help!! mare due to foal

[HavocsRevenge]

hi people!
we are due to have a foal ideally any day, the vet came out and checked her out and said she had 8 weeks left. Well 9 weeks later and no foal!!! She's bagging up and but teats are not dropping but then the teats drop and then the bag disappears! shes set really far back and lengthened in her 'privates'... I worked on a stud yard for a few years and even though each mare was diffrrent in the stages, once they all showed the signs they foaled within 2 weeks tops! Unfortunately we do not know the date of conception due to this being a happy accident... but does anyone think we need vet asap??
Any advice at all will be appreciated!

 

[Alexart]

Unfortunately mares never read the books!, and more often than not don't show the classic signs at all, and if they do they can show them weeks before they foal upto just hours before!! I would take the vets estimate with a pinch of salt as once the foal gets to a decent size it's very hard to guess the due date if the covering date is unknown - you must have some idea roughly - did you not see her with a stallion or a stallion out with her? I'd still be checking on her day and night though just to make sure, she'll foal when she's ready and there's nothing you can do to speed things up I don't think curries work on horses!!, just watch and wait and make sure everything is ready and she's got a foaling paddock with shelter available/or in at night, the vet can't do anything either, but I know how frustratingly boring the wait is!!! Any pics?

 

[mynutmeg]

No point in getting the vet just now as they can't do anything unless your suspecting something nasty like placentitis.
Would recommend getting milk testing strips and test her milk - will give you a much more accurate idea as to how far off foaling she is.

Good luck

 

[HavocsRevenge]

No point in getting the vet just now as they can't do anything unless your suspecting something nasty like placentitis.
Would recommend getting milk testing strips and test her milk - will give you a much more accurate idea as to how far off foaling she is.

Good luck

Good idea never thought of that!! Durrhhh lol But we have no idea when she was covered as she was only with a 2 yr old colt that never showed ANY interest in the mares what so ever, he was always with my 16.2 gelding! He was terrified of the mares, so we didn't actually see him cover her, as it must have been through the night... So not the foggiest! As daft as that sounds lol!! But we are keeping an eye on her and her teats and 'privates' lol she does go in most nights in a concealed shelter (converted stable) which is 22ftx10ft so she has plenty of room, also has her for when the foal arrives as she is a fat haflinger that needed little grass, but when we found out she was in foal, vet advised us to get as much of the green stuff down her as we can lol But the waiting is killing us! lol especially seeing as we don't know date of conception... We will just have to wait and see...

 

[mynutmeg]

Getting grass in her is good but don't let her get too fat as it can cause problems.
I would highly recommend milk testing as we had a date for my maiden and she didn't look quite ready to go but the test strips said she was ready and ready she was.

 

[CBFan]

Milk testing strips.

And while I agre that she needs grass for the foal. Don't be stupid about it and let her get obese. Mares and foals, particularly native types and good doers can survive and thrive on relatively little. Laminitis is as big a risk (if not bigger) with an in-foal mare / one with foal at foot.

 

[Queenbee]

Good idea never thought of that!! Durrhhh lol But we have no idea when she was covered as she was only with a 2 yr old colt that never showed ANY interest in the mares what so ever, he was always with my 16.2 gelding! He was terrified of the mares, so we didn't actually see him cover her, as it must have been through the night... So not the foggiest! As daft as that sounds lol!! But we are keeping an eye on her and her teats and 'privates' lol she does go in most nights in a concealed shelter (converted stable) which is 22ftx10ft so she has plenty of room, also has her for when the foal arrives as she is a fat haflinger that needed little grass, but when we found out she was in foal, vet advised us to get as much of the green stuff down her as we can lol But the waiting is killing us! lol especially seeing as we don't know date of conception... We will just have to wait and see...

Im sure she will be fine, I second MN who says no more grass, you dont want her too porky and I bet she will drop just after you turn her out into the field on a lovely sunny day... mares are awkward like that x good luck and looking forward to the pics x