Oh shoot, after all of this, it must be making you nuts! Glad you are so concerned for the mare and I hope everything turns out OK.
The foals “drops” lower as foaling nears. That is normal. Many people think the mare has lost her foal or aborted.
No – just Nature.
A friend of mine (not really a horse person) bred her mare in a pasture, so wasn’t sure of dates. 1 year later,I convinced her to let me haul the mare to the vet for an ultrasound/palp. She was convinced the mare had foaled and the coyotes had gotten the foal (this was in a 40+ acre pasture), because “suddenly she looks like she’s lost weight”.
Vet palped and said the foal was turned and looking right back at him! Said she would foal that night or the next.
Naturally, since this was a MARE she did it her way and waited another 7-8 days.:mad:…but in the end she produced a fine, big, healthy colt without a problem.
They named him “Pokey” because he took so long to get here…
Sounds normal to me as well but peace of mind is priceless so go ahead and get checked out. Can you leave her there to foal?
[QUOTE=Kyzteke;5848303]
The foals “drops” lower as foaling nears. That is normal. Many people think the mare has lost her foal or aborted.
No – just Nature.
A friend of mine (not really a horse person) bred her mare in a pasture, so wasn’t sure of dates. 1 year later,I convinced her to let me haul the mare to the vet for an ultrasound/palp. She was convinced the mare had foaled and the coyotes had gotten the foal (this was in a 40+ acre pasture), because “suddenly she looks like she’s lost weight”.
Vet palped and said the foal was turned and looking right back at him! Said she would foal that night or the next.
Naturally, since this was a MARE she did it her way and waited another 7-8 days.:mad:…but in the end she produced a fine, big, healthy colt without a problem.
They named him “Pokey” because he took so long to get here…;)[/QUOTE]
I really really really hope that that’s what is going on with her. Still, I thought the calcium hardness on the strips would be increasing, not decreasing. Her pH is still high. I dunno, it just seems like her symptoms are going away, and since we had her palpated, we know 100% for sure that she WAS pregnant, so I just want to make sure she definitely still is.
What explains the lessening of the bag? Why has she gone from bag so full that it feels like it’s about to pop (kind of like an overfilled balloon) to suddenly loose and with craploads of space again in that area? Why does it look like her pH has dropped back down to under 200? I’m trying not to freak out, but she’s even less sweet than she was all the sudden. She was ready to kill the darn mini a couple of days ago, and I’m having to put her in a stall before I let my mini donk in to eat because she attacked the poor thing and took some big chunks out of her hide recently.
I don’t know… I don’t think so? I’m not positive, but I’ll ask. I’m supposed to go out of town next weekend for my bachelorette party, so I actually considered asking if they could keep her from Friday till Monday just in case (assuming that she hasn’t foaled yet and still checks out as healthily pregnant at tomorrow’s check), but she really doesn’t look like she is going to have it anytime soon. First the dentist’s helper and then my new farrier both are looking at her and guessing she’s not due for another 3 weeks all the sudden. When the vet first saw her on August 18th, he estimated 2-3 weeks till delivery, but we’re obviously way past that.
She may has simply decided to hold off another week or two. Did you change her environment or horses? That can be enough to put them off.
It’s normal to see the bag go up and down while it fills, also normal to see the belly shift ‘shape’ as the foal is shifted into the right position, the ‘flabbiness’ of the hind end is more of the ligaments softening deep in side rather than poking fat (if that makes sense) and of course mares attitudes change from mare to mare as their pregnancy progresses 
Also those pool strips are unreliable. you really want to just use them as part of your tool kit - watch her shape, attitude, observe her bag, the softening of the vulva and check her milk (I prefer to just milk a few drops onto something black and watch for the colour change). None of these are surefire indicators, you can only ‘best guess’.
In any case she sounds normal to me from your description and I would expect a foal in the next couple of weeks 
[QUOTE=silvia;5848433]
She may has simply decided to hold off another week or two. Did you change her environment or horses? That can be enough to put them off.[/QUOTE]
Not the environment, but I did take my mini donkey out because she kept being mean to her. My mini donkey doesn’t even want to come in the paddock to eat anymore because Classy Lady has suddenly turned really anti-anything-smaller-than-her in the last week or two. It’s been really noticeable the last couple of days. I thought she was HAPPIER to have the mini donk out of her paddock, though.
