# Smaile`s and Varbūtība`s baby bumps and foaling thread



## smaile (Sep 21, 2010)

A little picture update from today. I think that Varbūtība is really enjoying her pregnancy. Smaile - not so much  Also all the horses are actively shedding - I hate these climate changes. Instead of having 4 seasons as we used to, now we just have some random weather - it is mostly raining through summer, autumn and the start of the winter and then suddenly it gets from above freezing to -20/-30 C in a weak. Poor horses. :/ 
Anyhow here are the promised pictures of baby bumps. This is Smaile. She is HUGE. My farrier is making jokes about her having triplets. On the other hand he was joking about her having twins when she wasn`t even preggy.  

























And Varbūtība. She is finally starting to show a baby bump. A little more than 4 months to go for her!  


















Also here you can see how Smaile is shedding already.


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

Beautiful pictures!!


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## BlindHorseEnthusiast4582 (Apr 11, 2016)

Ooh, I saw the posts about her previous foal, so now I'm excited  

The other momma is pretty too, and such a unique name (I can't pronounce it right I don't think lol )


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## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

Beautiful horses!! I love these threads; so exciting following along with the actual owner! And those baby bumps are precious! <3


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## LoriF (Apr 3, 2015)

Beautiful horses, looking forward to the babies. I'm sure they are going to be gorgeous as well.


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## smaile (Sep 21, 2010)

I finally have something to update on this thread! Smaile is at day 287 and starting to slowly develop her udder. Nothing too significant, but it is a little bigger, harder and warmer. Yay, the exciting part is not far! Also Smaile had an episode couple of days before - she acted a little bit like a stallion towards my geldings, making the snake neck and hitting them with her front legs (she normally doesn`t do that ever). After that the boys where convinced she was in heat and where being very inappropriate around her. I already had a little panic attack, thinking that maybe she actually has lost the foal and is indeed in heat. But everything went back to normal the next day, so I guess it`s just hormones. 
Varbūtība is at day 240, her belly is slowly growing but other than that nothing has changed. I will try to get some pictures soon!


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## iloverains (Apr 1, 2011)

What lovely mares! And nice looking stallions too!
I'm excited to see the babies - hope all goes smoothly and you have two happy healthy foals!


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## smaile (Sep 21, 2010)

So, here goes the promised picture update. Weather is horrible, everything is icy and muddy and I can`t wait for the real spring to start! But the mares are doing okay, Smaile is starting to get a bit uncomfortable but with the belly like that I wouldn`t be too happy either.  
Smaile is at day 290 today. Udder is slowly getting bigger but other than that - no changes. Also she is too lazy to go to the water bucket 20 meters further and just drinking from the puddle. She always does this 

















And Varbūtība is at day 243. Finally I can see a real baby bump, though when she stands next to Smaile, her belly still seems small.


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## EquineBovine (Sep 6, 2012)

Oh wow lovely horses. Should be some nice babies!


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## smaile (Sep 21, 2010)

Smaile is at day 300 today and her udder is almost full... There is no milk, just yellowish water coming out, but this makes me concerned. On the one hand this is her 7th foal and her udder was larger than normal even before breeding, also she is one of those mares who starts to develop udder around 6-7 weeks before foaling so other than the fact that the udder is a little (or a lot) too full for this stage everything is going as planned. I am going to call my reproduction vet, but well... not giving too much hope that she will be able to come out here anytime soon, I`ll probably have to wait a week or two at best (that is if she`ll think that this is emergency. if not I`ll probably see her when the foal is born already because she lives in another country and is super busy). 
So what do you guys think? Maybe someone has similar experience with older broodmares?
EDIT: I don`t know if this is important, but she did feed a "foal" for around 3 years until this summer. Could that be a reason for her larger than usual udder now? Probably not, but I do need some peace of mind otherwise I`ll be going crazy until all of this is over.


