Pregnant or no?

She sure looks like she could be in foal to me. I agree with other posters, get the vet out asap as you have planned, and have them tell you how to proceed. I imagine a palpation and possibly US. I’d do a fecal test too while they are out, to ensure your previous deworming worked. Good luck, OP and thank you for giving this gal a soft spot to land.

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If she is pregnant and you state you would plan to send her out to a facility if so, probably add Coggins testing on to the list of to-dos.

I would certainly look in to such facility and what they need. Space may be limited come the early part of the year as foaling season starts

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I’m sorry, I should have been more specific; she came to me underweight but not starving to death. she had been turned out for the summer on a pasture that wasn’t well maintained before I got her. The girl I got her from was boarding her and the place was a bit rundown and I think she had just been kind of overlooked care wise. I’d definitely had worse cases come through my barn.

She has a current coggins and is UTD on all vax, except rabies which is what my vet is coming out on Friday to do. We will discuss what is appropriate for her if she is preggers.

I attempted to find out more info on her through the person who picked her up at the auction, but she came with no previous info except she was originally from Tennessee. Due to this and her condition when he got her (I have photos from the previous owner) I have a feeling she was ran through at least 2 auctions. I’d love to find out more info on her but it’s been tough.

I’m very lucky that there are some amazing facilities near me that I could take her to. I also have a neighbor that is very knowledgeable in foaling so worse comes to worse, she could help me out.

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Also the reason I say 8 months is that in my past experience my mares haven’t started cycling until March. From my limited Breeding knowledge, it’s pretty difficult to get a mare successfully bred before then without lights and lots of management, no?
That would put her at 8-9 months along if it was March. She was picked up at the auction the week of April 6th, and she was in contact with no stallions after that.

I’m excited to hear what the vet says. 2 for 1 is always cool. :slight_smile: She’s a cute mare. Can you post a pic of her from the front? That’s one way to tell the difference between a hay belly and potential pregnancy. Also, even though she may be 2 months or so out from foaling, you should notice a marked loosening of her hind end - either side of the top of the tail. At this size, the foal should be moving some too. Watch for that. Good luck!

I will once it stops raining here! It’s been really yucky. She also turned into a yak overnight and grew a crazy long coat so I gotta clip her before any pics. It’s been 70-80 degrees here every day and she’s just been sweating and miserable.

Just throwing another 2 cents in. If she is pregnant and all looks good, I would encourage you not to send her out. Someone does need to be present at the foaling to check for red bag, dystopia or God forbid twins, but the way you learn how to manage it is by doing and you will have the vet on speed dial. There are tons of videos and most of the time no intervention is needed. Your vet will guide you on stall set up etc, but get a cheap camera and a milk testing kit & you will not miss it if you have someone watching 24/7 for the last couple of days. It is the best part of foal ownership… seeing them come into the world & getting snuggles the next morning. After a few days they are sometimes not as fun! :wink: Obviously I’m putting the cart before the foal but I’ve been lucky to get to do a lot of fun stuff with my horses but nothing beats seeing your mare welcome her baby :heart:.

Also, and sorry if I overlooked someone mentioning it it, but if she’s at least 8 moths the vet or anyone that’s had a broodmare will likely be able too push her belly and see the baby move, especially at feeding time.

she might have been in contact with stallion at the auction if they had a group pen or if it was not well managed . Do you have a hint of her breeding type? first impression I have is Morgan type

No idea. I also guess Morgan or Morgan cross of some sort. The old owner thought she was a QH but she doesn’t look like one to me.

Yes, it isn’t difficult. As I mentioned, any competent vet can find out if she is in foal. :wink:

She does look “full”. In my opinion blood test plus palpation/US. It is valuable to know if she is bred/ how far along. She looks midway but I have had mares who looked as svelte as she does at 9 months. A good vet can tell you when expect the blessed event, that everything feels normal, no twinning, etc. If you are nearing the last quarter, you will want to make sure your change her nutrition, keep her weight down, but her nutrients up. If she is not bred ( I have known mares who look bred but are not) then that full look can be a precursor of Insulin Resistance, IMHO.

Please give us an update…She’s a cutie and I love babies!

Vet just left!
She palpated and her uterus felt big. We ultrasounded and she was baby-less. No foal in there! She has a small cyst but nothing worrying.
I’m a little disappointed, but mostly relived as I could have ended up with some sort of very fugly animal :laughing: I’ve known people who ended up with mini pony-full size horse crosses and it’s not great.

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I know you’ll sleep better now!

Good to know! Glad you got her checked out, now you can relax and know there is no impending foal. Glad you got her checked out, OP.

StormyDayAdvanced

3d

Thank you, this is exactly what I needed to know. I didn’t want to pay a breeding exam fee just for the vet to not be able to tell.

No idea how to quote now, but that is your reason for “snarky” responses. It sounds like you don’t want to pay a few bucks to have her vet checked for pregnancy Maybe that is not what you meant, but it is all we have to go on, so fair enough.

No, she said she didn’t want to pay for a vet exam if the results were going to be inconclusive. That’s understandable. Everyone else told her the vet would be able to tell and so she did have the vet examine the horse.

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highlight the text you want, click the Quote box that pops up

And ditto Gardehorse.

*[quote=“Gardenhorse, post:37, topic:751318, full:true”]

No, she said she didn’t want to pay for a vet exam if the results were going to be inconclusive. That’s understandable. Everyone else told her the vet would be able to tell and so she did have the vet examine the horse.
[/quote]

Yes this. No reason to pay for an exam if they won’t be able to tell anything anyways. From my limited breeding knowledge I do know there is a period of time where it’s really hard to detect a baby.
But, it’s all moot, as there was no baby

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