouldn't be so surprising if she'd popped out a foalie before.
 
another thinking next week. her teats need to point at a minimum downwards and preferably outwatds and her vulva will lenghthen (in your picture its just relaxed. just wait until you see it really lengthen). she could be a week off foaling but as she is changing fairly quickly I would not expect a lot more than that.
 
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