How long does it take for a mare's milk to dry up?

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Hannah weaned Troy just over a week ago... Her bag initially came up really big and hard, but has gone down a lot and is not more squashy and a bit saggy
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However, she is still producing milk
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I sqeezed one of her teats tonight just to see, and there was quite a bit of milk in there... It was a bit more opaque than it was, but I wouldn't say it was yellowy or creamy as I believe to be a sign of mastitis. They are not tender to touch (I have had a good prod and poke) but as I said, it does like more opaque than I have noticed before.

If it gets any worse, I will get the vet up to have a look... but I didn't know how long it can take for them to dry up. She is on her TopSpec (she gets spasmodic colic, and since starting on this she has not had it once) and hay at night when she is in. She is only out in the field for half a day at the moment because the fields are so wet where we are.

Thanks,

Rebecca x
 
It depends on the individual horse, but I usually allow for about 6 weeks to be fully dry. You are best not touching them either.
 
Thank you everyone... I just did not know how long it could take.

This is the first time I have touched them, mainly because she had mud all over them (had been looning a bit in the field) and I was washing them down
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I'll not worry then for a while... she seems happy enough, and as I said they have gone down an awful lot since she first came back
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It differs mare to mare. I wouldn't say don't touch them, just don't try to stimulate the milk supply by milking them. By touching them, you can discern the temperature and if they are hard or not - early signs of mastitis. If you want you can add epsom salts to her feed.
 
They are warm, but then the rest of her body is, so I go off that more than anything. Also, they are slightly hard at the top, but they were hard all over when she first came back, but now all the bottom bit and the teats are saggy
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What do epsom salts do? And where would I get them?

Now this is a very suspicious mare when it comes to things added to her feed (won't eat bute, antibiotics, etc etc), so I also need to know whether epsom salts would be poison in Han's eyes
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I got my epsom salts from the feed store. Not very expensive. Tastes like regular salt to me...... B can be fussy too, esp. of salt, she ate it no probs. NOt sure what it does to be honest, just something that I've always been told can help.

Sounds like her bag is going in the right direction
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LOL - H was 9 months old too and it took B about 8 weeks to fully dry up. Just goes to show how each horse is an individual eh.
 
Well this wont be any help, I've put a post up as Amber had some milk in her teats the other day.

It was the first time I have handled them since April (she didnt have any milk then) so I dont know if she has been producing some milk all this time, or the shettie foal that has recently been introduced to the herd has made her broody.
 
I weaned almost a yr ago, and I can still get milk out of my mare! Its not much but its there

She took about8 weeks to properly dry up, I dropped her feed back, make sure she had good turn and got on with riding her
 
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