# How to stop my Mare from producing milke



## loosie (Jun 19, 2008)

It's a 'supply & demand' thing, so the more you keep milking her, the more she'll keep producing.... no one told me that until I'd been producing vast quantities when I had to 'collect' for my first baby that couldn't breastfeed! So I'd just milk her as little as possible to help prevent inflammation/infection. Don't know about any supps or such that may help reduce milk production, but it shouldn't last long after 'demand' is gone.


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## OliviaMyee (Jul 31, 2012)

loosie said:


> It's a 'supply & demand' thing, so the more you keep milking her, the more she'll keep producing.... no one told me that until I'd been producing vast quantities when I had to 'collect' for my first baby that couldn't breastfeed! So I'd just milk her as little as possible to help prevent inflammation/infection. Don't know about any supps or such that may help reduce milk production, but it shouldn't last long after 'demand' is gone.


Ok she was a bit warm today 38 degrees but i realised that is normal temp and worried for nothing ! she has udder engorgement im sure. So every time i see her i milk her less and less ? 

Shes eating normal, drinking normal. seems very very happy. Loves communicating with the other horses. So i dont want to stress over nothing. I will need to clean her teets i think coz there is dead skin there. She let me milk for 30 minutes i will have to milk less and less ? Right. 

When i was milking i was squeezing a but to hard on the right teet and she kept lifting her leg. Also at the start 2 lumbs of white stuff came out of both nipples (dried up milk) i think some of her milk was watery in one of the teets. So that raises an alert for me. 

She has only been taken 1 week away from her foal so hope im not stressing for nothing !


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## loosie (Jun 19, 2008)

Speak to a vet or breeder, but I'd be thinking you might need to milk her once a day for a minute or so, just to relieve pressure.


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## OliviaMyee (Jul 31, 2012)

thanks so much for replying ! The only symptoms of mastitis she has is cloudy coloured Milk but it changes from white to a dull colored white. She has recently just been moved so i hope its just stress causing it


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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

*STOP MILKING HER ALTOGETHER!!!!!!!!!!*

The more you milk her the more she will produce. Yes, she will get very tight in the udder but this will soon start to go down. Yes she will be uncomfortable but that will soon stop as she stops producing.

I have been around many, many breeding mares and the only times I have milked a mare is when there is difficulty in the foal suckling. 

How long since she foaled?


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## OliviaMyee (Jul 31, 2012)

Foxhunter said:


> *STOP MILKING HER ALTOGETHER!!!!!!!!!!*
> 
> The more you milk her the more she will produce. Yes, she will get very tight in the udder but this will soon start to go down. Yes she will be uncomfortable but that will soon stop as she stops producing.
> 
> ...


She foaled a long time ago coz her foal has been weaned a week ago, just the foal still looked like a foal if that helps. Hmm i should have got all this information but never thought about the breast stuff. Shes going into a big paddock 2 morrow with short grass.Will exercise her to.Is there any food that helps with stoping milk ?


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## OliviaMyee (Jul 31, 2012)

I am overacting i think ! She is showing no signs of mastitis except for cloudy coloured milk. Her Body was all over warm coz, she is a fuzzy one and water had gone on her that was heating her up.


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## loosie (Jun 19, 2008)

As said, if you stop milking, she'll stop producing, and don't forget she'll then need less calories, so if you're hard feeding, cut it down or out too.


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## Left Hand Percherons (Feb 1, 2011)

Stop milking her and decrease her diet down to where it was just for maintenance. She will become engorged and drip milk but that's totally normal. Putting her back to work won't hurt either.


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

My mare foaled almost 3 years ago and she still drips milk on occasion. I kept waiting for her to "dry up" and in never really happened. :lol:

I did what everyone else says and just let her be "full" and gradually her body realizes she's not nursing anymore. My mare still drips now and then I think because she was a broodmare her whole life everything is really saggy and stretched out. 

But anyway, yes, do stop milking or she will just keep making more.


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## OliviaMyee (Jul 31, 2012)

Ok thank you every one so much ! I spoke to a vet today and he said to keep a good eye on her udder to see if it is swollen,warm or painfull to touch.

Since she is eating well,drinking,has 38 degree temp, and seems very happy and curiouse with her surroundings i think she is fine. Will check her temp today, feel her udder and she will get some exersize this week but she is not in work at all so only leading and lunging stuff. 

I read that mares can can get mastitis 8 weeks after the foal is weaned ??? So i will need to check her temp and her udders condition every single time i see her. 

Vet said to call him if her udder is hot,swollen,painfull to touch and solid. Since her udder is a bit hard from being engorged im less woried now.


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## OliviaMyee (Jul 31, 2012)

But her udder is quite large, so ill put pictures up 2 day.


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## OliviaMyee (Jul 31, 2012)

The vet also asked how large it is. It appears to just look completely full but if she appears swollen ill get a vet right away !


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## OliviaMyee (Jul 31, 2012)

Ok Here are allot of photos from today ! Her temp did not feel hot, her udder was warmer than her body and her udder is hard. A vet might be coming for me 2 morrow, and will be getting a basic vet check on her to check for other stuff.

Her milk was the normal watery colored milk and her udder has gone down soooooo much !


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