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## smaile (Sep 21, 2010)

Ok, false alarm. I read 100 articles about placentitis and went full on panic mode and figured that the only solution is to take her to the clinic for full examination. Thankfully I got a hold of my vet first and she told me that as long as there is no milk, there shouldn`t be any problems because Smaile is following her foaling pattern (she reminded me of 100 panic calls I made during first pregnancy when I thought that she is 1000% going into labor 2 months early). Also the udder is going down already. 
I always, always do this - something looks a little bit off (mostly it`s just my imagination) and I am assuming the worst and just panicking that usually results in "more than I can afford" vet bills for just reassuring me that everything is fine.


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## iloverains (Apr 1, 2011)

Good to hear that you were just having a panic attack!!


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## smaile (Sep 21, 2010)

Update time! Smaile is very, very big and very miserable. She spends most of her time eating and occasionally lashing out at other horses who all now has some "holes" because of her grumpiness.  Smaile is at day 305 now, so we are getting close and soon all of this will be over. 
Here are also a little picture update. Though the last couple of days have been really warm - today it was even +21C - the paddock still has places where it is muddy and all of the horses go there to roll, so I have given up on trying to clean them. That is why Smaile looks so filthy but I will try to find a time for a spa day for the mares.  
Also does her udder look normal to you? Before all the "full udder drama" it was developing very evenly but now one side is much bigger and well, it just looks so weird. Could it be just because it decreased it`s size so much? Or because she is an older broodmare? Or could it be something serious?


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## beverleyy (Oct 26, 2011)

I'm definitely no expert on udders, and my mare's is fairly even currently but my BO (very experienced breeder) did warn me that one teat could fill up more than the other, but should eventually even out before foaling. So I think it's probably normal?


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## smaile (Sep 21, 2010)

Yeah, I stalked probably ALL of the foaling threads here and found that many mares have had one side of the udder developing faster than the other. But what concerns me the most is the weird shape of it. In precious pregnancies Smaile`s udder had very distinctive teats. Now they are all lumpy and "swollen" or filled. There is not much fluid inside, at least I can`t extract almost anything. Could it be mastitis? Or is it just the fact that she has fed 6 foals and her udder has changed it`s shape and elasticity?


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

Hello! I am excited to see your babies! 

On a side note; I don’t know much about pregnant mares, but I’ve seen a lot of cow tits. Lol. I think they look fine, definitely not mastitis looking. I really wouldn’t worry if I were you.


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## smaile (Sep 21, 2010)

Thank you, @Knave , I hope you are right. Thankfully I do have a pending appointment with my vet for the next week ( at least i hope so, I am waiting for this since beginning of the March), so I`ll ask him to take a look. 
As for Smaile - she is at day 311 today. The udder has filled some more, but nothing major. I will try to make a picture update soon, but honestly at the moment I am barely able to walk more then 10 steps without fainting. I somehow managed to get into an accident in my riding stable when a young stallion kicked me in the face this Tuesday and crushed most of the left side of my face. Doctors did a good job with reconstruction and I should be fine, but everything hurts like hell, the concussion is killing me and when I look up or to the right I see double.


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## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

smaile I can honestly feel your pain. Hope you heal quickly. BTDT doing the tango with a mare. Their faces are much harder than ours. Concussed as well. Still don't know how or why she swung her head though I have my suspicions. Never fainted but did have seizures that were relieved with reconstruction a year later. Still can't feel part of my cheek but I consider myself extremely lucky.

Her udder looks fine. Teats too. They fill from the top and can look lumpy until there is complete filling and more pressure from the bag.


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## smaile (Sep 21, 2010)

Today all horses had their hooves trimmed and I don`t know if my farrier was more horrified about the look of my face or the look of my filthy horses. They went out to summer pasture yesterday and today all of the horses were covered in thistles and since it was raining today they were also wet and muddy.  
Anyway, Smaile is at day 313 today and back on track with making progress - only 20 days until the baby is born!. Her udder is growing and looking normal again, but her baby belly is still quite high. She is VERY uncomfortable, slow and grumpy. But she behaved very good with the farrier and had no problems holding her feet even with all that heavy load. Sorry for the awkward udder pictures - I have to admit that I was a bit scared to go under her belly considering my recent experience with horse legs 
































And also update for Varbūtība. No change here, she is still slowly growing her baby belly and doesn`t seem to be bothered by it at all. I even think she enjoys pregnancy.  Day 266 for her, so I guess soon we will start to see some changes!  

















