# Is it a grass belly or a baby belly?



## Horse Angels (Aug 15, 2011)

Hello! I have a 15 year old mare that has had a belly that I'm not sure what to call it... She had a foal about 5 or 6 years ago. Her belly keeps getting bigger and bigger... I'm starting to think it's not a grass belly... We only have 1 male horse in the pasture. We got him in May, and a few months after that is when her belly started to appear. He is a gelding, so I'm just wondering... Any reply is very appreciative.

Sorry for bad pics!


----------



## Lakotababii (Nov 28, 2010)

Was he gelded when you got him? 

How long have you had your mare? Is it possible she was bred before you got her? 

If the answer to the above is both yes, he was always gelded, and no, it is not possible she was bred, then it is impossible for her to be pregnant. 

If you have serious doubts, call a vet.

But I would make sure to figure it out. Either one needs to be addressed. If she is that overweight that you think she may be pregnant, she needs to go on a diet as her risk for founder or colic goes way up. Or the alternate is that she is pregnant and needs to be taken care of (mare care and careful monitoring).


----------



## Horse Angels (Aug 15, 2011)

I've had her for 4 years now... Yes, he was gelded when I got him. She has always been chunky but I switched her from sweet feed to stock pellet and crimped oats (plain) thinking she would loose a little weight. I switched it about a month and a half ago. She gets worked quite a bit... (Lunged everyday) My gelding has mounted her before, but it can't possibly be his baby... I don't think. It seems like she is getting fatter from exercise and less fattening food. Also, she has been kind of irritated lately. My friend was riding her and she actually tried to buck! She was basically born broke! She's never tried to buck!


----------



## BaileyJo (Aug 23, 2011)

When is the last time she was wormed?


----------



## Horse Angels (Aug 15, 2011)

About a week ago. She's wormed every 2 months.


----------



## Kayty (Sep 8, 2009)

Immaculate conception?  

Mate, geldings don't even fire blanks, they just don't fire at all. Unless he's a rig, and even then there is an extremely low chance that he would be capeable of getting a mare pregant, then it's impossible that your mare is in foal.
The whole point of gelding a colt is so that he can't breed. 

If she's acting out of sorts, I would get your vet to give her a once over. Possibly she's got a belly full of gas that's getting her bloated and making her irritable.


----------



## Trinity3205 (Dec 21, 2010)

You 100% positive that gelding was indeed a full gelding? I got a gelding once that dropped a surprise testicle when he hit 3. Someone had home cut the one out so he would sell as a "gelding" at the horse sale as a yearling but the other hadnt dropped yet till he turned 3. I personally palpated him when I bought him and was certain he was a gelding myself. Luckily he was very low key and did not even know he was still partially intact and it was removed post haste after I found it.

When I worked at a riding stablers, we got in several "geldings" that noone had bothered to really get uinder and look at that were obviously studs once you looked and felt. 

It isnt impossible to be lied to. If he is mounting her, it is possible he could be a monorchid or cryptorchid or even still a stallion in general if you havent really had a good look and feel. The best thing to do is have the vet out. They can palapate the mare and check the "gelding" too


----------



## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

Geldings can and will mount mares and perform just as a stallion. It is normal, not sanitary or safe for either mare or gelding, but normal. Just because they are mounting does not make them crptorchids or stallions. 

OP if you are seriously worried, have a vet out to check both the mare and gelding. There is no way that random people on the internet can tell you if your mare is pregnant. The only way to tell from pictures/looking at the mare and know for sure is if there are feet on their way out of the mare.


----------



## Horse Angels (Aug 15, 2011)

My gelding was rescued... He's about 8 years old. I'm pretty sure he's a gelding... Also, my mare has milk. Tons of it. I'll call up my vet and get her out. Thanks for the comments everyone!


----------



## tempest (Jan 26, 2009)

Is there a stud living nearby you?


----------



## Horse Angels (Aug 15, 2011)

There are many horse farms around us... There's no way that a stud could have gotten in our pasture, bred her, and jumped out... Is there? :/


----------



## tempest (Jan 26, 2009)

It's a possibility, especially if she is pregnant and your gelding isn't actually a gelding. How close are the farms? But get a vet out before you jump to any conclusions.


