OK I give in, Im asking the Q! IS SHE IN FOAL?!!!

Vizslak

Vizslak

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Ok so I have a 15.3 14yo tb maiden mare. She was injured last yr had poor prognosis to come sound and we decided to have a go at producing a baby from her as she has just been one in a million. She was inseminated first in early may, twins found on first scan, very close together in uterine horn, given the chance to naturally slip one until day 30, both still there, right next to each other still. Injected to abort and bring back into cycle. Retried i think another 3 cycles after with no success, we couldnt get her to take again, the last of these was late july/early august. scanned negative at 12 days and again later if my memory serves me rightly, so 7 months ago ish. Thought nothing else of it as mare now sound and back out hunting, super fit and we are having a ball, was considering return to stud this year but pretty undecided on whether to bother (not least because of the costs involved). She has also continued to show seasoning behaviour (although this is really only ever squirting and winking at the odd boy passing, shes never been really seasonal)
Anyway now comes the weird part, the last 2-3 weeks she has DRAMATICALLY changed shape in the belly department, deeper, wider, bigger! she is a fine slight little girl, admittedly well muscled with a big bum but there isnt an ounce of fat on her. And there is just no way this mare, a poor doer, hunting fit, at this time of year should be putting weight on, and i havnt increased any feeds, grazing, forage. infact grazing has decreased due to snow etc. her belly is way larger than it was when she had 7 months off last summer.
Other people have commented and Ive been trying to put to the back of my mind as its 'impossible' Today I have noticed whilst examining said belly she has swellings infront of teats, some bright spark then told me this is also a sign of pregnancy?! So now Im worried (or more intrigued i guess)! Any thoughts? Could she b in foal? Even though scanned as not? Are these swellings significant in front of teats?
SORRY SOOOOOO LONG! LOTS OF DOUGHNUTS AND A BOTTLE OF RED 4 GETTING THIS FAR!
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My mare is 8 months in foal now and she has these swellings in front of the udder. However 4 years ago i sent her to stud and she was covered but scanned not in foal. As it was late i never tried again that year. Injury stopped me trying again until last year. Anyway like you i forgot all about it until the following summer, she had been showing intermitently in season. She grew huge, developed these swellings and also an udder producing easily expressed fluid. I was convinced i saw foal movements and was so excited and got the vet out but she was empty. Just a phantom pregnancy. To be sure though get the vet to examine her to put your mind at rest.
 
Thanks I was wondering about a phantom but didnt know if they would actually change shape/size or not. Will get vet out soon, keep putting it off!
 
You could try a Wee Foal test at home to find out. Cheaper than the vet! Link

Really easy to do, easy to read result and WORKS! Sadly it confirmed that my mare is NOT still in foal - which IS the case
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Our cob mare was scanned not in foal for 2008, so we bought her back into works, clipped her out got her fairly fit, advertised her for sale, had 2 people try her out but she was too much for them.. very full of it. (She's normally quite lazy!!)
Then at easter 08 we took her rug off one day we both said hmmm she's really changing shape.. as you said wider and deeper..

Anyway short of it was we got the vet out he did a rectal exam and hey presto she was in foal.... so we changed her feed to stud mix stopped working her and Dexter was born at the end of May 08!!

Here she is...

Doing XC in Oct 07 (At 3-4 month pregnant)

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Then later in the winter prob Dec or Jan so 5-6 months pregnant!

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sorry to hear that spyda are you trying again this year? have vet coming to yard next weds for something else so will have checked then. foxfolly, wow, so its certainly possible then, thats an amazing suprise! i will get some pics today and post some b4 and afters later so u can all see wot u think belly wise. I am a bit concerned now that if she is something could be up with it as shes had sedation and steriod injections since insemination? Am i over reacting at this thought?
 
We were just relieved that we hadn't sold Breeze, she has produced a lovely foal and is in Foal again for this year... took first time last year!!

With Breeze it was probably more difficult to see changes as she had at least 2 foals before then so her titties are a little saggy from that...Bless her!! Also as you can see.. quite a good doer anyway so the big belly wasn't obvious until it dropped!!

Good luck with yours... hopefully she will be and everything should be fine! Not sure about the steroids but I am sure sedatives must be OK as mares are sometimes operated on when in foal. I am sure the Vet can advise you though!!
 
I am not a breeding expert by any stretch and I think this is my first post in here but thought I would add my two pennies worth!!

Don't panic about the steroid injections & sedation etc- for a start there is nothing you can do now and secondly I have known two cases where things like that have happened and noth foals have been super.

