# Maiden mare in foal, due to foal very soon



## MattJohnston (Sep 10, 2010)

Hi there, I have a 5year old mare due to foal very soon and it's her first foal, weve been reading up on the Internet and in books looking for tell tale signs of going into labour and weve been noticing things changing in her, she keeps swishing her tale and kicking at her belly and I've noticed that her belly has gone slightly narrower than it was and now she keeps putting her back end up against the wall and she's looking really worried and quite scared, would anyone say she's going into labour or I've read they can go into false labour, any help would be greatly appreciated, Matthew


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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

This is where you'd call your vet and get their opinion. People on the internet are going to be useless, because we can't see the mare.


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## countryryder (Jan 27, 2012)

I'd say she is VERY close to foaling! The signs are certainly there,so be sure to keep a very close eye on her.. When did you notice these changes starting?


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## MattJohnston (Sep 10, 2010)

countryryder said:


> I'd say she is VERY close to foaling! The signs are certainly there,so be sure to keep a very close eye on her.. When did you notice these changes starting?


We started noticing the changes yesterday and we've been keeping a close eye on her, Matthew


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## countryryder (Jan 27, 2012)

MattJohnston said:


> We started noticing the changes yesterday and we've been keeping a close eye on her, Matthew


I'd say be prepared for it to start happening anytime then..From your description it sounds like the foal has dropped and is getting into position. What does her bag look like,is she dripping milk,is there wax on her teats,that kind of thing? Hope all goes well,and keep us posted!


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## MattJohnston (Sep 10, 2010)

countryryder said:


> I'd say be prepared for it to start happening anytime then..From your description it sounds like the foal has dropped and is getting into position. What does her bag look like,is she dripping milk,is there wax on her teats,that kind of thing? Hope all goes well,and keep us posted!


Shes started bagging up a bit and when we checked her teats she had a clear liquid coming out, and yesterday there was a little dried up spec on the tip of her teat, like a pale cheese colour, Matthew


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## MyLittlePonies (Mar 15, 2011)

Hmm. Be prepaired to have the vet on speed dial. She sounds very close since she's getting uncomfortable and nervous. Is she starting to get relaxed around her tail head and volva being loose?


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## MattJohnston (Sep 10, 2010)

MyLittlePonies said:


> Hmm. Be prepaired to have the vet on speed dial. She sounds very close since she's getting uncomfortable and nervous. Is she starting to get relaxed around her tail head and volva being loose?


I haven't check around her tail set but her vulva does look a loose, Matthew


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## farmpony84 (Apr 21, 2008)

Usually it's about 24 hours or less once you have milk.

Usually the mare will become restless when you are getting very close. She may pace the stall and she may have patchy sweat spots behind the elbow, on the sides of her neck and on her flanks. 

Sometimes she will appear colicky, lying down and getting up repeatedly, but if she eats, drinks, poops and pees it is a good indication that the first stages of labor are in progress. 

Be sure to have the vets number handy, I would actually recommend giving them a ring when you know you are foaling (just to have them prepared should you need them).

The actuall deliver should not last more then 30 minutes so if it looks like it is going to, then you need a vet.


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## MattJohnston (Sep 10, 2010)

farmpony84 said:


> Usually it's about 24 hours or less once you have milk.
> 
> Usually the mare will become restless when you are getting very close. She may pace the stall and she may have patchy sweat spots behind the elbow, on the sides of her neck and on her flanks.
> 
> ...


She is still eating but not as much as she generally does and she's pooing quite often aswell, when I got there this morning there were 4 poops and she is still peeing, my brothers going to check on her at 1 in the morning then I'll be going over about 4 ish so I'll let you know if anything happens


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## Faceman (Nov 29, 2007)

MattJohnston said:


> Shes started bagging up a bit and when we checked her teats she had a clear liquid coming out, and yesterday there was a little dried up spec on the tip of her teat, like a pale cheese colour, Matthew


You can never be sure with a maiden, and mares don't always follow the rules, as we breeders know all too well, but the "average" is 6 weeks after first starting to bag up, 2 weeks after the bag stops going down during the day and stays bagged up 24/7, and within 24 hours of waxing up unless the mare gets nervous and holds on to the foal, which they can do for several days...


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## countryryder (Jan 27, 2012)

MattJohnston said:


> Shes started bagging up a bit and when we checked her teats she had a clear liquid coming out, and yesterday there was a little dried up spec on the tip of her teat, like a pale cheese colour, Matthew


Sounds like she's waxing..There should be a baby within 24 hours or so,if she follows the rules,which there's no guarantee she will,lol.