Also here is the little reminder for all of you (but mostly just me when I`ll stumble across this thread after couple of years) to NEVER let down your guard and always assume that the worst thing will happen. I was just trying to put a halter on a young horse and got 8 fractures in my face and now I look like Frankenstein and my biggest achievement today was that I held the horses for farrier. Also never be alone in the stable. EVER. It was pure luck that I somehow managed to call "911" being half-passed out. So, yes, off topic, but I know that we all sometimes forget that horses are always dangerous and you just have to be aware of that.


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

No problem... I am so sorry about your face! What a terrible thing. 

I like your pictures again. 🙂


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## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

Oh man smaile. Yes, and you can also add never feed in the dark. Because we live way out and have no close neighbors the ER Dr figured I was much safer at work where there is a nurse on staff. The kids were horrified. Heal well and quick is my hope for you. Thanks for sharing pics of your lovely ladies.


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## beverleyy (Oct 26, 2011)

Wow! Very scary about your accident - glad you are ~okay. Ouch! I've had a few bad accidents and broken bones myself, but being kicked in the face is probably my biggest fear. Healing vibes sending your way


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## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

So glad you did not lose an eye! Healing vibes sent your way. Hope you feel better soon.


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## smaile (Sep 21, 2010)

Thank you all, I will be just fine - I feel a lot better each day! The only bummer is the fact that I was training for the competition in 12th May and well, guess I`m not going since I am on a bed rest until the 10th May  
And also a healthy foal from Smaile in about 2 weeks ( so soon already :O ) will be the best medicine of all!


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## smaile (Sep 21, 2010)

Today is Varbūtības birthday! She is now officially 11 years old. Time seems to fly so fast - I remember when she was still a 5 yo youngster as if it was yesterday. :O 
Varbūtība is also 272 days in foal today. She showed some signs of heat couple days ago but it could have been just my imagination as she didn`t show anything the next day. And I also saw the foal moving, so I am pretty sure she is still in foal.  

























Smaile is at day 319, so I should better start getting ready for the foal to be born any day now. She is usually foaling around day 333, but I think she could go sooner this year as she did all her pregnancy routine stuff couple days earlier then previous years. Her udder is slowly filling, the "milk" is getting from very dark amber to slightly lighter more transparent liquid. She is still huge and still very grumpy. Her ribs are also showing, but they always do around the last month of pregnancy for her. I think that if I will give her more food she will just explode  

















































And Caldelero was very interested in me photographing the mares. He snuck to me from behind and muzzled my hair, tried to take away my camera and pick my pockets for carrots or candies. I think he is jelly of all the attention the mares gets and wants to go back to training.


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## smaile (Sep 21, 2010)

It`s day 321 for Smaile - we are getting close! Though at the moment it does seem like she probably will foal at her usual day 333. Although her hoohaa looks like the foal might just fall out at any given moment, her udder is maybe half full at best. It is fuller in the morning, but still not enough for me to start doing night checks. 
Since Smaile is not moving around enough on her own, I am taking her for long walks around the property. I have to admit that she is mostly interested in eating grass and that is exactly what she is doing for most of the walk. Oh well, whatever she wants she gets - I want to see a healthy baby and happy mare!


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## LoriF (Apr 3, 2015)

I am so sorry about you getting kicked, that is horrible. I'm glad your spirits are up and you are taking it so well. Healing vibes sent your way.


