Got the ball rolling for a potential 2025 foal - wish me luck!

[MatHalTed]

Here is our little blob, I think the only colour possibility is Bay, with a 50% chance of Heidi passing her white markings down, but depending on her Agouti status there could be a low chance of Black, I don't think Chestnut is possible as baby daddy doesn't carry the recessive gene for it. I'm not fussed on colour or gender though as long as baby is healthy

 

[Titchy Pony]

Here is our little blob, I think the only colour possibility is Bay, with a 50% chance of Heidi passing her white markings down, but depending on her Agouti status there could be a low chance of Black, I don't think Chestnut is possible as baby daddy doesn't carry the recessive gene for it. I'm not fussed on colour or gender though as long as baby is healthy
View attachment 144780

Yeah! Well done Heidi. Now just for a long wait.

I think I have a 75% chance of bay and 25% chance of chestnut. I don't think black is possible, but you never know, Little Madam's dam definitely carried black as Little Madam has a black half sister but I don't think there's any black on dad's side.
A little filly would make my life easier, but either way I'll be over the moon with a healthy foal.

 

[MatHalTed]

Some good news! Heartbeat scan was all good and blob looks healthy and normal, though I wasn't able to attend and my dad and vet had to face time me in hospital. Unfortunately I've had a rather traumatic accident involving my young horse and ended up in hospital for 8 days with my jaw fractured in 3 places, missing or broken half my teeth and a severe concussion. I've got a nasogastric tube in and can't eat or drink anything until it gets taken out which will likely not be for another 5 weeks. And to top it off doctors reckon that I won't be able to get my teeth fixed for at least 6-8 months
To top it all off I'm meant to be starting second year of Uni but unlikely that I'll be able to go for a while due to all of the damage.

 

[ElleSkywalker]

Best wishes for a speedy recovery MHT, that sounds awful I have a few friends who have lost teeth to horses and all now have lovely knashers and you'd never know.

Glad foaly is playing ball though

 

[Titchy Pony]

Ouch! That sounds painful. I hope you're as comfortable as possible at hospital and that you make a quick recovery.
Good job Heidi and her blob are getting along nicely to cheer you up.

 

[Asha]

That’s sounds awful . Hope you get better soon

 

[MNMyShiningStars]

Some good news! Heartbeat scan was all good and blob looks healthy and normal, though I wasn't able to attend and my dad and vet had to face time me in hospital. Unfortunately I've had a rather traumatic accident involving my young horse and ended up in hospital for 8 days with my jaw fractured in 3 places, missing or broken half my teeth and a severe concussion. I've got a nasogastric tube in and can't eat or drink anything until it gets taken out which will likely not be for another 5 weeks. And to top it off doctors reckon that I won't be able to get my teeth fixed for at least 6-8 months
To top it all off I'm meant to be starting second year of Uni but unlikely that I'll be able to go for a while due to all of the damage.

Congratulations on the successful heartbeat scan. Sorry to hear about your accident, that sounds very scary. I hope you are on the mend soon x

 

[MatHalTed]

Heidi has her 45 day scan soon to make sure everything is progressing alright. I'm back home and have had the nasogastric tube out (thank god) but am on a liquid diet as I A) can't really open my mouth wide enough to eat and B) don't really have enough healthy teeth left to chew properly lol. I had a dental visit yesterday and had my lip and mouth stitches taken out and also a fractured tooth removed but the dentist couldn't do anymore due to my jaw still being unstable and because I can't open my mouth properly. Out of interest what is everyone feeding their ladies? Heidi gets Dengie Meadow Grass Chaff with herbs and oil, Spillers Daily balancer, Speedibeet and some Stud Mix currently, then ad lib hay and as much grass as she can eat (which is a lot). I'll start increasing feed a bit when it gets colder and grass starts to die off but don't want to feed too much. The amount of stud mix that they recommend to feed seems ridiculously large to me.

 

[Titchy Pony]

I'm glad you're home, MHT, and that you seem to be on the mend, albeit slowly.
Little Madam is currently enormous due to there being grass all summer so she is not getting anything except a token feed to split her from my Old Lady at the moment. I'll reconsider when she looks more like a horse than a hippo.

 

[MatHalTed]

45 day scan was all good! Heidi also had a blood test to check her hormone levels to see if she can be weaned off of the regumate our vet put her on. It's amazing how much our 'blob' (though I'm not sure I can call it that anymore, lol) has grown, it almost looks somewhat like a horse now. We have the sex scan sometime in October, can't remember the exact date but it's after 60+ days.

 

[MatHalTed]

Another update: We had the sex scan at 70 days 2 weeks ago and the vet and I believe baby is a filly! Baby was quite helpful and positioned well to check, genital tubercle had migrated towards the tail head and was no longer central to the femurs (which indicates colt). I've been secretly hoping for a filly so I was very pleased, though knowing my luck baby will be born and end up being a colt. Not much more in store now, we have another scan towards the end of November / early December to check that Heidi is still pregnant going into winter, then her first EHV vaccine at 5 months in the middle of December. We may do a trans-abdominal ultrasound around day 120-150 to confirm the sex as it can be easier to tell then.

 

[MatHalTed]

Well here's the post I didn't want to make. Heidi had a scan on the 27th just as a check before receiving her first EHV vaccine and unfortunately she's lost the baby. Luckily she seems fine physically and there's been no change in her personality. We're not sure how it happened, as we check her twice daily and there's been no signs of any sickness or colic that may have caused her to lose it, any no sign of any premature udder filling or discharge from her vulva. Unfortunately it's just one of those things that can happen. We will do a uterine biopsy in spring to see if that will give us any answers as to what happened but unfortunately as there was no fetus found we can't necropsy to find out why she lost it. We're assuming she reabsorbed as there were no signs of a miscarriage in her stable or in her paddock. I hope everyone else has better luck with their babies, hopefully 2025 will be better as it's been complete disaster for me.

