help...Maiden mare, sweating, swollen above the eyes....do i worry??

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The Blonde Business

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I have a 16.1hh W/B maiden mare 13 years old in foal due 6th June. She has been sweating in a lightweight rug, I tried all different types, so have removed her rug now. She has also become swollen above her eyelids a soft swelling for the last week, and has slight fatty areas above her shoulder. Plus she looks really tired and fed up. She is lame, however she does suffer an old shoulder injury occasionally when pulling out of mud.
She is a good dooer, and has it has always been a task to keep the weight down, and currently she is large.
I have rang the vet, as I worried about insulin levels, overweight issue, cushins, metabolic syndrome etc etc.
I am a 1st time breeder, and really do not want to miss anything major, and put mare or foal at risk. The vet told me to remove her rug, turn her out 247, reduce hard feed, remove sugar, and put her on a stud balancer (i know whole new subject!). I have done this a week ago, she has stopped sweating, but still has patches of hair malting.
She is on simple systems luice nuts, a low sugar beet, with a pinch of happy tummy by dengie, and i have stud balancer but not introduced it yet, as I was just going to feed a vitamin and mineral. She has access to hay.
Do any of you have any advice? Is this normal? Is it just her hormones?
I am really worried, I would hate to do something wrong. This mare is my pride and joy, and this foal is long awaited!
Thanks:)
 
I would follow your vet's advice re feed, but re the rug, I agree with him. My experience (limited) of broodmares is that they have their own inbuilt radiator when pregnant. I haven't rugged my pregnant ones before. I hope she is ok and the pregancy goes well.
 
I would not be worried about her moulting as alot of horses are losing their coats at the moment and would just have done exactly as the vet suggested and got rid of the rug and cut out the sugars so she is comfortable and can drop a bit of weight as from what you have written it sounds as if she is a bit on the overweight side of well at the moment and if so getting some weight off will also help her legs
 
You dont mention what access to grass she has? Aside from her being pregnant - in a normal horse i'd be worrying about laminitis or a metabolic condition from what you describe. How do her feet look? Is she trimmed regularly? I know you dont want to starve her but i'd certainly be careful not to overfeed and avoid anything with excess sugar. Hence why i asked about grazing - make sure its not too rich. My mare is moulting (pregnant) but my other horses arent, so i wouldnt worry about that. Rug wise - yes, if shes too hot remove it (provided she has shelter) and the vets advice re feeding sounds right. Many good doers dont need much else feed wise than what they normally get (apart from the vits and mins being more important). I'd be tempted to cut out most feed and keep her on hay only for a bit?? A bit of unmolassed sugar beet should be ok though and something chaff like to go with it (hi-fi molasses free?) but i'd maybe even cut out the lucie nuts. Some horses dont suit alfalfa (which there is a small amount in all dengie products so if you want to try a alfalfa free product then you'll need to look elsewhere. Pure feeds are good). But you dont mention how much you are feeding a day quantity wise.
 
My only thought would be, if she is developing laminitis* then turn out is the worst possible thing for her as she needs to have frog supports, deep litter bedding and low sugar forage.

Have you checked for pulses? Are you able to test for pain in soles?

*I am interested to hear you speak of a shoulder injury. I have just one mare with laminitis in my yard. She was suspected of having a shoulder injury and showed muscle wasting on one side, however I was also very unhappy with my farrier's trimming and she developed odd feet. It was subsequent to this that she presented with laminitis.
 
With your mare symptoms I would strongly suspect Cushings you Must get her tested as Soon as possible by your vet, if she has cushings she needs to be put on Pegolide or Prascend.
we had a broodmare present with hind lameness to begin with its not to do with food but lack of light and seritonelevels, cant spell !and it is cushing lami which is very different to food induced lami, we lost a foal as we did not know what our mare had till the following year when she did the same thing again lame hot wet bed and excesive thirst she also hung on to her coat well in to late spring good luck and if you need any further advice please feel free to pm me.
 
