Nightmare !

[smurf]

I bought a mare 7 months ago and 3 weeks ago discovered she is in foal. Please do not say congratulations, it's a total nightmare for her, me, yard owner etc. It's not being kept and will be weaned and sold.

She looked very close to foaling last week, all the classic signs but then this week has gone backwards. Someone said the dry weather is making mares delay foaling as they worry they won't have enough grass to produce enough milk to feed a growing foal? Anyone else had their mare 'go backwards' in terms of readiness to foal?

 

[TheMule]

I bought a mare 7 months ago and 3 weeks ago discovered she is in foal. Please do not say congratulations, it's a total nightmare for her, me, yard owner etc. It's not being kept and will be weaned and sold.

She looked very close to foaling last week, all the classic signs but then this week has gone backwards. Someone said the dry weather is making mares delay foaling as they worry they won't have enough grass to produce enough milk to feed a growing foal? Anyone else had their mare 'go backwards' in terms of readiness to foal?

Sorry you’re in this situation, it isn’t easy if you don’t have the set up for it.
Mares foal when the foal is ready. Are you testing her milk?

 

[Caol Ila]

No useful advice, but I hear you with the unplanned BOGOF. When I discovered my mare was pregnant, I wasn’t very happy. I didn’t have the facilities to deal with a foal. We made a lot of compromises at the yard that were totally nerve wracking because it wasn’t best practice for keeping a foal but I didn’t a choice. And my mare was 3 (and not even that when she gave birth ), and I wanted two babies like a hole in the head.

The foal was sold on weaning. Luckily to a friend, so I get to see how he’s doing.