# Question about belly shape changing before foaling



## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

I get confused about the difference between a round belly and the 'V' shape that a mare is supposed to make before she foals.

Ace here should be due, overdue even, and she seems to be making little progress. She threw a small udder back at the start of March, which goes up and down, but has never filled properly.

She has sunk in by her tail head, and feels looser there, but the vagina itself hasn't loosened much.

From these pics do you think she is making progress?

13th March










17th April










2nd May


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## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

She's carrying an elephant! :rofl:


She _does _look like she is making progress to me at least.


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

I'm thinking a litter of elephants!!


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## Ladybug2001 (Mar 15, 2011)

God, poor girl, she is HUGE!!! Though to me it looks like she is a little bit bigger from the first picture to the last.

Edit: Also in the March 13th picture the part of her stomach closer to her chest has more of a gentle slope then the one on May 2nd. May 2nd one is looking more like a "V"


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## MHFoundation Quarters (Feb 23, 2011)

Wow is she big! I agree May 2nd is looking more like a v. Does her vulva look swollen or less wrinkles than normal? I've also noticed once they develop the "v" usually 1 or 2 days before foaling the belly will actually look smaller as the foal gets into position in the birth canal. Good luck, the poor girl certainly looks ready! 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

She is a big girl for sure, well she isn't that big, I've been trying to keep weight on her

This is what she looked like last year when I bought her










It's a balance between trying to keep her at a good weight, but not put to much into the foal.


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## MHFoundation Quarters (Feb 23, 2011)

^ That's a tough thing to do! You've done a wonderful job! Can't wait to see foal pics 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Ladybug2001 (Mar 15, 2011)

Wow, almost like a different horse! O:


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## BuckskinBorn2Fly (Mar 8, 2011)

Ladybug2001 said:


> Wow, almost like a different horse! O:



Yeah, really!


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

She does look a bit different doesn't she  

She did raise 2 foals last year, hers and an orphan, she is such a good girl, so she had been drawn down.

I like my mares to go in chubby then try and keep up with their needs while they are nursing.


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## BuckskinBorn2Fly (Mar 8, 2011)

Golden Horse said:


>



I think it's just that angle, but her butt looks really small.
Sorry, I'm kinda going off-topic.


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

She looked better when she was moving










The first pic, from July I believe, as I say this is a mare who had just been weaned from two foals, and who had been exclusively a broodmare for 10 years.

I started to feed her up and build her up with ground work, and then I actually rode her for a couple of months before turning her away again to get fat and grow that foal 

I think the work helped her shape, and she has held that through her down time.


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## Juna (Apr 4, 2010)

BuckskinBorn2Fly said:


> I think it's just that angle, but her butt looks really small.
> Sorry, I'm kinda going off-topic.


Not only off topic, but this isn't the critique section. :wink:


GH, your mare looks like a whale!!! What a huge tummy! Are you sure that her nursing two foals last year didn't give her twin ideas for this year? LOL. :lol:She looks close to me....do you have a bag picture? 

She's a beautiful girl regardless of the tummy tum!!! Love her.


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

Juna said:


> Not only off topic, but this isn't the critique section. :wink:


LOL, not a problem with someone mentioning in passing, but certainly wouldn't expect a full on critique of her




Juna said:


> GH, your mare looks like a whale!!! What a huge tummy! Are you sure that her nursing two foals last year didn't give her twin ideas for this year? LOL. :lol:She looks close to me....do you have a bag picture?
> 
> She's a beautiful girl regardless of the tummy tum!!! Love her.


I'm getting worried about the twin thought now........

She was scanned and confirmed in foal to this guy










Before I bought her, that date puts her two weeks overdue.

She was then standing to my Haflinger stud in August, so we had her re scanned, and she was confirmed in foal, but the vet thought that she looked like she had held to Alto, rather than Jesse. I was bitterly disappointed, but Jesse's owner said that she would honor the LFG , and I could try Ace again for a Jesse foal. 

Anyway, she does NOT look like a mare who is going to go through to July before foaling, so she must of held to Jesse, but what if the small fetus size was actually one of twins:shock:

No, no, can't be, she wouldn't go over with twins would she?

I haven't grabbed a bag pic yet, it's really doing not much


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

*Udder shots*

Here we go, the doing nothing udder...










Compared to this on 8th April when she was making good progress










The droopy hoqhah :lol:


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Every bit of her tells a different story, she is in foal for sure, but when she will pop??


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## haflingerlover (Apr 1, 2011)

She looks like she is getting pretty close. In the photos of her belly you could see a drop. My mare did this this year, she didn't bag at all and still foaled, she never had a huge bag and still dosen't. She did wax though and that is how I saw her foal. She was a week over due to. Your mares backend dosnt look as long as it should to me she is loose but for as big as she is..... 

I'd keep an eye on her back end and look for wax, I wouldn't worry all that much about her bag that can change after she foals. 

Also what is she eating? I upped my mares alf intake to help with her bag and it seemed to have helped.


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## Zimalia (May 8, 2011)

When the mare is carrying, she's going to be farther out one side than the other. That's cause the mare has 2 horns in the uterus that she could carry the foal in. She won't be gravid in the same horn twice in a row. 
When the foal is large, she's going to be quite round, as you've seen.

When the foal moves into position for foaling, that creates the V. That's his little tushie creating the V. She will also lose a lot of the roundness as he's now in line for foaling.

By the way, just so you know, there is really no such thing as a due date in mares. The date you look up is a suggested time to watch for the foal. 

I usually go by the udder. But they say it's more reliable to use a dark surface and milk a bit of fluid from the udder. When it turns milky, you're very close.

The teats are the last to fill. Once they fill, you're very close.

Has your mare foaled yet?


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

*Le Sigh*

No foal yet here she is today 364 days and counting


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## Katze (Feb 21, 2011)

good god, what a round girl! Hope she pops soon lol, mares rarely deliver on time, it's usually when you least expect it, and when it's least convenient XD

Good luck, keep us posted, thats going to be one gorgeous foal =)


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## Zimalia (May 8, 2011)

I've seen mares bag up and foal over night. It's rare tho.
Have you consulted your vet?

Is this mare on fescue? She should have considerably more udder by now.


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

No to fescue and also no the the vet consult, Ace is perfectly happy and healthy, eating well, doing everything normally, she is just not ready to foal, or rather the foal isn't ready to come.

I on the other hand am well on the way to being a gibbering nervous wreck.


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## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

So is she trying to break the 440 day record or what?


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

NdAppy said:


> So is she trying to break the 440 day record or what?










Don't even JOKE about that one


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## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

You know she is doing it just to drive you insane! *snickers and runs off*


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

NdAppy, it isn't a long journey to drive me insane!

365 days and counting


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## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

I don't think it would take much to drive any horse owner insane... that is going on the thought any of us were sane to begin with! :lol:


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

366 days and counting, I swear I'm getting more get hairs. Madam is quite happy nothing doing


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## rbarlo32 (Aug 9, 2010)

Molly the day before she foal please excuse the mud


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## drafts4ever (Sep 1, 2009)

She's so huge! I hope she pops soon!


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

367 days, and now I'm hoping that she doesn't foal for a few days, we had so much rain yesterday, it's just horrible out there.


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