Crugeran Celt said:
Rollin said:
My only thought would be, if she is developing laminitis* then turn out is the worst possible thing for her

This is not always the case as with my mare the worst thing I can do for her is stable her when she has a bout.
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That is very interesting. The Laminitis Trust advised me that my mare could not even stand outside her stable while I mucked her out as this would cause damage to the laminae. I would be very interested to know more about the different approach.
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angrovestud said:
With your mare symptoms I would strongly suspect Cushings you Must get her tested as Soon as possible by your vet, if she has cushings she needs to be put on Pegolide or Prascend.
we had a broodmare present with hind lameness to begin with its not to do with food but lack of light and seritonelevels, cant spell !and it is cushing lami which is very different to food induced lami, we lost a foal as we did not know what our mare had till the following year when she did the same thing again lame hot wet bed and excesive thirst she also hung on to her coat well in to late spring good luck and if you need any further advice please feel free to pm me.
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When I lived in Scotland, I knew two horses who presented with hind limb lameness (like a string-halt gait) in each case the vet did not look for laminitis and in each case front limb laminitis developed within 48 hours.
 
Rollin said:
When I lived in Scotland, I knew two horses who presented with hind limb lameness (like a string-halt gait) in each case the vet did not look for laminitis and in each case front limb laminitis developed within 48 hours.
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Rollin Yes its Lami but my vet said with cushings lami it can start with hind first, but the fat pads and puffy eyes are not lami they are a symptom of cushings
 
Hi,
I have since had the vet, she checked her temp, which was normal, her heart rate, and generally just gave her the once over.....she did not seem to concerned, she mentioned to keep an eye on her for lami, and getting in touch if she gets worse. Se given she did mention that is she had anything, the meds availble are not suitable for pregnant mares, and if given the foal would be at risk.

The vet asked if it could be twins (gulp) but she had twinned and at her first scan they popped one. Apart from that she said to keep an eye on her. I was a little dissapointed that she felt it not necessary to take bloods or scan her, and even felt a little like I was being paranoid. However after ready the comments from here, maybe not.
I wander if it is worth a second opinion?

Since i have noticed yesterday, she is shifting her weight on her front feet alot :(

She has stopped sweating since removing her rug, she is still malting a little, her eyes look brighter, she is solid in her neck, and she is struggling with weight bearing on her front leg when turning, first starting to walk.
She is large, and has fat packs in her shoulder, and still above her eyes, but she is now in her third trimester.
I have completly dropped her hard feed, to a sprinkle of dengie happy tummy, and a mulitivitamin and mineral.
I have put mineral liks in her shelter. She is still out 247, on a field with little grass, and access to hay.
Any ideas?
 
The Blonde Business said:
Hi,
I have since had the vet, she checked her temp, which was normal, her heart rate, and generally just gave her the once over.....she did not seem to concerned, she mentioned to keep an eye on her for lami, and getting in touch if she gets worse. Se given she did mention that is she had anything, the meds availble are not suitable for pregnant mares, and if given the foal would be at risk.
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Talk to your vet again as I don't believe this is the case. My mare had laminitis whilst in foal and she was on pergolide, then metformin for the latter 8 months of her pregnancy with no problems for her or the foal.
 
Sorry, I only just noticed that your post mentioned getting a second opinion. After suggesting you talk to your vet again, on second thoughts I would get a second opinion.

FWIW my lami mare was off the grass and only got soaked hay and Top Spec's anti-lam for her pregnancy, she was eating less than 2.5% bodyweight and still made a bouncing baby. If your girl has got lami I would suggest that you treat it as aggressively as possible as she is at the stage where the foal's weight will really be starting to impact her at precisely the time when she needs as little weight on her feet as possible :(
 
stimpy said:
Sorry, I only just noticed that your post mentioned getting a second opinion. After suggesting you talk to your vet again, on second thoughts I would get a second opinion.

FWIW my lami mare was off the grass and only got soaked hay and Top Spec's anti-lam for her pregnancy, she was eating less than 2.5% bodyweight and still made a bouncing baby. If your girl has got lami I would suggest that you treat it as aggressively as possible as she is at the stage where the foal's weight will really be starting to impact her at precisely the time when she needs as little weight on her feet as possible :(
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Thanks Stimpy will do
 
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