[QUOTE=ClassynIvansMom;5848440]
Not the environment, but I did take my mini donkey out because she kept being mean to her. My mini donkey doesn’t even want to come in the paddock to eat anymore because Classy Lady has suddenly turned really anti-anything-smaller-than-her in the last week or two. It’s been really noticeable the last couple of days. I thought she was HAPPIER to have the mini donk out of her paddock, though.[/QUOTE]
Good move that They usually prefer to be left alone by other horses when they are close to foaling, it’s just her motherly instincts kicking in.
I would try to avoid moving her from home if possible, she may refuse to drop the foal at the vet’s having been shifted there so close to her time.
Good news! Managed to move her appointment up on account of the rain today raining out my vet’s farm calls. Baby is confirmed still alive inside. She just keeps going back and forth with all her symptoms, which is really confusing. Today her bag is HALF what it was even just yesterday, so I dunno what’s going on there. Her pH still isn’t indicating birth tonight. At any rate, while the baby wasn’t moving around like crazy, it was still at least moving today. I even got to glove up and feel for myself! Talk about an experience My vet knew that I was pretty worried about her, so he offered to let me feel for myself and told me how to poke around and what to feel for. I got to feel its little face poking at me! Kind of like it was saying “What the hell are you doing in here? Get out!” It was really neat So now we’ve confirmed she hasn’t aborted [big sigh of relief] and now we also now that baby is effaced and the vet is guessing that since it’s already pointing outward, it SHOULD make its appearance within a week or so? Her hips aren’t quite as loose as they should be, so he doesn’t think it’ll be tonight or tomorrow. The muscles are still more tight than they should be. Keep your fingers crossed for us!
Like I said, peace of mind is priceless. I don’t blame you for wanting to have it checked out even though we all said it was not only normal but a sign of progression. Congrats!
Great news! Some peace of mind is priceless. :yes:
Knowing baby is moving into position is even more peace of mind as well. Some seem to pull back on their symptoms and then go full force to the big event, so it may be calm before the storm. Keep watching the pH - that should give you an idea when she starts heading for the home stretch. Glad the checkup was good and even I’m now looking forward to this baby! LOL
Do I really have my mix right for the milk testing? From another thread, I read 1 cc of milk and add 6 cc of distilled water. Is that right or have I been doing it wrong the whole time? I got two different pH readings tonight. One was higher in the glass that I measured into. The other was a lesser amount of milk with a small amount of water that I had used to clean out the syringe, and just for kicks I stuck a clean strip in it. The one that was measured out registered still on the 8.4 color mark. The one that was in the original cup that I had brought the milk up in with the lesser amount/less water, and that cued a 7.8 color. Now I’m confused. I called my old boss from the lab I used to work at and he’s getting me some high accuracy pH paper tomorrow. It’s nice to stay friends with your old boss when they work in drug discovery and have all the fun toys But I still have to nail the right mix in order to know that I’m measuring properly… Everything I’ve read doesn’t say test the milk without any dilution…
Do you have any children of your own? Have you ever been pregnant? if so, you know that “symptoms” can be all over the map.
If not…well, I think that would explain alot…:winkgrin:
So far your mare is having a textbook gestation. To any experienced breeder, she seems to be sitting right in the middle of “normal”. And you know your mare is pregnant. And you know the foal is alive & well.
There is nothing more you can do but wait. But a watched pot never boils, so just chill!
The odds of an uncomplicated foaling are heavily in your favor, even with maidens.
As for the pH & Ca+ – I find both to be VERY reliable indicators of foaling. Watching these two factors have helped me attend all of my foalings save 3 in the last 14 yrs. They are not the ONLY indicators I use, but I confess they are the primary ones.
