Lea my pregnant horse-Update:she foaled

[Rafter 7 Paint Horses]

I don't have any pictures of any of the mares while pregnant, but she looks like a normal mom to be.

Jean

 

[Keisha]

Ok sounds good.
Right now it looks like shes doing something suspicious, she cant see me looking at her which is a good thing, maybe today will be the day!

 

[Suisan]

She does not look bigger than normal at all in that picture.

Rather than looking at the belly to see if the baby's moved up into the canal, check her hips and the dock of her tail. On some mares the dock of the tail will become more pronounced a week before birth, and on older mares you'll sometimes see a slight (and it should only be slight) hollow on the tail side of the hip bone just before birth.

Mares can drip colostrum during their entire last month. Has she waxed up yet? I find that to be more helpful.

Again, on what date was she bred? What is her gestation day as of today? And do you know on what gestation day she gave birth previously?

Those are the best indicators of when she'll give birth.

 

[bamadominaker]

All these things i am learning from the horse lovers here makes me defintely not want one. Between sheath cleaning and prgenancy, I just don't think I could handle it. I am happy ofr you. Hope you get you new baby soon.

 

[arlee453]

Come on little baby!!

 

[Suisan]

Quote:
Well, you can own a mare and never have to clean a sheath, and you can CERTAINLY own a mare and never breed her. Or, you can own a gelding and pay someone else $20 to clean a sheath. I used to spend my summers as a teenager going from barn to barn braiding manes, grooming tails, and cleaning sheaths.

It was a good way to earn spendy money.

Owning horses is a lot more about keeping them healthy and sound than it is about worrying on reproductive tract stuff.

 

[Keisha]

She does not look bigger than normal at all in that picture.

Rather than looking at the belly to see if the baby's moved up into the canal, check her hips and the dock of her tail. On some mares the dock of the tail will become more pronounced a week before birth, and on older mares you'll sometimes see a slight (and it should only be slight) hollow on the tail side of the hip bone just before birth.

Mares can drip colostrum during their entire last month. Has she waxed up yet? I find that to be more helpful.

Again, on what date was she bred? What is her gestation day as of today? And do you know on what gestation day she gave birth previously?

Those are the best indicators of when she'll give birth.

Sorry, I completly read over your questions earlier.
Yea shes got the hollow on both sides of the tail also. She hasnt waxed up.
She was bred on 5/20/07. I havent actually counted what day she is. I was told to take her date when she was bred minus 25 days. So that would bring her to be due the 25 of aprill. And I dont know what gestation day she gave birth on previousely I called the previous owners number and it was not in service.

By the way what is a sheath? A stall?

Oh and no baby today, Ill be gone all day tomorrow at a cancer walk, so maybe she'll realize since im gone it would be a good time..​

 

[Suisan]

Quote:
Well, that's never a good sign. The phone being out of service I mean. So as of right now she's three days over due? You may have as long as another two weeks of waiting. Depends on what her previous pregnancies were like. You only have one date for breeding? Most stallions service the mare over a week-long period every other day, or the mare is turned out with him. Odd that they'd only give you one date. Unless it was an accidental breeding.

I see that your vet knows that she's pregnant -- good job. Good that you're not unprepared.
Have you made arrangements with your vet to come check the baby's vitals and placenta as soon as s/he's born?
Get this lined up now. Even a square inch of retained placenta can result in the death of the mare and the eventual death of the foal.

By the way what is a sheath? A stall?

You have no idea how much that question scares me.

You have a pregnant animal in your care, you have no knowledge of her previous deliveries, whether they went smoothly or not, and you're not sure what a sheath is? I grew up on a horse farm, and I know that people come into this with all levels of knowledge (as I certainly do when it comes to chickens -- I'm still learning a lot), and it seems like you are quite young, but I'm going to be fairly direct with you.

You need to read, read, read, read and read some more about horses. Seriously. Did you buy the mare pregnant? What are your plans for the baby? Are you going to train him/her yourself? Are you going to keep him/her? Or at what age are you going to sell him/her? We started our horses at about age four, in light ground work, and then turned them back out again until they were five or even six to make sure their muscles and bones were completely developed. That's a LOT of non-working time where the horse is just eating through your wallet and drinking up lots of water. Are you and you family prepared for this?

To answer the question, the sheath is the area the horse's penis tucks up into. When you look at a stallion or a gelding, there's a pointed flap of flesh at the end of his stomach near the hind legs. The penis pulls up inside there. The inner area gets covered (mostly on geldings) with a layer of smegma and sometimes dust/dirt/shavings, so it's a good idea to flush everything out from time to time and check over his penis. Stallions don't need sheath cleanings as much as the tend to "drop" on their own, which causes the smegma to come off on its own.

Good luck with your mare and baby.

If you don't get around to answering all the questions, of course that's fine, and I'm sorry if I come off as harsh, but I'm concerned that you'll not be able to notice if she takes a dive. It's so important to get that vet/client relationship dialed in when you're dealing with mares and babies.



Edited to add: I realized that Keisha had already spoken to her vet, and had to edit comment​

 

[Keisha]

Well, that's never a good sign. The phone being out of service I mean. So as of right now she's three days over due? You may have as long as another two weeks of waiting. Depends on what her previous pregnancies were like. You only have one date for breeding? Most stallions service the mare over a week-long period every other day, or the mare is turned out with him. Odd that they'd only give you one date. Unless it was an accidental breeding.

My guess would be that they moved... Or got cell phones, alot of people in our area are getting rid of land line phones. She was with him for 1 week the 20th being the first day, sorry if I didnt explain that. So she could definitly have a while to go..

I see that your vet knows that she's pregnant -- good job. Good that you're not unprepared.
Have you made arrangements with your vet to come check the baby's vitals and placenta as soon as s/he's born?
Get this lined up now. Even a square inch of retained placenta can result in the death of the mare and the eventual death of the foal.

Yea we keep in touch with him and call him every couple weeks to let him know whats going on. He'll be coming out after she has the baby also.

You need to read, read, read, read and read some more about horses. Seriously. Did you buy the mare pregnant? What are your plans for the baby? Are you going to train him/her yourself? Are you going to keep him/her? Or at what age are you going to sell him/her? We started our horses at about age four, in light ground work, and then turned them back out again until they were five or even six to make sure their muscles and bones were completely developed. That's a LOT of non-working time where the horse is just eating through your wallet and drinking up lots of water. Are you and you family prepared for this?

We have a trainer lined up that will train the foal when its time. Hes also going to give my other horse a refresher course to make sure everything is ok with him. Hes the same man that does the hoof trimming for us. We're going to keep the foal, and don't ever plan on selling him/her. When we got horses we never intended to make a profit on them at all.

To answer the question, the sheath is the area the horse's penis tucks up into. When you look at a stallion or a gelding, there's a pointed flap of flesh at the end of his stomach near the hind legs. The penis pulls up inside there. The inner area gets covered (mostly on geldings) with a layer of smegma and sometimes dust/dirt/shavings, so it's a good idea to flush everything out from time to time and check over his penis. Stallions don't need sheath cleanings as much as the tend to "drop" on their own, which causes the smegma to come off on its own.

Oh Duh .

You have no idea how stupid i feel now. Im sorry I wasnt thinking along those lines. I thought it was one of those times where its something that we use a different term for in Iowa... Apparently not

. Sorry I was not thinking...​

 

[goatkeepers]

Well, I hope your mare will have a safe foaling!!

Can't wait to see pics. I'd be jumping out of my skin, I'd be so excited.