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## smaile (Sep 21, 2010)

We are getting closer! Smaile is at day 327 today and there are only 6 days left until her usual foaling day.  
At the moment it does look like she probably will foal at day 333 as the udder is still not fully developed, but who knows anything can happen at this moment. Also it does get a lot bigger during the night - this picture is taken after all day out in the pasture. The mils veins are huuuge and liquid in udder is getting lighter and more transparent. Her hoohaa isn`t even decent enough to take a picture of it - it`s open most of the time.  Also muscles around the tale are gone. Oh, and it seems that the foal has dropped. 
Varbūtība is at day 280. She is not very big and I am starting to get paranoid that maybe she isn`t pregnant anymore. She did that last year - she even started to make an udder and made me go and do night checks on her. On the other hand she is fatter than she was last year, so...


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## iloverains (Apr 1, 2011)

Sorry to hear about your incident! Hope your face is recovering well. Great shot though haha. 

Glad the mares are doing well too - exciting!


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## smaile (Sep 21, 2010)

So Smaile`s belly has definitely dropped some more and for some moments I even saw a very clear V shape. :O 
Here is a quick picture - it did look a lot more like a "V shape" in real life. Anyway, we are very, very close, Smaile is walking with her tail up, being extra mean to her pasture mates, running around alone etc. Guess who is not going to get any sleep from now on!


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## smaile (Sep 21, 2010)

*Day 330*

Of course there is no baby yet, but I don`t think that Smaile will keep him hostage for much longer. Her udder is finally quite full, no milk yet, but the liquid is getting white-ish and usually she gets milk only 24-12 or even less hours before foaling. Today she doesn`t seem to have that distinctive V shape, but oh well. 
P.s. her udder in this picture is not shiny because of how full it is but because of the ointment I put there to fight with those nasty bugs.


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## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

She sure looks ready to release the hostage LOL!


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## smaile (Sep 21, 2010)

QtrBel said:


> She sure looks ready to release the hostage LOL!


Ha, yes she really does. I hope that Smaile isn`t planning on making me do night checks for a week more as a revenge for all the times I forgot to bring her treats or made her carry around my little cousins.  

Although I do have an update - Smaile`s milk is now really a milk. It still is watery and not quite there yet, but in the morning it was still more yellow/transparent than white, so she progresses quickly. On the one hand I can`t wait for the baby to be born and hope it`s tonight, but on the other hand I am terrified and I am not lying when I say that my hands are shaking. The funny thing is that for the last 3 years I have been responsible for delivering foals at a breeding stable where I worked and that seemed so chill even though I honestly am NOT qualified for that kind of responsibility (the owner knew that very well, she just didn`t have any other options and in case of complications I would just call the vet). But delivering my own foal from my beloved mare? Nope, nope, nope, I am terrified. 
So I really do need all of your crossed fingers!


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## smaile (Sep 21, 2010)

So, it`s 2:32 AM and Smaile has thick, white milk. She is laying down a lot I think but I can see that only because of the straws on her sides - she really, really doesn`t want me to be there when she foals. She did this the last two times - waited until the morning when I figured it`s not going to be tonight/went for a coffee and foaled the minute I left. I also noticed that she definitely has been laying down in the very corner of her stall - what if she decides to foal in the same corner, too close to the wall. Yup, panic mode is on!


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

Yay!!! When you eventually get some sleep take pictures!!


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## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

Whaa! Getting close!!  Can't forget pics, but that's a given... right? :lol:


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## smaile (Sep 21, 2010)

Smaile is just being plain evil. It`s almost 11AM and didn`t get even a second of sleep! She was waxing, sweating, pacing, laying down, looking at her belly etc all-night-long. Usually for her this would be IT the foal should have bee on the ground by now. But nope, no foal and Smaile is outside running around and grazing as if she wouldn`t be even close to foaling. Though I do think that this will be THE night. It must be! 
Of course there will be loads of baby pictures when he/she (please, please let it be a she)! Who am I to keep Smaile`s masterpiece from the rest of the world!


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## Fimargue (Jun 19, 2015)

Are you going to keep the foal if it's a filly? 

