Worried about maiden bleeding after 2nd covering

[Gingernags]

I need a quick reply to stop me worrying...

Have looked in all my breeding and vet books and none mention bleeding after covering and what can be classed as normal.

Asti was covered for the first time on friday and as a maiden, I was expecting a little blood and there was a small amount on the bottom of her vulva but other than carring her tail a bit high she didn't seem that bothered or in discomfort.

Anyway she had her second covering this afternoon about 3pm and when I went to see her at 7 she was reluctant to be caught, and was dripping a little blood. What worried me were 4 or 5 patches of blood in the field, quite thick and clotty and nasty looking, about a handful size.

I brought her in for a while and she was rather stressy and I washed off her back end a bit but she was showing discomfort walking round the stable and trying to pee a bit but passing small amounts of blood.

Can this be normal? Maybe she has torn a little as a "first timer"???

The little drops I can cope with but I've not come across these larger clot type areas of blood I found in the field.

Help? Ideas? lad at the stud didn't seem overly concerned but didn't seem overly knowledgeable about it either!

 

[AmyMay]

Vet - that's not normal.

 

[Damien]

Hi

This can be quite normal with maiden mares. Her hymen has most probably been ruptured and the blood will often pool in the vagina and congeal, it can appear quite thick and clotted almost jelly like but when examined breaks down, that area of the body can produce a lot of blood due to the presence of so many tiny blood vessels.

We recently had a mare that the same type of discharge post insemeination which also concerned us. The vet had nicked one of her caslicks stitches at the time of insemination which produced a small amount of blood on the exterior. However he felt that more blood had probably been produced but had run back into her and clotted which was later expulsed. We kept it for him to examine when he was back out the next day and he assured us that it was most definitely the case and not to worry.

 

[Gingernags]

Have to say I'd never noticed it in the years I was working at the stud, though that was 15 years ago when I bred Asti! (Discount for working there

)

Anyway, have spoken to the stud owner. She agrees that when she was covered on Friday - as a maiden there was a little trickle of blood and we expected that from most likely the rupture of her hymen. It was next to nothing and stopped almost immediately.

When they teased her yesterday she said she was really squatting and peed, and it was normal. She didn't seem to be losing much blood afterwards and he wasn't rough, doesn't seem too big etc and she had a similar trickle. It was a few hours later that I went up and noticed the clotted stuff in the field.

She has a mare of her own that they covered and it nicked a vein and she really bled but vet wasn't as concerned as they realised what she'd done.

Anyway, she's spoken to the vet and he thinks it does sound like a little tear, and said yes it might be an idea to give her some anti-b's just in case so to take her down there and he'll check her over and give her anti b's if needed.

I said I'd rather pay a vet bill and know she's OK rather than risk anything happening to her or her not taking due to an infection, so she's going to pop her over there for me.

Phew, I'm not usually a worrier about injuries and vets and mainly manage on my own, I only get the vet for really major stuff, but in this case I'm DEFINATELY on the rather safe than sorry option!!!

It seemed so straight forward with our last two!

Fingers crossed it was just the hymen and no problem just a paranoid mum!

 

[mat]

DO GET THE VET!!! This is really not normal, and sounds a little serious!

 

[Damien]

Fingers crossed all is ok, and glad to hear youv'e had the vet cover all eventualities. Because of the time lapse after covering till the time you noticed the clots it does seem likely the breaking of the hymen and the internal pooling of blood on the vaginal floor that the blood mixed with vaginal mucous is what created the clots that you were seeing.

We have covered quite a number of maiden mares over the years and agree its very rare that you will actually rupture the hymen on first covering as the hymen is often broken before the mare reaches sexual maturity, but it does happen.

Fingers crossed she scans in foal in 15 days! Keep us posted!