I keep forgetting to get pictures while at the barn, hopefully I’ll remember today, but here’s the update: The vet I took them to said no foal on the older AQHA mare, but then said she felt no foal on the TB but felt fluids (ultrasound was the same) but said that was confirmation of a pregnancy. I have talked to a friend of mine that has bred horses before because that didn’t quite sound right to me, and she stated that at this far along (7 months at minimum) that if she didn’t feel a foal that it isn’t a confirmation of pregnancy, but if she felt fluids I should be looking more for an infection/STD. This was one of the “better” vets in my area, but my friend gave me the name of a vet that’s a little ways away that I’ll be contacting and asking about this as well. Also part of why I wasn’t particularly wanting foal(s) quite yet.
Anyone here have similar or different thoughts on this? Should I get them both rechecked as she was quick with the no on my older mare, stating she felt the full uterus and no foal with the older one? Or just take the one for now and figure out what’s going on with her?
Did the vet mention the hormone blood test to check for pregnancy?
At 7 months “possibly bred” they should be able to be pretty accurate palpating and you did ultrasound as well? She should have seen evidence of a foal if there was one??
I do think you should try a blood test on the one who is suspect, just because the vet seemed so confused. You want to be sure so you can be prepared and feed her correctly.
Sounds like you may have dodged a bullet-- but too be honest I would be a tiny bit disappointed. I love raising foals and the breeds would have been a good match!
Vet did not mention blood test, and I didn’t know that was even a thing for horses. She plapated and did the ultrasound and said there are fluids so that is confirmed pregnancy. But my friend that breeds horses said that doesn’t even make sense. She didn’t offer or suggest vaccinations just, “yeah she’s most likely pregnant”
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Sorry I left everyone hanging on photos, we ended up with her cellulitis bursting and then she got proud flesh around that area, so had to take a trip up to out local Vet School clinic…and we’ve not only put on a good amount of weight, but our leg is now looking better and down to a bandage change every couple of days instead of daily
I’m not sure if the first one loaded, but if so it was a short clip of her walking up the barn aisle at the beginning of all of this, then a photo from about the same time.
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And then these are all from today…to me she doesn’t really “look” pregnant, but I also realize that she is pretty long and has a lot of room for that baby. The only physical indicators I really have are the weight loss (that she’s mostly gained back) and her recent moodiness and uncharacteristic sensitivity in the udder area, she’s not bagging up per se, but her udder is definitely slightly more full than it typically looks. She’s still on a good weight gain regime so hopefully we’ll see a little more weight on before she foals, although she’s due anytime between now and mid February, but with no real symptoms I’m voting for pretty close to mid Feb, and I believe she’ll be moving inside in the next few days (they ended up with some unplanned goats in the stall that was earmarked for her)
The little AQHA mare had a random heat cycle on a warm stretch (normal for her, and she’s super messy about it so no denying it) and she was the one I was mostly worried about. It appears her conformation/age helped me out and we are only expecting the one foal.
Here are some videos that I just found on pregnant mare care:
The Foaling Mare: Preparations and Process
Pregnant Mare Care - Cornell Vet Equine Seminar Series
Preparing to Foal AQHA video
Newborn Foal Care AQHA video
Preparing for foaling
I’m in a similar situation, dealing with an unexpected pregnancy–bought a cute, trim little 2 yo filly to be buddy to another horse–got a PPE but didn’t think to get a pregnancy check, then found out months later that she is pregnant 
. At least you know who the father is.
Also, I live in an area lacking resident equine vets, so used this DIY test–inexpensive and easy–measures estrogen in urine–very reliable after the first few months, up until a couple of weeks before foaling: Equine Pregnancy Tests
I subsequently did get a vet to examine her.
Has she not been preg checked by a vet?
Does this mean that you would advise against running e.g. the pH test to check for imminent foaling? It requires collecting a ml or so of milk each time.
When I worked on a breeding farm, we routinely checked milk w/ strips as the mare got close to due date, but they usually didn’t proclaim immediate foaling until day of or day before foaling.
Learn to check the rear parts as there’s definite change there too. Plus you want to check for a caslick and have it removed.
I know it is routinely done all over and if you keep her stall pristinely clean ( and she not in mud etc…) I am sure she will be fine if you choose to test her.
I just know that when you express milk you lose the teat plug and you then have lost the protection of bacteria entering the udder.
I have had dairy goats and cows and this is a concern with any milking animal. I know due to udder size horses don’t compare but the risk is still there. I never messed with the udder on any of my mares due to foal.
If this is in reference to mine, they have been but it was very much an “I feel fluid but not a foal, so I’m going to say she’s probably pregnant” in a not so convincing voice. And same with rectal ultrasound, bur what is available to me at this time. However, if you read my previous posts throughout the thread you might have a better understanding of what actually happened with mine.
Yes I did I still don’t understand how the vet didn’t confirm they were through an exam?
As I said…not the best of equine vets and she stated “probably pregnant” because she felt fluid in the uterus of the one mare after about 10 minutes and ultrasounding and was really quick with a no on the other one (like 60 seconds, maybe less). I did have a friend palp who said she is pregnant and explained why (uterus dropped off pelvic floor so she couldn’t reach it, certain movements that were signs of a foal, ect) rather than appearing to guess. And since then the mare has given other signs (swollen nips, attitude change, immediately started gaining weight when bumped up to a good pregnancy grain).
They also offered no vaccines or anything but my friend pointed me in the right direction for which vax I should/could stikl get her and when they needed to be administered. Three friends with breeding experience said that fluid on the uterus isn’t confirmation of pregnancy as it can be other things (std, false pregnancy) and that at 7 months she should have been easily able to tell. So why the vet didn’t know? Probably because they are not good equine vets, let alone a good equine reproduction vet. They can’t even tell that a horse with a ¼ of her molar left has a broken tooth…and tried to float said broken tooth unsedated. Had to get someone to help me haul that horse over an hour away to be told it was what I originally thought and that I needed to go to another vet (farther away) to have it removed. So I’m also a little confused as to how she wasn’t confirmed by the vet for sure either, honestly 
You didn’t ask the vet school to check her while she was there? If she’s as far along as you think she is, they’d have been able to easily confirm that via a transabdominal ultrasound. And I’d think that would have been something they’d want to know while treating a bad cellulitis, as some antibiotics are unsafe to use in pregnant mares.
She does look pregnant to me. I would go ahead and add extra hay or feed. You want her to gain weight prior to foaling. Once the foal is born, you won’t be able to get weight on her and she will probably drop weight. Make sure you add some alfalfa for protein.
You really need to go get her checked. Here’s a pic of my mare, looking very pregnant. Even my vet thought so. She palpated and went ‘oh no, I think we have a baby in there’.
Ultrasounded and nope. No baby. Just a food baby. She was fat.
Just for reference, this is a picture of one of my mares when she was 10+ months in foal. In my experience, at that point it is more notable from the front than from the side.
I told the vet school, they did not feel the need to check her and treated her as though pregnant. She is definitely pregnant and starting to show early signs of coming into the last 2-3 weeks. She is so long that the bulging sides are not noticeable if you didn’t know her prior to pregnancy, but I can tell as well as those that did know her. She has gained tons of weight and I can feel a thick layer of fat over her ribs. This is from Jan 25th (not a great angle, but you can see the weight gain in it). And her leg is about halfway healed.