Really horrible having your face kicked! :frown_color: I work with horses and am looking for a new job and it's very obvious how it adds to the risk when the horses haven't been educated with the same standards, or they live in a stressful environment. 

I worked with stallions and educated colts and not one ever suggested to kick. On the other hand I was very strict about stud behaviour and would not allow any mouthiness, striking, leaning on me etc.


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## ChestnutPony4Life (Dec 30, 2017)

I can't wait!!


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## smaile (Sep 21, 2010)

Fimargue said:


> Are you going to keep the foal if it's a filly?
> 
> Really horrible having your face kicked! :frown_color: I work with horses and am looking for a new job and it's very obvious how it adds to the risk when the horses haven't been educated with the same standards, or they live in a stressful environment.
> 
> I worked with stallions and educated colts and not one ever suggested to kick. On the other hand I was very strict about stud behaviour and would not allow any mouthiness, striking, leaning on me etc.


I am definitely keeping a filly. If it would be a colt, I guess I might sell him at one point, but that`s not for sure as I get too attached and well, I already have a gelding that I bred for selling - I can`t bring myself to actually do it now 

Yes, I believe that the environment has the major role in how the young horse will behave when being broken in. For example the stallion that kicked wasn`t being hormonal or just being a stud. He did it because he was scared of humans and I probably sneezed or maybe tripped or did some little thing that just frighted him. Sadly I don`t remember what was it.


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## Fimargue (Jun 19, 2015)

The sad thing is that they are keeping a stallion in the first place if they don't know how to educate horses.

Why not if you have the space, finances and time. I grew very attached to the babies that I raised so I understand you.


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## smaile (Sep 21, 2010)

*It`s a filly!*

I just had the most crazy day! After my post here about Smaile not foaling, I needed to pick up sum stuff in the city and guess what I saw when I drove past the paddock. Smaile had just foaled with all of my horses in pasture there with her. Her son Caldelero is probably traumatized for life, you should have seen the look on his face! 
Anyway, after we got all of the horses back to the barn, the filly (yes, it really is a filly this time!) was already up and trying to nurse. She seemed fine, very, very active she was trotting, cantering and bucking after maybe an hour? She also already has kicked Smaile twice, so I guess she is going to be a little devil. I would like to see her sleeping more as she is mostly just running, eating and running some more even now when they both are safe in the barn. 
Of course, as it always is with me, we also had some complications. Smaile`s placenta was retained. I waited the 3 hours in hope that nature will do it`s work, but nothing happened. After consulting a breeder/vet technician who is very experienced and, well, she was the only one I could get a hold of, told me that I need to give her a dose of oxytocin (?). It is Saturday and all the vet pharmaceuticals are closed so I spent couple hours trying to find out who might have it. Long story short - I got it and it took just one dose for Smaile to birth the placenta.
Now they both are inside, the foal is now refusing to sleep but seems ok as she is eating frequently and Smaile is happily munching on hay and loving her new baby. 
here are some pictures from my phone, I will get more as soon as I get some sleep. 36+ hours awake now, so yes, sorry if this post doesn`t make a lot of sense.


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## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

SHE IS ADORABLE! Such a little sweetheart!!  Hope you sleep well - sounds like you need it! ;-) :lol:


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## csimkunas6 (Apr 18, 2010)

Congrats!!! What a stunning little filly!! So look forward to more pics but you better get some sleep first!


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

congrats - and a filly!!


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## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

Congrats! What a sweet little filly!


