Vets coming out :(

It certainly sounds like you'll be getting a foal in the next few days.
Make sure your field and stable are safe for a baby.
I'm sure that you'll love it when it arrives even if it is a bit of a shock.
Always presume that any mare bought from any slightly dubious place is in foal until proven otherwise!

Also... be very careful touching her udders when they are swollen before foaling. I did that to my normally quiet mare and got kicked so hard I thought I'd broken my leg.
 
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Just remove any fillet strings or leg straps from her rugs as suddenly going rugless is asking for colic.
Asking the local stud for help sounds like a good idea.
 
We had a BOGOF!

My sister bought a mare from a dealer, and within 7 months there was an addition in the stable one morning! Luckily it was a big box! The YM used to work at a stud, so knew what to do as we were in shock. It was a big change, but we coped.

The foal is now a strapping 12 year old and still with us!!

Looking forward to some news soon :-)
 
Just a thought, older cows who have calves a lot can bag up months before they calve. I have no experience of mares who have foaled a lot, but the foal may not be imminent... If there is one ;)
 
its the loosening over the tailhead that makes me think she could be quite close to foaling if she is in foal (sounds like she is)
Good luck, any chance you can get in touch with her previous owners to find out who dad might be and when she was covered?
 
Whilst a tessy foal would be lovely I can see why you wouldn't be thrilled, fingers crossed for you either way, if she is there are lots of knowledgable people on here to help, if she has had lots of foals then she will know herself what to do so don't stress too much but I'm sure your vet can advise and will be delighted to help you.

Also if she is please inform your insurance company if she is insured and explain situation as they can be a bit shirty if summat happens and they don't know about the pregnancy.
 
ffion you'll know ;) do animals that aren't producing milk even get mastitis? I've only ever seen it in those lactating.
 
ester said:
ffion you'll know ;) do animals that aren't producing milk even get mastitis? I've only ever seen it in those lactating.
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Is not impossible but I would have said highly unlikely at this time of year. Flies can spread disease around and cause it in dry heifers for instance but cattle must be more prone to it than a horse, especially in winter. Also the losing weight over her back would be the clincher for me (ie that its not mastitis!).
 
I hate to say it but in your recent pictures I did think 'Jeez, she must be in foal' or at least had some in the past? But I didn't want to offend.... SQEEEEEEEEEEEE I know it's not ideal for you but I am selfishly hopoing we have a HHO bogof coming!
 
Nicnac said:
Do you keep you horse on her own? If so, the upside of a foal is that at least she'll have company :)
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This! She will be much happier with company.

As for your land not supporting two, so long as you feed plenty of hay then there won't be a problem. Rather than spending money on livery, could you hardcore a section of your land to provide some hard standing? Do you have stables or a shelter?
 
tessybear said:
Thank you, so perhaps take that off tonight then, She isn't clipped but has lost her winter fluff im sure she would easily adapt though :confused:
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She probably has a month or two to go yet. The mare here bagged up four months before the birth. Look at her vulva. Is it droopy and relaxed? Or is it still tight?
 
Delicious_D said:
If they are sensitive to touch i would suspect maybe mastitis rather then infoal. You need a vet out today tbh as you need know what you are dealing with.
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No, pregnant mares get very tender there. Mastitis is very rare outside of pregnancy and lactation.
 
amandap said:
She will need feeding now in my understanding. Get some experienced advice if she is in foal. This book might help you as well. http://www.amazon.co.uk/From-Foal-Full-grown-Janet-Lorch/dp/0715307223

If she is used to being on her own, I personally wouldn't introduce a new horse at this time. There might be sparks and she wont need the upset if she is in foal.
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Yes but not too well, you want it the right size to come out especially when she won't know when it's due. Unless she is very thin, which I don't think she is, I wouldn't be ladelling the food in myself, but yes, seek expert advice, AMW on here would be a good person with practical experience and knowledge not book knowledge, to pm.
 
mynutmeg said:
Rugs wise you can keep her rug on, just take off the leg straps/fillett string as the foal can tangle in those.
just take the rug off it is so much safer without a fillet string or legs straps you run the risk of the rug blowing over the mares head and spooking her, with the fillet string/leg straps left on as mention you run the risk of the foal getting caught up and injured

Land wise certainly to start with you don't need extra land for the foal as it won't eat much grass at all so don't worry about livery from that point of view at least until the foal is a good few months old / at weaning.

Good luck :D:D
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good luck it should all be fine, don't move her know anyway as she will have built up anti-bodies to bugs in her environment and she will pass them to the foal, the foal wont eat much for a while the most important thing is safe fencing and extra hay for mum when you remove the rug
 
Polos Mum said:
If she's that close you might see wax form on the end of her teats - if she doens't have this 9am tomorrow is probably fine.

If you've really no experience with foals it might be worth seeing what livery for a few weeks at a stud might be. Especially with a BOGOF when you don't know the dates, you don't know the stallion (hence size of foal) nor has she had 'maternity' care.

They will have a good sized foaling box, staff on hand 24/7 and plenty of experience!

Hopefully it's something minor the vet can give antibiotics for - but worth planning ahead.
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Just be aware that a mare needs to be in her foaling surroundings for a little while before birth in order to pass on the relevant antibodies to her foal in the colostrum (first bit of milk). I can't remember quite how long for, the vet will be able to help you with that, but if she were mine and about to drop I would try to see if I could possibly make her current facilities into an okay maternity suite :)

ester said:
ffion you'll know ;) do animals that aren't producing milk even get mastitis? I've only ever seen it in those lactating.
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FfionWinnie said:
Is not impossible but I would have said highly unlikely at this time of year. Flies can spread disease around and cause it in dry heifers for instance but cattle must be more prone to it than a horse, especially in winter. Also the losing weight over her back would be the clincher for me (ie that its not mastitis!).
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Wagtail said:
No, pregnant mares get very tender there. Mastitis is very rare outside of pregnancy and lactation.
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I studied mastitis in detail (you know, for my useless equine science mickey mouse degree ;) :p) but these flipping people got there before me, How rude! :mad: :p But yeah, as I understand it mastitis is really uncommon in mares, and the few cases when it does happen are as a result of fly strike or durng pregnancy. In my inxpert opinion this mare is about to foal, so hope the vet comes out soon!

All the best, and if you do end up with a foal we do of course need pictures :)
 
Wow, how unexpected for you but exciting too. If you watch her closely, you might be able to see the foal shifting about (if she is in foal). Good luck anyway and I agree pictures are in order :)
 
Thank you for all the replies each where extremely helpful and i can tell i will be running backwards and forwards between foal and HHO if there is one :D:o
I am going to post some pictures of Tessy now tken about an hour ago, please do not slaughter me, it's our first mare and we have zero exerperience with foals really :(

Here we go !
*topless shots* here are the boobies !
s4ct29.jpg

rhsuoh.jpg


The belly
20jfwhi.jpg


And her usual peachy bum looking slimmer
23w9lvp.jpg



excuse size and what angle they are at im hopeless at this :( :o
 
Do you have a side on pic from when you got her to now? There was one a week or so ago with you on her which made me say 'woooahhh'!
 
My are had mastitis once without being in foal, it was in the summer though and we think caused by flies.

The vet had never seen it in a non lactating mare only read about it so guessing its very rare. Farmer went on for weeks about how he could have saved me a bill if id let him jab her with cow penicillin :rolleyes:
 
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