# Pregnant Mare- First timer!



## amynjay (Mar 28, 2011)

I went through the same thing last month and this month, the best advice I can give you is if you can have a blood test done. It confirmed my mare not in foal when a vet confirmed her in foal on March 10th. Its the only way you can know for sure. Good luck she is a real cutie.


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## equus717 (Aug 20, 2009)

Cute mini. I would have your vet out to confirm pregnancy. She looks prego. Do you have a picture of her from the rear?


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## Juna (Apr 4, 2010)

She looks pregnant to me. But some mares can be like that even when they are not in foal, especially older mares. I'd recommend a vet, that way you will know for sure and can have things ready for baby. 

Very cute girl!!


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## miniheart (Apr 18, 2011)

Shouldn't she have an udder by now though? I mean if she's due the end of April we have only another week and her nipples are swollen but no udder. I will try to get more pictures tonight but it's hard because it's usually a struggle to catch her and get near her because she just trots away. But she is getting use to coming in the barn at night so when I open the stall door she runs in and I can usually get close to her then. She definitely looks larger on her left side than right side but then her right side is big too. I've seen pregnant minis before and this close to delivery I was expecting her to be huge, most minis I've seen look like they won't fit through a door way by now. 

I want my vet to come out and I will once I get paid on the 22nd, I might have the money now, just waiting to balance the ole check book. She is only 4 from what the old owner told me but then she told me she had 3 foals already, she that would mean she was two when she had her first foal, don't know how realistic that is... I'm fairly new to this so I'm learning little by little. I've wrapped her tail, do night checks and keep her off the grass for the most part, which I do anyway because my other mini has foundered about 2yrs ago so I learned my lesson there. 

But the other thing is the old owner mentioned the stallion being removed in the end of March, so that would make her due in February right? But I know she said April is when she's due several times... so maybe I'm mistaken but I think a phone call to her is about due at this point. I'm just confused I thought she should have more of an udder by now. I've had goats and sheep for years and when they bagged up it was almost certain 4wks away and I always saw the births because I knew the timing. Are they not similar? What are the signs of impending delivery in mares?


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## equus717 (Aug 20, 2009)

It depends but the only way to confirm her in foal at this point is to have blood drawn. She might not foal until the end of May. Many mares go over their due dates.


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## lblagden (Apr 12, 2011)

I'm new to this whole foaling thing, but the vet gave our mare a "due date" of March 1, and here we are still waiting 7 weeks later. What he didn't tell us is that mares can foal anywhere between 320 and 375 days, sometimes even longer. So don't count on that end of the month deadline.


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## equus717 (Aug 20, 2009)

yup. I had a mare that foaled at 341 days every time she was bred when my vet owned her but for me she went to 373 days. It scared me to death.


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## tanya (Mar 30, 2011)

When we bought our mare the guy had a shetland pony in this little round pen. He asked us if we wanted her so we went to look at her. I felt so bad for her because she was in this little pen all by herself. I looked at her and asked the guy if she was pregnant he said he was starting to think so. He said one of his belgian drafts got her awhile back and did a number on her and perforated her uterus. He had a vet out and had her checked and fixed, but I told my husband we cant leave her there. We decided to take her as well. We brought her home and she was starting to get bigger and was looking like she was bagging up you could even get fluid out of her utters. I called a vet and told him what was going on with her and he said he wouldnt even worry about having her checked that he was positive that she was not bred. He said alot of mares will bag up and not be pregnant due to to much hormones. Well long story short she is doing wonderful and was not pregnant.


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## miniheart (Apr 18, 2011)

Well my problem is she DOES look pregnant but ISN'T bagging up! It's very frustrating because she has the belly for a pregnancy but doesn't seem to have an udder at all yet. But you think she will simply just carry longer? Oh god what have I gotten myself into!? I hate being patient!! 

But if she goes longer, when should we see udder development? What's the time line for impending birth?


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## lblagden (Apr 12, 2011)

From what I've read, mares vary widely in terms of how soon they bag up. Some won't have milk until immediately after foaling, others will have it for weeks before. I wouldn't use that as an indicator of due date, personally. But, as I said, I have very limited experience and am mostly going on what I've read.


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## miniheart (Apr 18, 2011)

Here is some pictures of her today, taken about an hour ago, I know the pics suck but she's stand offish and doesn't like her belly being touched and I can not get between her legs for her udder without a huge fight but I need her to get use to it. 





















She looks dropped a bit more and I'm also trying to upload a video I took but my computer is slow so it'll take about 2hrs but it's what looks like baby movement but I will let you guys judge it when you see it. I took shots of her udder as well and vaj jay to see what you guys think. I know everything gets lax but I don't know if it's lax or not, I'm new at this preggers stuff so I'm wondering what you guys say about it.


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## miniheart (Apr 18, 2011)

YouTube - Brick's Belly

That's the video, through out the whole thing I swear I see a leg at her flank and you can tell she feels something to by her reactions. Then at 1:55 it seems to increase just before I end the clip. What do you think? Am I seeing things or is it just digestion or really a baby??


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## miniheart (Apr 18, 2011)

It looks like we have a slight change in her udder tonight, nipples are even larger and she seems to be filling up a little more, I will keep an eye on it. Did anyone see the video? People are saying they don't see anything but I swear I do. What are you guys thinking? Prego or not? I think so but I will have to have a vet out I'm sure but I was just wondering what others thought


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## lblagden (Apr 12, 2011)

She looks preggo to me. I watched the video and to me it looks like kicking, but I've been trying to determine the same thing on my own mare, so I'm hoping someone more experienced responds. Good luck!


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## missbri (Apr 21, 2011)

she looks pretty uncomfortable!! i noticed what _might_ be movement-it's always hard to tell unless you're right there. early on it just looks like a "rolling" movement, then progresses to jabbing kicks. my mare's belly looks like a kid's jump house when the little somebody moves around...maybe your girl just hasn't gotten to that point yet, trust me, you won't be able to miss it!! good luck with everything, i hope she and the maybe baby do great!


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## miniheart (Apr 18, 2011)

Thanks Missbri. I think I am going to have to call the vet to have her come out. It sucks you can't just ask them  I try to but she doesn't answer. It sucks I have to pay the $110 for a blood test, then wait a week for results because it's my luck that I will pay the money and she will foal the next day haha But gotta do whatcha gotta do. She hasn't had much of a change in her udder but here is the kicker.... She was 'blinking' this morning and last night after peeing. Maybe she's not pregnant at all and she's now in heat. I don't have a stallion to tease her with. But could she be blinking to stretch things out? Or is she really in heat?


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## missbri (Apr 21, 2011)

no problem! i know, if only they'd TALK to us!! i told my girl last night that i WANTED her to take a REALLY long time ( maybe some reverse phsych!). even preg mares can act a little "in season" from time to time; some can even exhibit stud-like behavior (nice!). i think you're going the right route to have her checked. too bad it takes so long for results. 
& as far as her udder goes...those girls can trick us!! mine has waxed-a small amount, so i guess it doesn't count- 3 different times in the last 2 weeks, her bag goes up and down, has white specks on and off...ugh, they make us crazy!
i hope everything works out for ya! 
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