# maiden mare with false labor



## angelagarza

Hi, everyone!! just joined the forum, and had a few questions and concerns...
first off i have a 6 yo shetland mare who i previously owned and had to sell her 2 years ago but bought her back in december. any way, i got her back knowing there was a possability she was in foal, he was with 2 stallions and they were unsure fi she was bred so we no due date, a ferrier told me she is more than likely in foal so i watched her and recorded movement , which i still do daily, took it to the vet since i do not have a way to get her there, he said by looking at the video he is going to say, yes she is pregnate, did a blood test which came back negtive,the vet said that she is too small for him to palpate or do on ultrasound so we have are not 100% sure, but she has gotten big, we had an episode of false labor about 10 days ago. pawing, rolling half way, getting up and repeating for about 3 hours then got up like nothing happened. she rubs her hind end on everything. she has saggy udders buy has had some waxy granuales. her stomch is not v shaped, her tail end feels very jiggly. she is a maiden as far as we know and the stud is a 30" mini. still a lot of fetal movement daily.
Any info would be helpful, thank you


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## Prairie

mmmmm....you need a different vet if yours claims a Shetland mare is too small to ultrasound. I went to our vet's last week to pickup some meds for the dogs and he was using the ultrasound on a mini mare to check for pregnancy and twins at day 16 post breeding. 


Just like humans, mares can have false labor, but unless you are sure she's in labor, those signs you mentioned could also be caused by colic. Rubbing her hind end can be a sign of pinworms.....have you checked for them?


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## angelagarza

i had the vet out a few weeks ago when i thought she was having colic he said it was probably just the foal repositioning its self, she was showing the same signs. she is up to date on deworming. actually he is due to be dewormed in the begning of september, but i heard they should not be dewormed in the last 30 days of gestation, but not knowing how far she is im not sure wether to deworm her or not.


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## Prairie

What do you mean by up to date on worming----was she wormed per an FEC so the right class of wormer was used?


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## Yogiwick

I also find the "too small to US" odd. Palpate sure, but US is external.. That doesn't make any sense.


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## Dehda01

You still need to ultrasound rectally most of the time, transabdominally isn't an option in most cases because of how the uterus sits in the abdomen. 

You need a better vet. If the blood test came back negative, that is a pretty good indicator that she is not pregnant. Though miniature horses have a slightly different reference range than regular horses according to our reference lab for the estrone sulfate pregnancy test, so you must tell the lab such or take it into account. 

Sounds like she was colicing. Many times people think they are seeing foals move and they really aren't.


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## Prairie

We've had several mares US for pregnancy or reproductive issues including a mini and there was no need to do it rectally. Your vet's machine may be an older model that doesn't penetrate as deeply or give clear images.


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## JCnGrace

My vet always USed rectally and he too would not do the minis so I don't think it's all that uncommon.


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## angelagarza

Vet said he if he did the rectal US that it may cause more harm than good and may tear some tissues can cause more harm than good and since the blood test was not in the first 150 days or the last days that he wouldn't necessarily go by the result of it


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## angelagarza

And as far as the movement, I sit out with my mare for several hours of the day. Everyday I see it move, and most of the time I try to record and take pics.


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## GMA100

Can you post pictures of her? 
It must be very stressful not knowing if shes pregnant or not.


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## angelagarza

This is her right now


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## angelagarza

This was yesterday


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## angelagarza

Udders from this morning


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## GMA100

She's not that big........


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## Prairie

......nor are those the udders of a mare about to foal.


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## angelagarza

The pictures dont really show it too well, she looks bigger in person, but That's one thing I was wondering about also. The sire is 1 of 2 30" minis so I'm not too sure how big the foal would be any way. The least days she could be is 255.


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## angelagarza

Yes, the udder is not really anything, the only thing about them is that they have had little granules like sugar but a golds color on them like 2 different times


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## angelagarza

As soon as I go into town I will try to upload a video of her abdomen moving to see what ya'll think. I get poor signal at my house


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## Dehda01

A moving abdomen means nothing. Horses can have incredible gas and intestine movement from digesting hay. Her udder has no development, whatsoever. And she is not anywhere near as large as I would expect an overdue miniature mare to be.