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## MattJohnston (Sep 10, 2010)

Well no foal this morning -.- typical, all the signs and nothing there, my brother went over before work this morning and she was laying down, just wish she'd pop it out so that it'll save us all this stress!


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## countryryder (Jan 27, 2012)

MattJohnston said:


> Well no foal this morning -.- typical, all the signs and nothing there, my brother went over before work this morning and she was laying down, just wish she'd pop it out so that it'll save us all this stress!


Apparently she had decided not to follow the rules.lol.


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## MattJohnston (Sep 10, 2010)

countryryder said:


> Apparently she had decided not to follow the rules.lol.


Yeah it's just my luck, get up early hoping to see a lovely little foal in the stable and I get there to find her laying down looking at me as if to say ' what you doing here so early' -.- but we were thinking, shes not due to foal really for another week or two so could all these signs be down to the fact that the foal is moving around inside her, cause we noticed that she was looking rather worried and swishing her tail and kicking at her belly whenever the foal seemed to be active and it's generally in the nights he gets really active in her belly, Matthew


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## cmarie (Dec 19, 2011)

Sometimes mares will have a false labor about a week or so before they foal, so maybe that's what's going on, or the foal is laying on her intestines causing some pain and she trying to get it to reposition.


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## MattJohnston (Sep 10, 2010)

That's what we were thinking was a false labour, she seems really worried with herself :/


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## cmarie (Dec 19, 2011)

they do do that, they don't know why they hurt or what's going on.


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## MattJohnston (Sep 10, 2010)

Just wish she'd hurry up, worrying the hell out of me


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## countryryder (Jan 27, 2012)

MattJohnston said:


> Just wish she'd hurry up, worrying the hell out of me


Yup,preggo mares like to do that to us:make us worry. lol.


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## MattJohnston (Sep 10, 2010)

countryryder said:


> Yup,preggo mares like to do that to us:make us worry. lol.


ohhh i know! the foals going to be the first foal registered to my stud so im just wishing everything wil be safe, i took a couple of photos of her today to keep an eye on any changes, i took one of her teats, one of her vulva and a couple showing her side on to see the size of her belly, if you want ill try and upload them so you can see her rather than me telling you about her


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## SunnyDraco (Dec 8, 2011)

We never turn down pictures, but you must post pictures of your baby when it arrives


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## cmarie (Dec 19, 2011)

please upload them I'm sure everyone would like to see them.


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## MattJohnston (Sep 10, 2010)

these are the photos ive taken so far, i dont think shell go over the weekend, she doesnt seem that way anyway, Matthew


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## SunnyDraco (Dec 8, 2011)

Looks like she still has a ways to go, but she is a maiden, so who knows


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## MattJohnston (Sep 10, 2010)

SunnyDraco said:


> Looks like she still has a ways to go, but she is a maiden, so who knows


tbh i thought the same, she should still have a week to go but then she started having them signs and then we started getting a bit worried and trying to find all the answers to our questions, can maiden mares go earlier than a mare that has had a foal before? Matthew


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## cmarie (Dec 19, 2011)

yes they can go earlier or later, horses don't have a due date like people do, the foal will be born when the foal is ready. The foal dictates when it's born, the mare can delay it for a few days.


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## MattJohnston (Sep 10, 2010)

okay, thanks for the info, Matthew


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## countryryder (Jan 27, 2012)

Now seeing the pics,I'd say she has a little bit to go,but being a maiden,who knows? She must have been having a round of false labor or the foal was in a really bad position before.. As for going early,or late for that matter,it's like cmarie said.My one mare,her maiden year,went two weeks over her due date,but another mare,who was pregnant with her second foal,foaled over a week early;they pick the due date,not us.lol. Your mare certainly has a nice belly on her though!


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## MattJohnston (Sep 10, 2010)

Well not much change today other than her belly has seemed to have dropped more and gotten narrower a bit, she still looks depressed as usual do no difference there and I noticed that the foal seemed to be active earlier today, for the last week or so it's been always around the same time, suppose its getting fed up of sleeping and laying there all the time so it would rather anoy mam for a bit lol, Matthew


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## countryryder (Jan 27, 2012)

Has baby made it's entrance yet?


