@Caol_Ila Could you PM me name of the breeder? I will be looking for a Lusi/PRE in the coming months and this sounds like a breeder to avoid…
Apologies for the delay…she seems to be doing well but no foal yet…she just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Because I don’t know when she was bred, due date is “when it happens.”
I think it’s good that she didn’t foal earlier because she’s had more chance to grow and mature. She has gained more bone and substance in the few months she’s been here, which should help with foaling.
She doesn’t show signs of imminent foaling AFAIK but I’m sure it’s not far off now.
Comments on her condition are welcome, especially since I have never dealt with a pregnant horse before…I don’t think she should gain any more weight (fat) but figured she should be a little stout to help once she starts lactating.
February 28:
Today (March 10):
She looks in really good condition! Just keep checking her bag. Wax on the tips may or may not be indicative, but if she drips milk, that is usually within 24 hours of foaling. But not always! If she drips for more than 24 hours,she may lose colostrum and you may need to make sure you or your Vet have a source of frozen.
The only thing predictable about broodmares is they are unpredictable. She is lovely.
I love her giraffe-looking dapples.
OMG that last photo is so Teen Mom! “Like yeah, so? I’m not just fat!” She’s adorable and I hope she and the foal do well.
I know far too many people who got a bonus baby when getting a mini or mini donkey from rescue or questionable background. I have no experience with breeding at all, but it happens so often, I’d almost tell people buying any female equid from auction, fire sale etc to get it pregnancy tested.
Back around 1980, my riding instructor leased a mare to use in lessons and foxhunting. She was named Mama (bad sign!) and was a fat, very plain, almost ugly little thing - but a good lesson horse. Three months later, just after going out with the hunt, someone told my instructor that the mare looked pregnant… And she was. Very. Mama had a foal about a week later that was a carbon copy of the mare, never mind the “top quality stud” the owner confessed to have turned out with his mares.
Yes, I had no idea this was a real possibility–again, got a PPE with radiographs but it never occurred to me to get a pregnancy test. After this experience, any time I buy a filly or mare where the entire history isn’t known, she’s getting tested.
The reverse dapples and her darker legs and head might indicate she carries roan? I have my fingers crossed for an interesting color…although as long as the foal isn’t twins or a mule, I’ll be satisfied.
This is the time to give big thanks to the COTH brain trust and all the great information and advice I’ve gotten here and in the repository of wise first-hand experience that is this forum.
I dont associate dapples with roan. Dapples are their own gene. The mare is a drop dead gorgeous darker palomino with dapples in summer. Do you know what color the sire might be?
Genetically the palomino is chestnut plus creme modifier. The creme modifier has a 50 per cent chance of passing on so you could get a palomino or buckskin, or a chestnut or bay (depending on sire). If the sire is roan or pinto that could express on top of the base color. I don’t love roan palomino as it dilutes the golden color :).
If the sire is palomino or buckskin you could get a double creme dilute, a cremello or perlino.
If the sire is black, you could also get black or smoky black, which is a “hidden” cream dilute of black. They are usually a little lighter in color than a full black, and may have lighter eyes.
ETA: I am actually thinking she’s a palomino roan, given that her head, legs, and bottom of her tail are darker, and her body is sort of mottled. And also how light she is, though palominos can range from creamy to nearly black. That would be very cool.
Great, lots of interesting color possibilities! I have no idea who the sire is, but am concerned about her foaling a cremello or perlino, e.g. sire is a palomino brother or father because someone didn’t manage their herd properly. Those colors would have a tough time in the AZ sun where I am for now. If so, after weaning I’ll find it a home in a better climate.
Also, per Scribbler’s great suggestion earlier, once she foals I’m going to contact the seller and diplomatically inquire as to who the sire might be. Knowing the foal’s color might help narrow the possibilities. She well could be registered AQHA but just got shipped out to the guy I bought her from to be sold without papers after she became pregnant.
the dapples aren’t related to Roan.
For the most part, dilutes are lighter in Winter, darker in Summer, which is the reverse of bay and chestnut. To me, she looks like her head and legs have already turned their new darker Summer coat, and her body is still in the process. I would have expected her to look quite Roan in the original pics in this thread but she doesn’t, no dark head. That’s not to say she isn’t Roan, it could be very minimal and we just can’t see it in the original pics. Usually by the time they are 2, it’s very clear they are Roan, especially in that Summer coat.
Seasonal change dapples are the result of capillary patterns and the hair shedding/growing in around that pattern of extra warmth. That’s different from the genetics of color-related dapples.
Without knowing the color of the sire, and this filly’s Agouti status, the possibilities are all the regular colors, all the single dilutes, and all the double dilutes. Black, bay/brown, chestnut, and smoky black (will look black), buckskin, palomino, and then smoky cream, perlino, cremello.
Do you know the colors of all the potential sires?
You can also get black or smoky black if the sire is E?, whether that’s bay-based (bay/brown, buckskin, perlino ) or smoky black or smoky cream.
She definitely looks pregnant! She has really filled out and you have done a great job of feeding her what she needs. Look forward to a lovely, healthy foal and plenty of pictures.
Any updates?