First was a friends mare- they had no idea she was in foal when they bought her- worked her hard through the winter, went intermittently lame in the spring so buted and put on a very strict diet of hifi, came sound and brought back into hard work and took the owner totally by suprise when she came down one morning to find a big strong coloured foal in the box with her mare!!

The other was my old loan horse 8/9 months in foal galloped though a gate, got stuck on the catch and ripped her side open and broke ribs (as well as going into shock
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). She was operated on, given a cocktail of different drugs (the vets opinion was if she didnt make it the foal had no chance anyway) and she produced a stunning foal shortly after
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I have been 'surprised' by such a situation when thinking a mare is not in foal but low and behold a third! scan at 6 months (because she just wasn't 'normal') proved she was.

In our case and although we have a very very experienced equine reproduction vet, it seemed that the tiny weeny blighter hid behind a cyst and was therefore missed the first two scans!
 
It IS possible that the jab to get her to abort twins didn't work - but then they would have showed up on a later scan. If you AI'd her 3 more times, presumably scanning at LEAST once prior to AI and once at 12-14 days, that's 6 scans where the vet would have had to miss not only the pregnancy, but the very clear signs of a developing pregnancy and the appearance of a pregnant uterus. Put it this way, if a mare of mine was scanned 6 times not in foal and then WAS, I'd be working my socks off to get that vet struck off!! Even the best vet can miss a pregnancy once - but 6-8 times?? That would be downright incompetent.

I would get her looked at by a GOOD repro vet (not the one who scanned her 6 times!!) It's probably a phantom pregnancy, or she could be in transitional oestrus, have a persistent follicle and hormones up-the-spout or something else. Get her examined and put your mind at rest.
 
My mare was given a jab to bring her back into season after she was scanned not in foal at 20 days (vet had already scanned and 15 and came back to do it again as he wasn't sure). She now looks as though she might be, but may just be wishful thinking! I have now changed vet as I think he was useless!

If she is in foal she would now be 6 1/2 months, I am going to do a wee foal test to put my mind at rest. I did think that as she had the jab the foal could not have survived but hearing you are going through the same uncertainty has made me wonder! Naughty horsey had better not be prentending!!
 
Gosh i hadnt even considered that as an option, she was scanned way more then 6 times after the twinning, i was more assuming it was one of the last 2 times that any conceptus may have been missed, more likely the last time.
 
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Gosh i hadnt even considered that as an option, she was scanned way more then 6 times after the twinning, i was more assuming it was one of the last 2 times that any conceptus may have been missed, more likely the last time.

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Yep - that's a possibility too! Probably more likely - was she just scanned the once after the LAST AI? And when - 12 days - 14 days - 16 days after AI. If 12 or 14 it's possible she ovulated a bit later than thought and pregnancy could have been missed. Less likely if it was 16 days.
 
i cant remember exactly, def early cos of the twinning saga, bout day 12 then again a few days later then i cant remember if she was scanned again after that???!!!
 
no prostaglandin was given between last two attempts, (cycles 3 and 4) or after last attempt, was used after twins (1st cycle) and then after next attempt (between cycle 2 and 3).
 
So if she IS in foal it's due early July - and she would be starting to show now as she's a slight TB type (my maidens don't show until about 2 months before foaling but they've got plenty of room to hide it!)

I'd guess she ovulated late on the last AI and the 12 day scan was actually a 10. Even a few days later she'd be 13-14 and they can be missed then.
 
yea shes a proper little skinny minny, tb! she would b by my calculation just coming up to 8 months now. have you had a look at the piccies on post above?
 
Hi Temsik & everyone. Just to say; I love reading these stories about surprise babies & I've been secretly hoping that's the story with my girl (who sif end June then picked up a snotty virus & scanned empty by end aug 08). However, although mine has been a bit quiet & dreamy lately & has been getting some very odd attention from other new mares in her field (who seem to develop intense attachment issues with her!), I think it's most likely wishful thinking on my part.

I won't be trying again this year - just too manic studying & holding down 2 jobs in the current climate to put myself back through all that again .... good luck to all those who do try this year though.
 
Well years ago my friend bought a mare for me to work on over the summer. She was a 'hatrack' and we felt sorry for her, we brought her home and started to build her up, then stated work with her, finally about 1 week after selling her (the new owners kept her at the same yard) she started to develop a large belly, NOT a grass belly. I commented that I had only seen mares look like that when in foal, so a vet came out and pd (palpated inside) her and declared she was in foal at around 9 months!!! My friend enquired with the previous owners how this had happened. They said that the mare had been sent to stud the previous year but had been scanned not in foal!!! So these things can happen!! Best to get a vet to palpate and check or if still too early scan...
 
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