The dilution is 1:6. Make sure all containers are clean & dry – rinsed with DISTILLED H20 before drying. Make sure you leave the strip in only as long as directions say for that particular test. Make sure hands are clean and that not alot of “gunk” has fallen into the sample from your mare. DO take note of color, texture, taste of milk each day.
BTW, I just use the simple pool strips from WalMart…
Use to use PAF, but these are so much easier & cheaper. Just as effective.
Maidens are tough to predict even for experienced horse folks, so I’m betting Classy Lady pulls one over on you and foals when your back is turned.:D:D
But even so, the odds are great that she will do just fine by herself.
Sounds normal to me too
Mare is a four letter word. I was COMPLETELY insane after one mare this year. Mare had two previous foals, first one was not mine, second she bagged up normally, etc… She progressed QUICKLY. At about noon that day she was at the point of “eh, I should probably keep an eye on her”. I get back that night and she is dripping milk, foal that night. ONE night of foal watch.
So, this year I was prepared for the same. Once her bag got to the “full”, but not READY, I started watching her. I didn’t have her at my house, which meant I was sleeping in the bathroom of a boarding barn… I did have cameras up though. Anyways, she was SO READY for about 10 days… the milk just didn’t change to the good stuff (it was skim milk, but testing highly), but it happened really quick the previous foaling. FINALLY, the milk changed to the thick, white, good stuff and we had a foal that night. I was completely neurotic, forgot what a bed felt like, and don’t even want to know how much Starbucks was consumed during that time.
And I have foaled out 15-20 mares, not a lot, but I am pretty confident in my foal watching abilities (especially if I’ve foaled the mare out before). This mare (my only of the season) chewed me up and spit me out… had she not pulled that trick on me the previous year, I would have saved a lot of sleep, but that’s breeding for you.
Hang in there, it will happen, EVENTUALLY!
I had to laugh because it sounds like you are watching SO closely you are making yourself crazy! Sometimes it’s in fact possible to have too much information. Deep breath. The majority of mares manage fine, and the majority of maiden mares are sneaky about it. Our pony snuck a whole pregnancy by, though of course we didn’t see her every day. She stayed at our neighbors when we weren’t up there, he came out to the corral one morning, there’s a foal sitting on a patch of ice. He moved it off the ice, when in to call the vet, came back out, it was back on the patch of ice. (Nice colt, but he never was very bright from the get-go…)
Welp, made it through the entire bachelorette weekend without her foaling. Phew, at least that’s a relief. Tested her milk today since it hadn’t been done since Friday (I can just imagine my fiance’s face and exclamation if I had asked… “You want me to WHAT?”) Currently this evening, her calcium/hardness is back up to at least 250 but not 1000 (Why isn’t there an indicator color in between that?). Her pH is finally less than 8.4, but it’s still at least 7.8 or higher, so no dice. My old lab manager has pH strips so I can track more accurately at least, but with all the stuff that came up right before I went out of town for the bachelorette weekend, I haven’t picked them up yet. I don’t think I need to worry about it right this moment, at least not tonight anyway… Her bag is super full/tight today. Wonder what it’ll be like tomorrow…
Do yourself a favor and take a deep breath… It’s going to happen, you know it will. Just relax…
New news from last night! Overnight, all of the sudden her hips have really sunken in. The comparison from last night to this morning is drastic. Sure enough, the vet last Monday said a week, and she’s holding on longer because he gave an estimate. Gave her a big breakfast and a whole 70 lb square bale to munch on inside the barn since she’s hanging out in her stall instead of going out into the rain. Starting to get excited! Looks like I might finally get to use my pitched tent and air mattress this week! The storms need to stick around to entice her to pop this sucker out finally. Going to check her milk test at evening feeding and see where we’re at. She’s DEFINITELY so MUCH looser than she has been.
Woot! I hope you get your baby soon!
Ok – I have a brand of pool strips I got from WalMart called “Aqua Check.”
They have readings for Ca+ at 250, 500 & 1000.
Readings for pH run 6.2, 6.8, 7.2, 7.8 & 8.4.
In both these categories they suffice just fine.
I don’t understand why you are having such issues with your testing strips…
