Fat or in foal

Will be thinking of you, it is nearly 10 years ago my foal was born (11th May), I can remember the day Lottie's milk started she foaled that night! it feels like it was only yesterday.
I hope everything goes well. Looking forward to lots of pictures :)
 
I'm pretty sure we're looking at 24-48 hours rather than the next couple, but here are a few photos to update you all.

She's had a well developed bag for a long time, but if you look very closely, you can see that we now have a small amount of wax too (it's easiest to spot on the right teat).

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There was also apparently milk dripping when she got up after having a lie down this morning.

To me, her vulva looks much the same, but her back end has softened up even further overnight. She doesn't appear overly V-shaped, but she does look very fed up!

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She just doesn't quite know what to do with herself, poor girl! She's very antsy and extremely clingy, and when she's not walking around looking lost and itching on everything in sight, she just wants to stand with her head in your chest or her side pressed to yours.

I've just popped home for a little bit to get some work done and eat, and then I'll be back up around 4pm for another check. In the meantime, she has plenty of other people keeping a subtle eye on her who'll let me know if anything changes between now and then.
 
Eeeek! How exciting! Good luck, hope everything goes smoothly for Mary & you have a healthy happy foalie by morning! xx
 
good luck , hope all goes well.

we have one imminent too, she was running with stallion before I got her so not sure when!!
 
Wow - I keep popping onto this thread to see whether baby has arrived yet, so no chance of getting any work done for the next few days!!
 
I've been following this and I am so excited to see the baby!!! :D

The weather is nice, they usually hang on until its warm.

The waiting around is horrible - when I worked at stud it was easy, same mares, same pattern every year. Horrid when a new mare came and you never know what their "tells" are!
 
Ooh not long now, so exciting! Even my non-horsey husband is getting daily updates. Fingers crossed that all goes well, can't wait to see the baby
 
Ohh I picked a good day to remember this thread!

Sending best wishes for a smooth and peaceful birth and a gorgeous chestnut coloured (skewbald? Can't remember if this is the 'correct' term anymore!) filly.
 
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Well, this majestic(/messy) beastie hasn't changed much since this morning, except to go backwards and seem ridiculously chilled out again!

She's still huge, she still doesn't seem overly perturbed, and I bet she'll keep us all hanging on for a little longer yet!

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However, for the first time, we do definitely have milk in that big bag! It's still clear and colourless at the moment, but hopefully it's a sign that we'll have a baby soon :)
 
JJS said:
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Well, this majestic(/messy) beastie hasn't changed much since this morning, except to go backwards and seem ridiculously chilled out again!

She's still huge, she still doesn't seem overly perturbed, and I bet she'll keep us all hanging on for a little longer yet!

DFD69BE8-82B2-4B3F-A249-F66FD7546517.jpg


However, for the first time, we do definitely have milk in that big bag! It's still clear and colourless at the moment, but hopefully it's a sign that we'll have a baby soon :)
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Ah clear milk can run for weeks! If you can bring yourself to do it, taste it. Around 12 hours before birth it turns sweet!
 
OP, if it were me - I would be ensuring that the entire stable was bedded down now - really thick straw bed with full coverage of all the floor - just incase

very exciting - keep the updates coming
 
JJS said:
I did! No taste at all.
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Not really imminent then. Keep checking and it will give you a few hours notice. We noticed it turn sweet with a mare at our yard at around 9 am. She had the foal at 4.30 pm. It had been tasteless before that.
 
Wagtail said:
Not really imminent then. Keep checking and it will give you a few hours notice. We noticed it turn sweet with a mare at our yard at around 9 am. She had the foal at 4.30 pm. It had been tasteless before that.
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If I remember rightly, the taste should change around 12 hours before, shouldn't it? So I imagine we have a little while longer to go.

Plus, the vet did estimate that Mary had another month or so to go on the 24th of April when she was confirmed in foal. He admitted that it's impossible to say for certain so far along, but I'm not so sure that my original middle of May guess will be wrong.
 
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JJS said:
If I remember rightly, the taste should change around 12 hours before, shouldn't it? So I imagine we have a little while longer to go.

Plus, the vet did estimate that Mary had another month or so to go on the 24th of April when she was confirmed in foal. He admitted that it's impossible to say for certain so far along, but I'm not so sure that my original middle of May guess will be wrong.
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Yes, it's around 12 hours before birth that it changes. We only tasted it at 9 am. But it probably changed a few hours befor then as she had the foal at 4.30.
 
One mare was running milk, had foal about 36 hours later. Another had loads of wax hanging from her teats. I missed her foaling by about 10mins 12 hours later.

I'll be up late on watch the next nights!!!
 
Queenbee said:
OP, if it were me - I would be ensuring that the entire stable was bedded down now - really thick straw bed with full coverage of all the floor - just incase
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Yes, this ^^^ . A thick bed is far far cheaper than an injured foal.

One of the last mares I foaled had literally inches of wax hanging off her teats but not a drop of milk. She foaled 5 hours later... she also refused to let the foal suckle for the first 3 days (and I wonder if the two things are connected) so I had to milk her for the colostrum until we finally got things going as they should do. Oddly she was an experienced mare and this was her 5th foal. You can never tell...
 
I've been lurking on this but struggled to find it this morning so just commenting so I can find it more easily in future. Good luck Mary (and JJS!)
 
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