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## smaile (Sep 21, 2010)

Thank you! She really is all that I hoped for and more.  
Sadly the craziness around this filly hasn`t ended. In the first evening I noticed that after nursing she sometimes has milk coming out of her nostrils. At first I thought that she just somehow got milk on her face or sth as I didn`t see it the next time she nursed. But of course the milk was coming out of her nose also the next day. I rang my vet but he is Czech Republic in some conference about lameness, my repro vet wasn`t picking up her phone and the answering machine was saying something in Estonian that I did not get at all (we don`t live in the same country or speak the same language), I rang my old vet that started specialize in AI and pregnant mares but she could come out here only Thursday. So my last resort was the vet that I don`t trust at all, he is very unpleasant and he also uses homeopathy almost for everything , but I just don`t believe in that stuff. Anyway he is the only one that you can get out always (I wonder why?...) at any time. Of course the filly didn`t let any milk out of her nose when he was here... He checked her throat and didn`t see anything and he checked Smaile`s udder and told me that the milk comes out very, very easily and it looks like the filly just can`t swallow it, so the milk comes out of her nose. He also told me that there is nothing we can do and I just have to wait until she is bigger and eats more so the pressure in Smaile`s udder is smaller. I am not happy about his conclusion and, if she will have milk in her nose until Thursday, I am having my old vet out to check on her again. I am terrified that she will choke.  I talked to a horse breeder that lives nearby and has had hundreds of foals and she said that sometimes this really happens and it usually stops in some time. She said that all her "milk-out-of-the-nose" foals are just fine now. 
Also I haven`t seen her poop since the first day. She pooped 2-3 times in the first day but I can`t catch her pooping again! I also don`t think I have seen her straining and even trying to poop. Oh my, this first week is going to kill me. 
Other than that she is nursing A LOT, running around, sleeping, playing and very interested in people and loves when I scratch her. I named her Abbie l`un des Chanceux which, if we can believe google translater means Abby One of the Lucky Ones, because well, luck is what we need now! I hope that everything will be just fine in the end!


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

She is adorable! She looks healthy too. Hopefully you will worry less as time passes.


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## EquineBovine (Sep 6, 2012)

She looks great!! Hope things work out xox


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## smaile (Sep 21, 2010)

Abbie is one week old today! She is growing by hours and is an overall very active little filly. Quite ironically her favorite activity is kicking at everything, including me and there have been times when her little cute hooves are too close to my already damaged face.  
I`m not sure if the "milk-out-of-the-nose" problem has resolved as I didn`t see any for 2 days and then I saw it two times at Wednesday and now again nothing. She does have an appointment with my regular vet next week (I`m hoping Monday or Tuesday) who promised that this time he will start with my horses, so it won`t be like the last 1000 times when he called me at around 23.00-24.00 to ask me if he can come to my barn the next time he`s in the area (he lives 1,5 hours away).  But overall, as far as I can tell from the smiley faces in his whatsapp messages, he seems positive about Abbie and doubts that it could be cleft palate. 

So, now when Abbie is on the ground, here is still one more foal to come! Varbūtība is at day 291 and she is also starting to make a teeny tiny udder. Her "due date" is around 22nd of June, but at 23rd of June there is this nationwide Summer Solstice celebration and EVERYONE is celebrating it, including all the vets. So, yes, she is probably going to do it at 23rd. 

Here is a picture of Varbūtība`s baby bump from today. Sorry for the lack of Abbie pictures - it has been veeery hot these past days and horses are spending most of their time inside to escape from the heat and, well, sleeping Abbie is not fun enough for pictures. Next week it`s going to get cooler and I promise I`ll try to make some decent photos of her.


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## EquineBovine (Sep 6, 2012)

Updated baby pics!!!


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## smaile (Sep 21, 2010)

Ehh, I wrote a very long story about trying to make pictures of Abbie and how Varbūtība is getting bigger and how the big brothers of Abbie adores her, but something happened to internet connection and I lost it all. Now I`m too lazy to write it again, so you`ll just have to look at awkward Abbie pictures.


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## LoriF (Apr 3, 2015)

Yay, a filly!! and an adorable one too. Congrats


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## EquineBovine (Sep 6, 2012)

So cute!


