Advice Please From Experienced Breeders

[lisadundee]

Oct 21, 2012 18:47:14 GMT elmere said:

Well she wouldn't be showing already if this only happened the past month or so, I would just get the vet to scan.

i agree, she doesn't look very pregnant, you wouldn't tell yet

[sarahp]

Maiden mares don't always bag up in advance following what the textbooks would say. The first maiden that foaled for me didn't, then foaled early and presented with perfect foal and udder full of milk only a few hours after being last checked. I've normally found that the softness of the hindquarter muscles is a better guide, but maidens don't always show that either!

[lisadundee]

One of my maiden went just over 12 months last year and didn't bag up at all, I got the vet to re examine her as I was convinced she wasn't in foal any more x

[wildnative]

Thanks lisadundee and sarahp.

That last photo was taken in October. I'll take more today.

I'm off down to see her now so will post again later. My YO is watching her like a hawk. She has bred horses for many, many years, so I trust her with my little girl. No calls or messages yet to say that Callie is looking like foaling. I'm wondering though with her coming from living "wild" on the New Forest, she might be trying to disguise the fact that she could foal at any time....you know, as a pony living in the wild would do ?

So, I'm on foal watch from now until baby arrives .

As a footnote, I was told that a pony at my ex yard foaled a few days ago......(poor thing, she's just a 12hh pony and the foal is most likely by the same colt as Callie's foal...).

[sarahp]

They can hold on to the foal if they aren't happy - the first one I bred was a week late while it poured with rain and then she had it in daylight on the first fine day.

[julie1967]

our mare showed no signs what so ever and we did not know when she was going to foal the only the only day i did not check her first she caught me out as i had sent my husband to turn her out while i was changing my other ponies rugs he come running out of her stables saying she has got a foal lol (lucky she waited til the weather warmed up a bit foal and mum both doing well) good luck and please let us know when the foal comes

[wildnative]

Got home just over an hour ago.
Callie is looking very well and was quite full of herself today. Not bargy or rude, but full of character and youthful playfulness...you know...a glint in her eyes, tossing her head cheekily as she trotted over to me in the field...FULL of confidence.
I took her in to give her a good check over. It's quite a long walk from her field to the yard, and she was SO keen that I had to put the rope around her nose because she wanted to walk faster than I was walking.

There is no udder forming at all yet, although she has a bit of swelling right in front of it. Her teats are still tiny little "maiden" ones. I spent a few minutes handling them, to help prepare her for her foal feeding.
Her quarters are rounded and firm, no softening around her tailhead or excessive relaxation of her tail muscles. Her vulva is normal and there is no discharge.
Her belly is more rounded now, but didn't look too much bigger than she did before. The foal must have been lying centrally inside her rather than to one side or the other, she looked fairly equal in size on both sides this time (foal was lying to her right the last time..she was huge on that side and almost "normal" on the other (does that make sense ?)).
The light wasn't good enough to take photos today. I took a couple but will take more tomorrow.
After checking her and giving her a brush over (she's still living out unrugged), giving her a tiny feed of "Healthy Hooves", I asked her (LOL !) " could Mum have a lift back to the field please ?" (She's unbroken, but I've sat on her once before while going back to her field).
I changed the headcollar for her dually, (I used a borrowed headcollar to bring her in, the YO had picked me up from my bus stop and took me straight to the field.), clipped a rope on either side, put a saddlecloth on her back..held on with an elasticated surcingle, walked her to the mounting block where she stood nicely while I got on, then calmly carried me back to her field which is a mile/mile and a half away from the yard. Let her go in the field, but she wanted to follow me around instead of going back to the other 2 horses. I actually had to jog across the field, while Callie trotted alongside tossing her head. I stopped...Callie stopped...I started jogging again...Callie trotted along beside me. When she broke into a slow canter and got slightly ahead of me, I took the opportunity to turn and walk the other way. If she had noticed, she would have followed me back to the gate again !

[poop]

I think she must still have a little while yet, I had one so huge I was convinced we would have a may foal ... she ended up foaling the end of June!
When she gets nearer her belly shape should change, it will get lower and further back. The other changes you mention should become noticeable and I also find they tend to get very tired and fed up towards the end. I watch my foaling mares on CCTV and you do start to feel sorry for them, they can be restless or miserable, I had one who didnt lie down at all for the last 10 days at night, but it must have been uncomfortable, she must have been knackered!

[wildnative]

I really hope so poop. I'd prefer a later foal than one born in January or February. March/April would be much better for Callie and the foal as the grazing will be more nutritious for them and the weather will hopefully be kinder by then. Callie is holding her condition very well, and it looks like she is having another growth spurt...she is slightly bum high again (will be 4yo on 22nd May). She certainly doesn't need any feeding at the moment, although I've started to give her a handful of healthy hooves with some mare, foal and youngstock supplement. YO is going to put a new salt/mineral lick out in the field where Callie is out with 2 older retired mares...one of which is around 30 years old. I guess it's just a matter of waiting for the foal to decide when he/she is ready to come out into the world.
When my vet scanned Callie in October, he said she was at least 5 months but more likely to be between 7 and 9 months in foal, based on what he felt internally and saw on the ultrasound scan. The foal was too far forwards and low down to see fully when he scanned her. He could see it moving, saw it's head and it's legs, but couldn't see it's whole body due to it's position at the time. IF she was 5 months when scanned in October, that gives an estimated April foal. 7 months would give an estimated February foal and 9 months...well...she would be ready to drop anytime from December onwards. But, she isn't showing any signs yet, and my YO (who is very knowledgeable and is an experienced breeder) said that she thinks Callie has at least another 3 - 4 weeks to go.
When I said a few posts ago that she was massive, that had come from my YO when she rang me to tell me that Callie had been moved to a field with better grazing. YO and her staff have been looking after Callie while I was very ill, this is the first time I've been down to see her for a few weeks. As soon as I saw Callie, I didn't think she was much bigger than before, when I last saw her.

[sarahp]

I'd agree with poop based on what you said about her shape. It's not unusual for some to swell in front of the udder like that, and my first thought when I read about her "rounded belly" was exactly what poop said about the shape changing later on.