Reasons for mare looking pregnant other than pregnacy?

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Frans

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Apart from pregnancy, what other reasons are there for a mare looking pregnant?
One of our mares has a full, heavy looking belly that doesn't match her otherwise relatively fine build. She had a big round tummy when we got her four months ago which seemed to be weight related. It now seems to be hanging lower than it did then but sticks out less at the sides. You can feel her ribs easily though can’t see them (she is pretty fluffy right now though!) and has a body score of three (out of five) elsewhere. It doesn’t fluctuate during the day (as it did during the summer) so don’t think it’s just bloating. She has been wormed.
She has foaled in the past (over two years ago) - could she just not have got her shape back? She hasn't done huge amounts of work so maybe her muscles haven't pulled it all back in?
She still has one teat larger than the other (has done since we got her) - is this a sign of anything?
It’s not totally out of the question that she could be pregnant though I would be surprised.
Any ideas?
 
If your not 100% sure that she cant be in foal then i would get the vet out to have a check. All he would need to do is stick his hand in and give you a yes or no answer.

If shes not in foal it could be that she is just unfit. One of my mares has had two foals and in the winter shes loses all her muscle and looks like a brood mare. Once she is brought back into work though she quickly regains her figure and looks ten years younger.

I would def get the vet out if you have any doubt though.
 
It was a throw away comment from the vet that made me start doubting my first assessment (fat, unfit, probably has worms). Had the vet out to see another pony and as she was leaving we were joking about how each time she comes we have another pony (four now), as she got into the car she joked about the mare in question surprising us with number five. We hadn't talked about how she looked so it was pretty much out of the blue. Since then I've been obsessed with her stomach! Vet is coming back in a few weeks for a routine visit so will probably get her to check this mare then just to be sure.
When she first arrived (end June) she behaved like a complete tart (can I say that on a public forum?!!) with our gelding but no signs of being in season since then.
 
I had one like this! Had my vet stick his arm up as she was so fat, turns out she was just lardy. Now 4 weeks later and a lot fitter she has started to lose her massive belly and start to look normal again, it was a bit like riding a boat for a while though!
 
Erm lionman its now november and we are in season , my mare goes all year round ! Always has and I sure as hello haven't intervened I can promise you
 
my mare is huge, she was in foal and lost it around the 50 day mark . scanned and given oxitocen (not sure about spelling) (august)

vet was out recently and asked if i had put her back in foal, well i haven't.
he wanted to scan and see if she was still pregnant! erm no! you already said she lost the foal!

my horse is just fat, maybe yours is too? if not you will know soon enough.
 
My first thought was worms, but I remembered that my friend's horse had a phantom pregnancy! She had been put to the stallion but hadn't taken and she developed all the signs of pregnancy right up until she was supposed to give birth, including expressing milk and drooped stomache (no scan had been done...). It wasn't until she was 6 weeks over due the vet came out and had a good feel around and said there was no foal!

Don't ask me why she hadn't got her mare regularly scanned or tested to see if the mare was in foal. Seemed silly at the time, and she looked rediculous afterwards!!
 
My mare has always had a rather large uneven belly compared to the rest of her except when she was competition fit, seemed to get worse over the last couple of years and was then diagnosed with Cushings last year and put on pergolide, she has looked permanently in foal since (and her work has increased since the lami attack disappeared), could it be hormone related, blood test would probably be the only way to find out.
 
I have just been through all this with my mare. Bought her in march and this last month her belly has just gone whooosh out and down. Everyone who has looked at her said she looked pregnant so I had her blood tested. Results back and shes not pregnant so I have just paid £50 to be told my mare is fat!!!!! Least I can now manage her accordingly.
 
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