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Lena's Foaling Thread

138K views 1K replies 90 participants last post by  Ladybug2001 
#1 ·
Well, five months into the pregnancy, I have decided from now on every month on the 14th (The date we are using as a guesstimation of when she was bred.) I will do an update.

I know five months is pretty early to start anything, but it will keep me busy for the next 6 months.

I don't expect a dozen replies until closer to the tenth month. Though at least this way everyone will know when we are closing in.

Just to catch a few people up on this long journey of mine---

I bought a rescue horse back in April, the people said she was probably about five months pregnant. She had been running with a stallion for a long time, had two foals nursing off of her, one wasn't hers the other was. Even after being taken from her abusive owner, the bank put the horses on some other person that kept the stallion with her.(And the other ten mares and yearlings.) When I bought her, I had the vet come out to do an ultrasound and she came up open at the time. Five months went past and things didn't seem right with her stomach, she had put on all the weight she needed and extra. The vet came out for a check-up, on her own said, "Either I missed a pregnancy or she is having a false pregnancy." She then did a palpation and said the uterus falls under the pelvic brim and repeated the words. Having a 50/50 answer, I bought a weefoal test for 120-300 days. It came out with a very strong positive, so here we go.

She is due to foal around December through March. Vet had said she was anywhere from 16-30 days pregnant at the first ultrasound and was why she couldn't see it. With the last palpation the vet put her anywhere from 5-8 months pregnant... Um, I have an amazing vet? (Doesn't specialize in Equine.) Anywho, so logic says 4-5 months pregnant.

So, today at "five" months pregnant.---

  • Continually picked on by the other mare, even though she is way bigger.
  • Just... fat and slow. Always has been.
  • About to move her and the other mare to a second pasture in hopes to grow some new grass.
  • Going to start renovating the lean-to into a makeshift weather-proof stall.
  • Vet should be coming out in September for a Rhino vaccination. (Said better late then early.)
Also, as we get closer to being due I would love for some people to make some guessing on the date, color, and sex of the foal.

A little info on both the parents.

Dam-
Registered name: Sickum Doc Olena
Color: Chestnut Tobiano
Birth: April of 1998

Sire-
Registered name: Pee Ridge Loudcloud
Color: Black and White Overo
Birth: 1998

This foal has a good chance of making it into the world. Not that I plan on selling him/her, but at least if I have to it will be registered and has some good lines going for it.

Also, name suggestions would be awesome. I'm obsessing a tiny bit, I have a word document started for keeping track of her pregnancy and putting down some name possibilities. I would love if I could find a name that merges both sire and dam together.

So, I suppose the next update will be in a month. :D
 
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#252 ·
UltraFlex® Foal Saver® in Foal Blankets at Schneider Saddlery

I have been hearing really goods things about these. I guess they are for right after they are born and they fit like a glove... not really a turnout though which is a bummer.
Kensington Foal Turnout Blanket - Horse.com

See, I need more of a turn out blanket. As, I will have a heater in the stall so the foal will be able to go in and out of the heat as it wishes. During the day Lena and the little one will be let out.

Question, anyone have any information on foal stealing? I'm kind of afraid that Ladybug is going to harrass Lena's foal into possibly stealing it away. Lena is to docile and submissive to do anything about it. Even though she is hands taller then Ladybug, she cowers away anytime Lady even steps close to her. Ladybug has been going off an on with a false pregnancy for two years now. I know I'm not letting her near the foal until it is about a month old, but I'm not getting any farther then that.. Any suggestions? I have a small paddock and then an open pasture.. Plan on putting Lady out in the large pasture during the day, and Lena and the foal in the small paddock. Though.. I am hoping that after a month and interaction through the fence, I'll be able to tell what all the reactions are. So any information on this would be helpful.
 