 

[nagblagger]

Sorry to read this update.

 

[FinnishLapphund]

Well here's the post I didn't want to make. Heidi had a scan on the 27th just as a check before receiving her first EHV vaccine and unfortunately she's lost the baby. Luckily she seems fine physically and there's been no change in her personality. We're not sure how it happened, as we check her twice daily and there's been no signs of any sickness or colic that may have caused her to lose it, any no sign of any premature udder filling or discharge from her vulva. Unfortunately it's just one of those things that can happen. We will do a uterine biopsy in spring to see if that will give us any answers as to what happened but unfortunately as there was no fetus found we can't necropsy to find out why she lost it. We're assuming she reabsorbed as there were no signs of a miscarriage in her stable or in her paddock. I hope everyone else has better luck with their babies, hopefully 2025 will be better as it's been complete disaster for me.

I'm so sorry. Bad enough to have that happen, after your accident which I've just read about further up the thread, but to then also risk not getting any answers about why/how. *Sigh*
I hope 2025 is more kind to you.

 

[GypsGal1718]

I’m so sorry. I’m glad she is ok though.

 

[Titchy Pony]

I'm really sorry @MatHalTed, 2024 hasn't been kind to you. I'm glad Heidi is ok and hope you can get some answers in spring.

 

[Titchy Pony]

Foal arrival is creeping closer. My foaling box is now ready and I just need to install a camera. Little Madam has had her final vaccinations and is growing rounder and rounder and I've received an email from the ifce (French organisation for registering equines) reminding me that the foal needs to be declared within 15days of birth

 

[FinnishLapphund]

How exciting! Does the ifce registration require that you've already decided on a definite official name, or is it a more basic registration, simply declaring if it's a colt or filly, and the colour + if there's any markings?

 

[Titchy Pony]

How exciting! Does the ifce registration require that you've already decided on a definite official name, or is it a more basic registration, simply declaring if it's a colt or filly, and the colour + if there's any markings?

If I'm not mistaken, the ifce registration will require an official name (I think you used to have send 3 in, in order of preference, in case the 1st one was considered unsuitable for whatever reason, but I don't know if that's still the case now it's all online), dam and sire name, declaration of insemination, whether colt or filly and possibly overall colour. Marking have to be done at a later date by the vet, generally at the same time as chipping and DNA testing. The breed stud book will probably require all the same information as well for the foal to be "full papered".

 

[FinnishLapphund]

If I'm not mistaken, the ifce registration will require an official name (I think you used to have send 3 in, in order of preference, in case the 1st one was considered unsuitable for whatever reason, but I don't know if that's still the case now it's all online), dam and sire name, declaration of insemination, whether colt or filly and possibly overall colour. Marking have to be done at a later date by the vet, generally at the same time as chipping and DNA testing. The breed stud book will probably require all the same information as well for the foal to be "full papered".

I've heard of other horse registration organisations where new horse names needs to be approved, and like you mention, you were(/are?) expected to send in more than one name suggestion, in case your first choice isn't approved. The stud book for Swedish Trotters at least used to have people in their registry office who tried to made sure that (as I remember it, it was a long time since I read about it): you didn't use a banned name, a name a famous/really successful Swedish trotter have already had, if 2 other Trotters already have that exact name but haven't been notably successful you can use the name but not if there's already 3 Trotters within a 25 years period with that name, or words which is considered inappropriate or rude.
Sometimes things still slipped through, e.g. a Trotter mare in I think it was the late 90's was named Dupa, which in Polish = Ass. And yes the Swedish breeder did know it meant that in Polish, they thought it fitting since that's what the driver sitting in the sulky will mainly see.

Anyhow, max 15 days after birth to figure out a name, and register it, doesn't seem that much if someone would happen to feel a bit indecisive.

 

[Titchy Pony]

I've heard of other horse registration organisations where new horse names needs to be approved, and like you mention, you were(/are?) expected to send in more than one name suggestion, in case your first choice isn't approved. The stud book for Swedish Trotters at least used to have people in their registry office who tried to made sure that (as I remember it, it was a long time since I read about it): you didn't use a banned name, a name a famous/really successful Swedish trotter have already had, if 2 other Trotters already have that exact name but haven't been notably successful you can use the name but not if there's already 3 Trotters within a 25 years period with that name, or words which is considered inappropriate or rude.
Sometimes things still slipped through, e.g. a Trotter mare in I think it was the late 90's was named Dupa, which in Polish = Ass. And yes the Swedish breeder did know it meant that in Polish, they thought it fitting since that's what the driver sitting in the sulky will mainly see.

Anyhow, max 15 days after birth to figure out a name, and register it, doesn't seem that much if someone would happen to feel a bit indecisive.

Over here, it mainly to make sure that the number of characters doesn't exceed the limit of 21 characters including suffix if there is one (a friend got caught out and her horse's stable name doesn't match her registered name, which isn't all that common here), that you're not trying to use someone else's registered suffix, that the first letter of the name matches the the letter of the year (or you can't register in most French stud books) and that you're not using a reserved name (generally famous horse names of the same breed - I know a shetland called Jappeloup, and that's OK because no one's going to confuse him with the now deceased olympic champion), and nothing considered rude or insulting.

I suppose 15 days to name your foal does focus the mind! I'm trying not to get ahead of myself, but I am thinking of various options.

 

[Alibear]

AQHA give you longer to register the foal but do the three names in order of preference thing. There's also a foal name checker on the website where you can enter a name, and it will confirm if it's OK to use; you still have to provide 3 in case someone else comes up with the same name at the same time.