I said I would start this thread on amastrike’s “halfway there” thread 
So, here it is:
All the breeding newbies, come on over!
Anyone offering support or words of wisdom, come on over!
I have participated in some foalings, but it’s been quite a while. This is MY first, it’s my mare’s first.
March 11 is the “due date”, and at least on amastrike’s thread, this makes us the first to go :eek: Someone else was just a few days behind us.
I am a nervous newbie, too. My mare is rather, um, experienced 
so I am hoping that she will hold my hand. Our “due date” is March 21st. However, according to the woman that had her prior to myself, she is all over the place with her foalings. 310 days to 370 days. I think I shall get some Ulcerguard for myself!::lol:
Breeding is full of ups and downs…but after almost 100 foals…I can say that it is still one of the most amazing things I have EVER had an experience with.
Im another newbie! Im so excited, but scared sh*tless at the same time. lol
This will be my mare’s 4th foal, but my first. She is due May 16.
Great idea, JB! Thankfully, my mare has done this before, but I’m a novice. I’ve deal with one newborn before, but I wasn’t involved with the prenatal care and foaling… or the postpartum care, really. She’ll be 340 days on April 29, so I’m expecting a baby in mid-April since she went at 322 days last time. It’s going to be a loooong 5+ months!
:lol::lol::lol:
Glad someone said it!
Not a “newbie” here but it has been four years since I foaled anything out. Have my Oldenburg mare by West Coast in foal to a local arab sporttype stallion. Will be my “first” arab sporthorse! She should foal in late May, so somewhat of a late baby. Next year will breed her back to my App sporthorse as well as another mare I have, and plan to breed and appendix QH mare to a son of Indian Artifacts.
[QUOTE=confusedTB;5213599]
Im another newbie! Im so excited, but scared sh*tless at the same time. [/QUOTE]
:yes: :eek: :lol:
My thoughts EXACTLY!!!
I am a few days behind JB with my first mare. March 17th is “D day”. I’ll hopefully have a bit of a rest then 2nd mare is due April 18th.
Both my girls know what they are doing but I do not!!! My vet calls me her most high maintenance mare owner. :o Are my fellow newbies doing the foal alert? My vet recommended it. I also plan to test milk, likely do cameras, sleep in the barn, have a nervous breakdown, etc.
I have attended foalings in my college days and have recently been doing lots of reading and watching videos. My vet is about 20 min away and will be on “high alert”. I think my dream situation would be to go inside for a snack or something and come out 20 minutes later to see a healthy, just born foal and a happy momma. Of course then vet would come and all would be attended to. Can you say relief!?!?
I’m planning on milk testing and sleeping in the barn. And popping out of work midday to check on her (thankfully, my barn is only 10 minutes from work).
Ahhh, the stress of it all!! Why exactly did I decide to do this??
Mare Stare here, with ALL my friends being put on watch duty :lol:
Milk testing, yes.
Sleep in the barn - hopefully not. Fortunately our bedroom window directly faces the barn. I can work from home as well.
me too, me too
while technically not my 1st (had one foal 5 years ago but missed the birth), this year my 2 mares are due on April 28 and 30… i have nightmares of them delivering the same day!
i’m very nervous, and plan to read lots over the next few months.
Well i’m not a newbie, but my mare is - so i am a little nervous, BUT - i will make every effort not to stress out, because if i know my girl, she will sense it and feed off it. She’s a sensitive, insecure little lady and she looks to me for security and reassurance… i need to be strong and stoic for her sake!! :D:D
Mine is due mid-May… have no clue if she’ll go early or late… i really hope it’s not gross and muddy out still - the two i’ve bred so far were both born in June in dry, sunny and warm conditions.
[QUOTE=aab;5213541]
I think I shall get some Ulcerguard for myself!::lol:[/QUOTE]
That is one of the best things I have ever read on this BB!! Thanks for that…
JB - so exciting!!! Filly (or colt) comin’ right up!