#253 ·
after a month, you shouldn't have too many problems of the baby being stolen. By then, the foal will know who mom is and where to find milk. Though the foal may hang out with the other mare, they are more of a playmate/babysitter at this point and mom gets a break. I would watch the first interactions of the mares to make sure all is well and there is no threat. Some baby hungry mares may "steal" a baby to have at their side, but allow the baby to return to mom for feedings. When we had a "theft" it occurred when the young first time mother was put back in with the herd after a week or so of being in a stall. It was also mare's own mother that "stole" her colt, but she always let him return to mom to nurse. He grew up happy, healthy, and unscathed from the experience.

But having that month apart should make a big difference since the other mare will be able to see the baby but not take it herself.
 
#254 ·
I had a gelding that stole a 1 month old filly! He would run off the mare and I had to separate them again. Eventually they got it all worked out but the filly was never at the mare's side, always with her "daddy". ;)
 
#255 ·
I've never really worried about a foal being stolen. Mostly because Ladybug is the dominant one. When she has her colt I has two geldings and another mare. I seperated her for a month, but I just let her and the colt go. None of the other horses dared to mess with him. He even jumped on the geldings and bit them and they just took it.
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#257 ·
Well, I was gonna have a new vulva picture to compare... but my phone being pretty dead when I took it, only took half a picture, so it is useless and I only realized it when I came inside. It seemed to me she was a little redder. Though her udder hasn't went anywhere. Last night, the baby was jumping around in there and I was only in for about 10 minutes. Tonight, I was out for maybe an hour and didn't move once. All about the same time, during feeding, so I don't know what its problem was. We have a big storm system coming in next week, rain for about three days and then some cold cold weather.

Just wanted to share a few pictures. These are three out of the four foals I trained at votech. All had never been handled until they came to the center. Though all left very well trained. Halter broke, lead broke, trailer broke, sacked out, use to water, trot on comand, round pen trained. For some reason I don't have a picture of my second foal.

Organism Terrestrial animal Interaction Horse Working animal


Human Vertebrate Halter Horse Working animal


Brown Vertebrate Horse Mammal Stable
 
#261 ·
^ If I knew your Dad I would. It's a shame when the kids know more than the parents but the parents won't listen.
Maybe your vet could talk some sense into him?
You would think that when Lena went through the same fence and got pretty badly cut up... that would have told him. They also didn't believe that I thought Ladybug made her go through it. I constantly see Lady chasing Lena around aggressively, so I make a point to keep them not in a small area like our small paddock so she doesn't go through it again. I have some pictures of when Lena went through it, it was pretty bad. They wouldn't let me call the vet then either, because her pastern was swollen, though thankfully vo-tech helped me know how to wrap a wound like that, and it went down the next day. I just keep Lena out of that area. I'm hoping once I get a job(if ever... would love a job on a ranch for anyone that lives in Oklahoma..) that when I move out I will be able to take them with me and board them near the college I will be going to.
 
#262 ·
Can you tell him that the baby will come out even worse if & when it tangles with that fence? It won't even have to be chased through, it can roll or lay under it, get a leg caught, all kinds of bad things. Babies don't know about fences.
Do you have any friends that could house your mare & foal her out safely?
I'm sorry you're in that situation.
 
#263 ·
Can you tell him that the baby will come out even worse if & when it tangles with that fence? It won't even have to be chased through, it can roll or lay under it, get a leg caught, all kinds of bad things. Babies don't know about fences.
Do you have any friends that could house your mare & foal her out safely?
I'm sorry you're in that situation.
Even if I did, I doubt they would let me. I unfortunatly know what a fence can do to a foal. A few years before I started votech they had two foals trying to play over a fence in two seperate paddocks, one ended up going down on the fence and the post went straight through it, killing it. I'm hoping to get them down to our other property not long after the foal is born, much safer fence for a foal to be around. They just have to be here because of the weather and this barn is closer to our house. Just hoping it will be okay.. I know it is a bad situation for me to put the foal around, but if I had the ability to override my parents, things would be a lot different around here.
 