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

Those pictures are _gorgeous_. Are you a professional photographer??:lol:


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## smaile (Sep 21, 2010)

RedDunPaint said:


> Those pictures are _gorgeous_. Are you a professional photographer??:lol:


Thank You! But no, I am far from a professional photographer, I don`t even have a decent camera. :lol:


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## smaile (Sep 21, 2010)

No real picture updates, but Abbie is growing like a weed and so is the baby in Varbūtība`s belly and her udder. One month left for her!  
Smaile is spoiling Abbie and letting her do anything she wants, so Abbie is actually starting to act like one of those "I-want-candy-now-or-else-I-am-going-to-lay-on-the-ground-and-scream" children in supermarkets. I usually go check on her and the rest of the herd couple times a day and she always comes up to me for some scratches. She was very upset that the scratches ends at one point as I am going away and she sometimes kicked at me for that, but nothing too serious. But today she figured that she could roar at me and try to hit me with her tiny, cute hooves. I honestly didn`t know what to do at the start, I really didn`t want to start disciplining a 1,5 week old foal. So she did it couple of more times and I slightly punched her as some other, older horse might do. I know how awful this sounds, my heart really was breaking, but honestly what else could I do? Not only that kind of behavior is unacceptable and dangerous, but also she could learn this and roar at me every time she doesn`t get what she wants also when she`s a full grown horse and what then? 
After that she was still ****ed but at least she was kicking around me and not really at me. She still roared facing me, but didn`t really pick up her legs and did that in a polite distance. Guess this little mare will have quite a character. :lol:
I took a poor quality video of her after she had calmed down a bit and after the whole "punching" incident. As you can see, she isn`t afraid of me and still comes for more scratches. :lol:


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## smaile (Sep 21, 2010)

I`ve been very lazy with updating this thread. 
It`s very hot here and poor horses are spending there days inside the somewhat cooler stable. Poor Varbūtība is so huge and tired at this time! She is getting close to day 310 and she`s spending most of her time eating like there is no tomorrow and when she`s not eating, she`s sleeping and snoring.  She looks so ready that I think that she might foal soon after the 320 day mark. The unusually warm (ha, I would say hot) spring probably is playing some role in this. 

























And some pictures of now 3 weeks old Abbie. I can`t wait for her to have a playmate!


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## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

Sure is fired up! Pretty little thing!


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## Zexious (Aug 2, 2013)

Abbie is so, so cute! I'm so excited for your new addition--keep us updated!!

(Also, I hate to say it, but I couldn't help but laugh a little at your story... I feel like most of us who've dealt with foals have been there!)


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## LoriF (Apr 3, 2015)

My filly at three days old or so thought that it would be quite fun to try her legs out on me. She got a swat and she didn't try it until a week later and got another swat on the rear. She's two now and hasn't tried it since.

A swat and a scare when they really can't hurt you is a whole lot better than waiting until they can. Don't feel bad. 

The filly is so pretty.


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## smaile (Sep 21, 2010)

Ha, yes, I guess I was so used to the foals at my neighboring stable, where they are scared of humans, that I had forgotten how playful foals can actually be.  
I can`t wait for Varbūtība to have her foal so Abbie has someone else to play with! She is at day 316 today and I think that she will foal rather sooner than later.


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## smaile (Sep 21, 2010)

*Baby nr.2 is here!*

Varbūtība gave birth to a beautiful colt yesterday at 11 AM. It was a textbook birth, no complications and the foal was out in less than 15 minutes. He got up quickly, nursed, pooped and was very lively overall. We took him outside in the evening for 20 minutes while I cleaned their stall and he was jumping and "galloping" around very happily. But of course no horse that lives under my roof shall be a normal horse without any health concerns. :| He was straining to pee from the very start and after the 12 hour mark, that according to internet is the time frame a colt should pee, he hadn`t peed, his penis wasn`t visible and every time he strained to pee, he lifted his upper lip, which for me is an indicator of pain and/or discomfort. 
We called my vet and he told us that we have to take him to the University clinic as he was concerned that it might be a ruptured bladder. It was an awful 3+ hour drive in the night and we got there only at 3 AM (do vets even sleep? like ever?). Thankfully the bladder was ok, also the urinary tract was without abnormalities. The penis was very far back and the vet barely could find it, but she managed to take it out and put a catheter in, so the urine could come out finally. We left the colt and Varbūtība at the clinic for observation and this morning Varbūtības owner got a call from the clinic, that the colt managed to pee on his own. Both of them are probably coming home tomorrow. 