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## KigerQueen

im going to say not in foal. ask vet for a blood test. there should be SOMETHING detectable this late in the game if there is anything at all.


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## angelagarza

She's not over due, she could only be 8.5 months. She's a 10hh shetland. I just thought I get everyone's opinion on the situation


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## Dehda01

I am sorry, I read the date as 355 days. Rather than 255. She still does not look as large as I would expect for being due in nearly 2 months with a negative blood test.


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## LoriF

angelagarza said:


> Vet said he if he did the rectal US that it may cause more harm than good and may tear some tissues can cause more harm than good and since the blood test was not in the first 150 days or the last days that he wouldn't necessarily go by the result of it


I would say that the vet is right about the US. It can do more harm than good on the little ponies. I would just wait a couple of more months and do the blood test for late in pregnancy and see then. I think that at 8 to 9 months, it's hard to tell by size because they all carry so differently. When my mare was pregnant, I could definitely feel the fetus moving at about five months gestation. It was a big difference in movement than intestines. 

Keep an eye on her though. She might have been rolling because she was uncomfortable from colic or, if she is pregnant, the baby pressing on her. My mare had a colic episode when she was pregnant that resolved pretty quickly on it's own. The vet thought it was either gas or baby in an uncomfortable position.

Don't forget to keep us posted on whether she in foal or not.


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## angelagarza

Thank you everyone for your imput. We are gonna wait it out and see what happens. Gonna have a fecal test done on Friday to test for worms


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## Smilie

I doubt she had false labor, but rather colic`
Agree that at the moment, looking at her, I would not say she was in foal, based on appearance alone


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## Dehda01

I have seen tens of thousands of goats, alpacas, minis and small ponies all safely rectally ultrasounded. The vet needs to use a probe instead of his arm but it is perfectly safe with the correct technique and know how.

Mini bloodwork reference ranges needs to be tweaked because of their special makeup and read as such,but also is quite accurate.


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## LoriF

Dehda01 said:


> Mini bloodwork reference ranges needs to be tweaked because of their special makeup and read as such,but also is quite accurate.


How are mini's makeup different or special as far as blood work is concerned? It never occurred to me that they would be.


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## Dehda01

The lab we send blood work to uses a different reference range for miniature horses and we need to label minis vs standard sized horses on all blood vials we send out. One vet believes that minis have a higher fat to bone and muscle ratio than the typical horse which throws off estrogen levels. Fat can actual create estrogen... I don't know exactly. I just know that they have different ranges and it is plastered in big red letters at the top of the bloodwork when I get ready to send it off to pay attention to labeling


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## angelagarza

She has been back with me for 266 days, I'm going to wait until it's been about three hundred days because I have heard some of the levels are higher after day 300 to get a more accurate result


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## angelagarza

Udders right now


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## Dehda01

If she is pregnant, it is WAY too early to see changes in the udder. 9-10 months mares can START... Most mates start 30-45 days before they will foal. Some maidens start the week or DAY before they foal... Though that always gets me worried and I would get dompermidone ready on board... And if you DID see udder changes/development, I would be concerned about the possibility of placentitis and you would need to get a vet out IMMEDIATELY. 

That said, as of now, that looks like a perfectly normal, mundane udder. If not with some fat deposits developing. But nothing that makes me worried, or thinking she is creating a bag. She is way too soon for that and honestly... That is nothing like a bag.


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## Smilie

bottomline, going back to heading of this thread, I would rule out 'false labor;
Yes, a horse can abort, a pregnant mare can become a bit irritated, at the movement of a foal, but I have never heard of false labor. You either have labor, or you don't
I would check on reasons for colic


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## angelagarza

Today we are at 318 days. These are a few pics since last post. Side view is of her today.


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## Mandirp

So was she??


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