----------



## Horse Angels (Aug 15, 2011)

One is about.... Let's see... I guess 1/4-1/2 of a mile.


----------



## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

I would seriously stop trying to figure out how/if a stud got to your mare until AFTER you have the vet out.


----------



## Horse Angels (Aug 15, 2011)

NdAppy said:


> I would seriously stop trying to figure out how/if a stud got to your mare until AFTER you have the vet out.


I only wanted some opinions to whether or not I needed to get a vet out. Thank you for your time.


----------



## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

And you were given the answer that you should get one out.

It does no good for random people to speculate how/if a stud got out or if your mare is pregnant. The answer in this case will always be the same. GET A VET.


----------



## kayleeloveslaneandlana (Apr 10, 2011)

After you get a vet please tell if she is pregnant or not. Thanks


----------



## BaileyJo (Aug 23, 2011)

I would say your gelding may not be a gelding after all.


----------



## paintedpastures (Jun 21, 2011)

can't tell anything from those pics.I know my mares are fat now out on pasture,someone would think they are preggo too .


----------



## Horse Angels (Aug 15, 2011)

kayleeloveslaneandlana, I will tell after the vet comes out. 
BaileyJo, I hope he is a gelding... He doesn't have anything 'hanging".....


----------



## BaileyJo (Aug 23, 2011)

To me it seems more likely that your gelding is hiding something from you, rather than another stud got in, got out and made it home without anyone catching him. That sounds like human behavior and not horse behavior to me.

Either way, I am glad you asked and and were smart enough to question what might be going on. You honestly could have woke up one morning with your mare having given birth and you were clueless all the time she was pregnant. NdAppy is right. Have the vet out and you will know for sure. This way you are prepared even if it was unexpected.


----------



## wyominggrandma (Nov 4, 2009)

If your gelding has testicles up inside and not "hanging out" he can't get a mare pregnant. He would be sterile, but still able to "breed" your mare.
We had a mare come into the clinic to do an ultrasound on, she looked pregnant and ready to drop. Turned out she was just obese from grass.


----------



## kayleeloveslaneandlana (Apr 10, 2011)

Any update?


----------



## StacyRz (Sep 14, 2011)

I had a relative who bought a "gelding." They had him for awhile but since he acted like a poor mannered stallion all the time they sold him shorty after buying him. It turned out he was a cryptorchid. The new owners turned him out to pasture and he bred their mare.

*he may have been a monorchid, don't exactly remember which he was


----------



## wyominggrandma (Nov 4, 2009)

As long as one testicle is down in the scrotum, a stallion can breed a mare and get her pregnant. If the horse is gelded, but only one testicle was down at the surgery and one is left up inside the horse, then he could still breed a mare, but is unable to get them pregnant. If both testicles are up inside the belly, then again, a "stallion" might breed a mare, but he cant' get a mare pregnant. 
The ONLY way a male horse can get a mare pregnant is if one or both testicles are down in the scrotum.


----------



## sabowin (May 8, 2010)

Is it literally impossible for a retained testicle to create sperm? I was under the impression that it was WHOLE lot less likely, but not impossible.


----------



## wyominggrandma (Nov 4, 2009)

A retained testicle cannot produce viable sperm. The testicle has to be outside the body for it to produce viable sperm, the scrotum keeps the testicles cool, inside the body the testicle will be too hot.


----------



## Ladybug2001 (Mar 15, 2011)

It is very unlikely for a gelding with retained testicles to mate successfully. The inside temperture of the horse is too hot for any live sperm to be produced. As the OP said, there is nothing "hanging" so the gelding is more then likely a gelding indeed. The mare is more then likely just fat, its pretty unheard of a stallion getting in, out, and back home. I'm assuming the gelding is pastured with the mare? If a stallion was to get in, there would have been a fight. So, I will hold on my word and say the mare just has a grass belly. Not to mention at 4 months pregnant (assuming it was the "gelding") she wouldn't be showing.


----------