The bad news is that I have seen milk coming out of Abbie`s nostril again and asked my vet what to do now. He told me that I should take her to the clinic, so they can scope her, but, if it really is a missed cleft palate, there is nothing they can do. The surgery is not only very risky, but very ineffective and for most cases the cleft palate is not repairable. Also no one at this clinic has ever performed a surgery like this and he doubted that he (we have only ~ 2 vets that operate on horses on a regular basis - my vet and his other colleague) could even try to do it there. Oh, the joys of horse ownership. :frown_color:

The forum doesn`t allow me to upload any pics, so I`ll try to do that later.


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## smaile (Sep 21, 2010)

I don`t know if it`s the forum or my internet, but the pictures just won`t load. Here are the 3 that managed to upload though.


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## smaile (Sep 21, 2010)

Varbūtība`s baby is safely back home. Doctors at the clinic assumed that there is a big possibility that the colt would`ve peed on his own since there was nothing really physically wrong with him. Oh well, better safe than sorry I guess. Also Abbie is going to the clinic next week so I got to practice hauling horse babies. Not the best experience and I have no idea how I`ll do the same with Abbie - she is much bigger and I am worried that she could actually hurt herself during the 3 hour drive there and than 3 hour drive back home. I was thinking that maybe I should haul her just like a grown up horse - tying her in the trailer, but on the other hand - even if I`d train her on being tied, she`d probably freak out and start roaring and we all know what happens when a horse freaks out big time in a trailer. :/


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## smaile (Sep 21, 2010)

Guess who is the Alpha horse in my little horse herd...


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## LoriF (Apr 3, 2015)

Varbutiba's Colt is sweet, glad that he is doing well. How is little Abbie doing?


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## smaile (Sep 21, 2010)

LoriF said:


> Varbutiba's Colt is sweet, glad that he is doing well. How is little Abbie doing?


Abbie went to clinic this Tuesday for an endoscopy to see if she has cleft palate. The doctors, after seeing her dripping milk out of her nose at the clinic (right after taking her out of the trailer and putting her and Smaile in the stall, she started to nurse like there is no tomorrow and when she turned her head 3 to 4 drips of milk came out :/ ) , seemed quite pessimistic about the diagnose and I even got an anatomy lecture about cleft palate. Since my vet also works there, I asked him what we will do if she really has a cleft palate that can`t be fixed with a surgery and he just went silent and said "let`s not talk about this now". So, yeah, the whole time at the clinic my hands were shaking and I was terrified. 
I thought that my vet is going to be the one to perform Abbie`s endoscopy, but in the end she got the very best vet (my vet is at least the second best - he just doesn`t have that much experience yet) in the country, who is also the head of the clinic. I didn`t see much of the process as I was holding Abbie (well, she was basically sitting on my knees as I squatted in order to not let her fall down) and I didn`t see the monitor, but the vet couldn`t find any abnormalities there. No cleft palate, no cysts or abnormalities or anything. Her trachea (?) was also clean, so she hasn`t really choked. His diagnose was - a greedy and clumsy foal.  

Here are the newest photos of Abbie and Varbūtība`s colt - Little Stuart V. Abbie is going through a phase where she really wants to eat grass, but to get to it she has to do some crazy yoga moves, so she usually gives up after couple minutes and lays down to eat grass while sleeping. 

















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View attachment 963175


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## iloverains (Apr 1, 2011)

Yay for the new colt and yay for them just being gumby unco little babies! Rather then actually having something wrong. Hope all blows over soon and you can have a break!! They're both gorgeous!


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## Zexious (Aug 2, 2013)

Goodness, I bet that was all very stressful!
I'm glad to hear they're both healthy babies, and I hope you didn't incur too large of a vet bill along the way  They're both adorable!


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