#264 ·
Lol ya haha i was just going to say that! oops! Ya by the looks of it Lena and Jokers previous owner that Carlton Mitchell guy is still their owner on official APHA record. You knew Lena hadnt been transferred, but I guess Joker wasnt either! The aggravating thing is APHA doesn't get involved in situations like this usually they consider it a civil dispute and encourage you to take it to court. They cant call him up and make him send them you know? Jokers new owners whoever they may be might be in the same situation you are.... cant get his papers from the Mitchell guy. Does that name sound familiar? Carlton Mitchell?
 
#265 ·
Yeah, that is the guy they were repoed from. Supposively, according to the people that the bank put them on, he surrendered on the papers to the bank, who are supposed to have them. When I called, I think he couldn't find them at the moment as was going to mail then when he did. I don't think we ever got it. So I will make it a note to call him tomorrow. While you are running around on APHA I urge you to take a look at Lena's sire, he is beautiful, extremely stunning.
 
#281 ·
Believe it or not, I found her on an ad on craigslist. I drove an hour and half down south to meet her with my parents, loved her at first sight. Parents decided they would buy her and paid for her in advance. We drove all the way back home and got the trailer, then another hour and a half drive back down to pick her up. Took about half an to get her in the trailer. While we were there, other horses were going to. Infact, the lady who was rehoming them saw me and was like, "Don't worry, they aren't here for that mare you want". So, while we were getting her in the trailer, another woman came over to give us a hand. We all more or less just had to shove her into the trailer. After we got her in and locked the doors, the other lady that had helped us walked over and was like, "I was hoping y'all would give up on her so I could add her to my broodmare herd". I'm kinda happy we didn't give up, 'cause she needs a better life then just being pregnant all the time. It already does a number on her. Her pasterns can hardly hold the weight, which is why she lays down an extreme amout plus the discomfort of the fetus its self. When she was first rescued she had extremely bad diarrhea. By the time I got her, it was still bad but not as bad as it was as I heard. I got it gone for a while, with some help from my vet and the right diet. Now I see it is starting to come back with a vengence...

I've thought of making a video of all those pictures in a timeline, though I'm not sure how to put music on a video that I don't have.. if that makes sense. I don't have anything on my computer but what it came with, which is all weird music.
 
#286 ·
Depending on what kind of music you like I thought this song was really pretty! Im using it in mine but it could definately fit Lenas story too!
Janelle - Amazing with lyrics - YouTube
Don't really want to use the same as you. For a minute I thought about Here I am, by Bryan Adams but it is extremely over used for horse videos.

Oh.. and for the pictures on Lena's page... I have a ton more on my own facebook. xD
 
#289 ·
Please, at least cap the T-posts.
I can't believe your parents went through all that trouble to get you the horse then they willingly surround it & it's baby to a known danger. Don't they see how your joy & love can easily turn into the biggest heartbreak of your life? If they can afford training & showing surely a horse safe fence......:? I don't know if they are ignorant, cheap or just plain stupid but I wish you luck with your horses.
 
#293 ·
Mid-America Technology Center. I'm only a first year, so if she use to go I probably don't know her. One of my instructors might if she went to the votech center in Wayne.

Today we teased some mares with our teasing stallion... I got the pleasure of dealing with the only mare that was not going to deal with the stallion anywhere near her. The other three were all coming into heat, one was fully in heat. Mine... no where close. Lol.
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#294 ·
Well... Lena's is starting to produce a little honeyish colored fluid now... Getting there. Use to be completely clear.

Tonight she seems a little different then usual. Laying down, up, down. Rolled over on her side, breathing heavily. No other signs that I seen earlier that I seen though.. She is a confusing mare.
 
#295 ·
If you don't have a problem with tasting the milk you can get a few drops on your clean fingers and taste it usually it will go from salty, to bland, to sweet, when it's sweet, sticky and looks like 2% milk with little globs of white stuff in it, she should foal with in 24 hours. It can go between salty and bland several times, before it goes sweet. That's how I tell.
 
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