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## MattJohnston (Sep 10, 2010)

Not yet, she's still got a bit to go yet, shes bagging up more and her bellies dropped even more and got more pointy, not getting so active in the nights either so I think she's getting there slowly 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## sonsedg68 (Apr 11, 2012)

Hi there, im new on this site, i too have a maiden and she too has all the symptoms you describe however i do not know when she is due ?
so im reading as much as i can and looking at the pictures that everyone is posting hope you dont mind me hitching a lift on your post


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## MattJohnston (Sep 10, 2010)

No not at all, it's hard work keepin track of all the days to figure out when they are due and it helps if you know when they were covered so if you know that day then you generally add on 11 months to find a rough idea as to when they will foal, don't forget every mare is different so some go earlier than their expected due date and some go later, I know alot of breeders give an extra 2 weeks to their due date to compensate for later foals, maiden mares generally tend to go either earlier or later and once they've had their first foal they tend to go around that same time if in goal again, just keep a regular check on her, my mare still has the symptoms but I now know its because the foal was quite active and was making it uncomfortable for for and now i know that it's the foal moving inside her, it want be too long for my mare now, hopefully the goals gonna be a crackIng looking cob and hopefully and exceptional mover  wish I could be picky on the colour but whatever comes out I'm not entirely bothered 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## sonsedg68 (Apr 11, 2012)

unfortunately i dont know when she was covered, i wasnt even told there was a possibility that she could indeed be in foal, however the deed has been done  but while i am a little apprehensive i am too a litttle excited  its the waiting and not knowing thats niggling me.
thanks for letting me hang on your thread 
cheers


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## Ripper (Apr 1, 2012)

sonsedg68 said:


> unfortunately i dont know when she was covered, i wasnt even told there was a possibility that she could indeed be in foal, however the deed has been done  but while i am a little apprehensive i am too a litttle excited  its the waiting and not knowing thats niggling me.
> thanks for letting me hang on your thread
> cheers


That is to bad that some horse owners are so irresponsible.


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## ladytaurean515 (Apr 2, 2012)

sons....I feel for you. I had a neighbors stallion jumping in the pastures with my herd and we didn't know it til he showed up one day at one of the barns with the herd and I was like UH OHH! On 250 acres its hard to catch that. I thought I had trusted neighbors and high enough fences but guess not. When I confronted the neighbor about it he first tried to tell me it wasn't his and I told him to show me his. We went back there and sure enough his wasn't there. I told him he need to pay the vet. fees and cost because I wasn't intending to have any mare covered this past season. He said he couldn't afford that and asked if I wanted the stallion. So I took the stallion and gelded him. 3 mares are due this summer now and 1 mare we aborted because she was still early enough and I know she is a frame carrier and he might be as well. It's lovely the lack of respect people have for others and animals! Good luck and praying for healthy foal/mare.


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## sonsedg68 (Apr 11, 2012)

Hi thanks for your sympathy ladytaurean515 lol, it was the person who bought the horse b4 me thats goin to be gutted, she originally bought her to use for breeding as she really wanted a foal this year, if only she'd have known she was already in foal,but like i said the damage is done just hope that she copes with the birth and being a mum


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## sonsedg68 (Apr 11, 2012)

Ripper thanks, but it wasnt the person whom i bought her off, it was the person b4 her, dont think she even knew she was pregnant as she bought her to use for breeding but dont think she was suited for her stallion hence why she sold her


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## MattJohnston (Sep 10, 2010)

Hey Everyone just to let you all now, Ffion had her foal early hours this morning, went over to do the morning run at half 7 this morning and found a healthy bay filly foal with four white socks and a star, absolutely over the moon  will post pictures later on, for a maiden mare she is a brilliant mother, always checking to see where her baby is 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## WyndellaRose (Nov 7, 2011)

Congrats! Can't wait to see her!


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## hlygrl (Jan 3, 2011)

Congrats on the new baby  Can't wait to see pictures


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## Cacowgirl (Feb 19, 2011)

Eagerly awaiting the promised pictures!


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## SunnyDraco (Dec 8, 2011)

Congrats! Can't wait for pictures


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## sonsedg68 (Apr 11, 2012)

congrats on the birth of your new filly hope all is well with mum n baby. SOME FOALIE pics would be nice if you have the chance to oblige please


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## MattJohnston (Sep 10, 2010)

here they are everyone, not sure which ones are the clearest 


























































































hope you all like them


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## Kayella (Feb 11, 2012)

I love his markings! What a little cutie patootie.


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## franknbeans (Jun 7, 2007)

Congrats! Adorable baby!


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## cmarie (Dec 19, 2011)

Congrats, she is cute.


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## kayleeloveslaneandlana (Apr 10, 2011)

Adorable!! Congrats!


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## SunnyDraco (Dec 8, 2011)

She is so cute!


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## countryryder (Jan 27, 2012)

Adorable!


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## soenjer55 (Dec 4, 2011)

She is adorable! Congratulations!


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## Rascaholic (Oct 4, 2010)

Aww what a darlin! Congrats on the healthy lil filly


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## HorseLovinLady (Jul 18, 2011)

What a cute filly congrats!!


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## kartmom67 (Jan 25, 2012)

What an adorable little baby! Congratulations! She looks like a great momma.


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