My first foal was a very memorable event for me. My 14 year old maiden TB mare (and the apple of my eye) got pregnant on the first go-around by our stallion, Gatsby. We’d been doing the milk testing, and once the numbers showed we were within 48 hours, the all-nighters at the barn began. She was at a boarding facility where the owners are also breeders, so they happily set up a camera in the stall for us. She was in the “baby barn” and a friend stayed up all night with me two nights in a row in the big barn. After night two, nothing happened. We walked out like zombies to the baby barn in the morning, figuring that if nothing had happened yet, it wasn’t going to, or at least not until that night. Of course, I was informed by everyone that they don’t typically like to foal out with people around or during the day if they can help it. So I was prepared to go home and get some sleep, but my mare had other plans for me. Friend walks into the barn to feed, still nothing. 5 minutes later I follow her, and the split second my mare saw me, she locked eyes with me, stood up really tall like they do when they’re spooking at something really far away, and then she started that low, grumbling type of whinny, like during feeding time, except this one was quite a bit more frantic. She just kept staring at me and talking to me, obviously quite unnerved and looking to me for some answers and help. Then began the pacing around the stall, full body sweat, and within 30 minutes, there he was (with a little help pulling him out). Everything was textbook. Perfect. And he was perfect. At first, mommy was so surprised and a little bit freaked out, that she hadn’t quite yet figured out where to put her feet, and so everytime she thrashed around on the ground, he would scoot out of her way. Eventually, he had made a loop all the way around her body, just scooting out of her way when he needed to. All of this before he ever got up! It was actually rather amazing to watch him do that! She has had 3 by now, and she is a FABULOUS mom. She’s such a good mare, and boy her babies are pretty! Anyway, my friend is still convinced to this day that my mare waited for me. I like to think it’s true! 
Good luck to all you newbies! It’s such a fantastic adventure and the babies are SO MUCH fun!
My mare is not a newbie (one foal previously in Holland before import) but I am. We just found out this week that she has a career ending injury (bummer), but we have decided to breed her. I’m sure I will have plenty of questions, most of which I will feel silly asking on this board, so bear with me. I love this mare and she has thrown one beautiful foal, can’t wait to see her next one in 2012.
This will be my mare’s 7th foal but “my” first. This is a high risk pregnancy due to her salmonella/colitis/impaction/founder in September and all the medications she was given. But she’s holding her own. We’ve still got her on regumate due to low progesteron numbers. She’ll probably stay on that until we get her out of the stall and a less stressful situation. She absolutely HATES stall life.
She’s at day 145, but who’s counting. Official due date is May 24th but the University said to get her to a 24/7 foaling facility the second the foal could be viable as it could be premature from medications.
Someone tell me this. If the foal is only the size of a small cat at this stage, why do they start getting a belly? You wouldn’t think a small cat could cause a belly to form in a horse.
So excited for you all!
It feels like yesterday I was in your shoes, but it was 4 years ago! I was just looking at baby pictures last night and miss that “puppy” phase. The flipside is I can now ride my baby!
Happy and safe delivery to you all!
So, do any of you know what you’re getting? Horse babies, obviously, but sex? Do you have names picked out?
Experts, I have a question about timing of the EHV vaccine. My mare was bred on May 22, so I gave her the first vaccine on October 22. I found a website where you put in the date the mare was bred, and they tell you when stuff should be done, and it said to give the vaccine early October. I went with 5 months on the dot… is that right? Is there a better time for it?
My vet said 5 months to. I asked when she was coming up on 4 months and he said no… 5. So we’re almost due for that ourselves. June 18th bred date.
ah… I love this! My DH experienced his first delivery last year. I saw the mare was pretty close so I had my eye on her. About 5pm she is just standing and the gate… something about her told me- eh, bring her in out of the paddock and let her take it easy in her stall. DD and DH gave me plenty of grief for bringing her in early but I went with my gut. Sure enough as soon as DD bought her in she lay down immediately and started to deliver. DD ran in the house and yelled for me ( I was miffed for everyone questioning my ‘authority’) and we came out just in time for foaling to be in high gear… my DH was running around in circles he was scared out of his wits, every time I or my DD went near her he would yell “dont look at her, dont look at her!!” He had me so rattled we kept listening to him ( looking back I cannot even describe how crazy the energy was) ( Side note-- he is Tibetan and had it somehow in his folklore it was the evil -eye–to watch a mare foal-)finally I was like “wait a %$^& minute-- we HAVE to look at her!” And we made it just in time to watch her beautiful filly be born. So note-- only have calm rational people with you during foaling!!
What a great thread! I will be breeding my maiden Balta Czar mare this spring. I bred her, but her dam was a seasoned broodmare and literally dropped my filly (in the field!) during the 30 minutes my husband and I were eating dinner!
I’m so worried about her being a first time mom! We will install a foal cam of course. Anyone else in a rural location where the vet is 45 min away?
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