mare very possibly in foal big suprise

jensheff26

jensheff26

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well iv been up to see my lot today and my mare who i thort had just put loads of weight on over winter had a big ridge on her belly and her teets have got bigger like a bit droopy i was stood watching her and it was like somrthing moving inside her, iv had her since last july so it would be possible??? iv spoken to dealer who i got her off and he now tells me she had been running with a vanner for 6 months before i bought her, i feel so guilty as iv cut her feed down in past week and shes been hacked out quite a bit vet is coming out in next few days to check her out but i feel right bad so shes now stood munching her favourite bucket of carrotts,apples and turnip, shes only 12 and i know shes had a foal before but i think shes had a hard enough life to have a baby now, im really panicked about it i hope my princess will be ok
 
gee thanks im just so panicky it will be the first foal iv ever had is it normal to be like this and want to wrap her in cotton wool
 
Most importantly DON'T PANIC! Nothing you will have done with her will affect foaly in a bad way (or shouldn't do!). We had a FABULOUS showjumping mare in for sale last Summer - absolutely stunning leaopard spot, with dun coloured spots! She jumped like nothing on earth, and was in seriously hard work competing 3 times a week and eventually cubbing on top of that but we still couldn't get the tummy off her. She was having no feed, and being worked like stink, so we rang the dealer (we had her on a sale or return deal) and he said there was absolutely no way she could be in foal, so we carried on, assuming that her enlarged teats were just normal for her. On the Thursday, I lunged her for about an hour and although still willing, she was a big sluggish, so kept her in for the day. That evening when I was skipping her out, I noticed that her teats were waxed up, so I picked of the wax and had a squeeze and sprayed milk in my face! Poor girly had her foal on the Friday afternoon, and he was a beautiful palomino with blanket spots, and strong as a bloody ox! Mum and baby still fine 5 months later, and foaly can run like the wind, so clearly worming and working didn't do him any harm!
Good luck!
 
is there anything i should be doing to make sure all runs smoothly shes my baby and i wouldnt want anything to go wrong out of my lack of knowledge in the rest of her pregnancy
 
This happened to a friend of mine - they realised just a week or so before baby was born! Mare and foal were absolutely fine, so don't worry! Also if you bought in July she might not be due till August so plenty of time yet.

If she's had one before chances are she'll be absolutely fine. Some people bring in to foal but my mare had hers out in the field quite happily and spent their first few days out.

Of things to do in preparation: maybe get some cholostrum (you can get it powdered from the vets) in case she runs a lot of milk before foaly comes along.
Check your fences and gates are 'foal proof' not just 'full grown horse proof'.
Get some blue spray to spray on the umbilical cord stump to prevent infection.
Have a spade handy to bury the placenta as all kinsds of animals love them apparently.
Get some calcium supplement (i.e. limestone flour) to pop in mares feed now and while lactating so that she doesn't deplete her bone calcium.

And don't worry about riding her, mine was happily hacking out until she was as wide as a cow!! (walking towards the end mind as her belly swung side to side too much in trot!)
Good luck! Post some pics when he/she arrives.
 
great stuff thank you i will be going to get some tomorrow and when its born would i need to stable them as my mare lives out will it be ok in the paddock with mare and field shelter with big bed in
 
Brings back happy memories! We bought a mare whose belly never diminished despite regular exercise and a strict diet, and we were assured by the riding school we bought her from that she couldn't POSSIBLY be pregnant. One day, I was brushing her tummy and something kicked the body brush away! The something turned out to be a gorgeous, strapping colt foal. She gave birth out in her field, sometime between me checking her at 11am and my friend going up at 3pm. I think I read a foal does most of its growing in the last 3 months of the pregnancy so you have time to spoil your mare rotten! I'm sure she'll be fine. Do let us know!
 
How exciting. As mentioned don't panic, her and her unborn should be fine.You must post some pics when she has it.
When we purchased my mare years ago she was in foal to a gypsy coloured stallion, not that we were told at the time but it was a wonderful surprise when sh had her filly!
 
awww thanks guys i have calmed down a bit now since the big panick earlier im getting pretty excited just kicking myself a bit at how i just thort she"d been eating too much hayledge. i actually felt it move too and shes getting a bit tetchy under her belly, shes now being wrapped in cotton wool and pampered to death i really cant wait
 
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