Pregnant or not?

OldNag

OldNag

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CavaloBranco said:
I know nothing about breeding but I just wanted to say...OP has kept her cool through some very judgmental posts!! We don't need to be quite so high and mighty surely??
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I don't think anyone was being high and mighty - just pointing out that it doesn't look like a very suitable set up for a foal. OP had asked for her thoughts on the pictures, and people have given them.

I have no direct experience of foals so would only be an amateur guess, but I go for fat - but that is just an amateur perspective.
 
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sport horse said:
If it was possible to just look at a picture of a mare and tell if she is in foal then that would be great. I would not need to pay my vets to scan my brood mares. I have far too much respect for my vets to ask them to scan in a field. Nor would ask a farrier to trim/shoe in a field. It is our responsibility as horse owners to provide suitable facilities to maximise safety for these professionals. Horses and ponies are unpredictable and are flight animals and we should take that on board and keep them where there are suitable facilities to handle them safely in all circumstances.
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Heaven forbid people cannot afford top of the range facilities! As I have stated in previous posts my field is a working progress, I have spend £1000s over last year fencing etc...

I have a field shelter brought and ready to go up, I have a massive mound or hardcore and road plainings ready to go down by next winter, it will hopefully look very different!

I have an amazing neighbour who allows me access to their stables in an emergency which I try not to use unless absolutely necessary and as farrier, dentist and previous vet had no problem treating in field I saw no reason why this new one would!

My Dentist, farrier and old Vet (now retired which is such as a shame) in-fact all have previously commented on how much they like to come to mine due to the horses being so well behaved, getting paid on time and always getting a coffee. My farrier often stops by for lunch as he likes the peace and quiet compared to other yards as he said modern cons make no difference to the horse just the people.

She may or may not be in foal, but at the end of the day I am not overly worried as the foal will have a home for life!

My horses all have routine and regular vet/farrier care are well fed and cared for and loved. I compete and hunt directly from a field very successfully so I can't be doing anything too badly but most of all they are hairy and happy!

Yes I need to make improvements which are getting done, but I would rather my horses be out 24/7 in a natural environment then stuck in during the winter which a lot of your probably are!
 
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OldNag said:
I don't think anyone was being high and mighty - just pointing out that it doesn't look like a very suitable set up for a foal. OP had asked for her thoughts on the pictures, and people have given them.

I have no direct experience of foals so would only be an amateur guess, but I go for fat - but that is just an amateur perspective.
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I meant to ask on whether she look pregnant or not by people experience and I cannot edit post once posted otherwise I would have changed it!
 
ester

ester

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I don't think anyone has suggested people need top of the range facilities. They have only suggested people need safe facilities for what they are keeping within them and that mitigating the arrival of any additions for which they would not be safe would be a good idea.

You used to be able to edit posts for only 10 minutes after posting, that is much extended with the new forum to I think an hour.
 
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ester said:
I don't think anyone has suggested people need top of the range facilities. They have only suggested people need safe facilities for what they are keeping within them and that mitigating the arrival of any additions for which they would not be safe would be a good idea.

You used to be able to edit posts for only 10 minutes after posting, that is much extended with the new forum to I think an hour.
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I must have missed the time frame top edit then.
 
windand rain

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It is a really difficult call with maiden mares she does look a strange shape in the side pictures but as there is the possibility she is pregnant a good repro vet will be the best place to start. As to conditions in the field if she is in foal other alternatives will have to be explored, as this is unexpected you cannot expect the op to have a prepared space for this mare to foal in. Nor can you expect her to have contingency plans for something that was not planned. Would I deliberately put a planned pregnant mare in those conditions well no but you have to deal with reality not with fantasy
 
windand rain

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ycbm said:
I'm not sure I'd call it unplanned or unexpected if I kept a sexually mature donkey stallion with a pony mare all last year.
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I disagree politely but if I had a donkey with mares for many years it would not occur to me that one day he may cover one of them. I know of several pony studs that have deemed a stallion infertile so tuned it out with an old mare and for the said mare to foal several years later so its not unheard of
 
JJS

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This just popped up on my Timehop, and I thought it served as a very timely reminder of how impossible it is to diagnose pregnancy from pictures. This is Mary pretty much two months to the day before foaling, and if anyone can tell that she's expecting from the numerous photos I took that day, they have a better eye for it than me!

UNpSz5yl.jpg


Whatever our personal opinions on the rights or wrongs of the situation, I think the important point is simply that the OP gets the mare checked (as she's said that she will), so that she can deal with what's happening now rather than what she could have done differently before.
 
ycbm

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windand rain said:
I disagree politely but if I had a donkey with mares for many years it would not occur to me that one day he may cover one of them. I know of several pony studs that have deemed a stallion infertile so tuned it out with an old mare and for the said mare to foal several years later so its not unheard of
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That's exactly what I meant, though. You can never assume that a pair of sexually mature entire equines won't produce a foal, so if you put them together, you need to have the facilities available to cope if they do.


..
 
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Tagoat said:
OP ……. as the saying goes. There is no cure for stupidity!
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No need to be so rude! I originally brought the donkey to breed mules as my husband rides western we turned him out with several mares and after a few years nothing happened, things happen and life changes and then after a decade of nothing it's a possibility! I am not stupid and not completely surprised either, his donkey companion also died a few years ago and he attacks other donkeys so I didn't have much choice if he was to have companions, he also cannot be gelded due to a blood vessel issue
 
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HappyHollyDays

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Tagoat said:
OP ……. as the saying goes. There is no cure for stupidity!
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There really is no need for nastiness such as this. There seems to be a growing trend for attacking posters at the moment and it leaves a horrible taste with me. Nobody is perfect and everyone makes mistakes in life. If you can't be nice or add something to the thread which helps the OP don't say anything at all.
 
windand rain

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You obviously cannot make assumption and as long as you can deal with what appears to be a bit of an unexpected surprise why is there a problem its no bodies business but the OP. If the mare is carrying a mule foal it is unlikely the OP wont learn from it and keep him on his own or with a sensible gelding from now on unless of course she returns to the idea of actively breeding mules. Why be nasty and judgemental. The yard is work in progress. It takes time and money to maintain your facilities and it was thought the donkey was infertile
 
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Despite parading around in season, vet was out to do vaccinations and agreed with me she looked in season! She dropped this absolutely beautiful mule foal Sunday night. We have called her Phoebe. Her and Mum are living out at the moment on a paddock that has been rested all winter so reasonable grass and ad-lib haylage , they seem to be doing very well, they also have access to a little wooded area so lots of shelter and I have bedded down a section with straw in the most sheltered area so she has somewhere warm and dry to sleep.
Fencing project has been escalated and the field shelter and small yard area will be completed by autumn too.
I have swapped vets and new one happily scanned in middle of field no problem, she scanned my other mare who is definitely not in-foal.
Daddy donkey (who cannot be gelded due to blood vessel issue) has been installed in a new paddock where he has Mummy and Baby one side and my other mare the other, he is behind a 4 strand electrified wire fence with a standard electric fence on the inside. He can touch noses with them and they have a shared haylage ring so spend a lot of time together still bit cannot do the deed! I have discussed chemical castration with new vet and he is going to do some research so we can discuss it another time as finances are now a bit short having done lots of fencing and scan.
Everyone seems happy with the new arrangement at the moment and all settled down well.
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