Pregnant Mare, Help!

OK this is my new mare Mariah, well actually bought her for my husband, she is 15yrs. Old. I brought her over to my house last june to use her as a companion for my horse until I got another. Her owner did not want to breed her to the stallion she had over there. She decided she needed to downgrade and offered to sell me the mare, since my husband roder her all the time and they get on fine, so I bought her in oct. (well making payments). She has lately been getting fat and I put her on a diet, my mare slimmed down nicely but Mariah continues to grow.

I had the vet out yesterday and he confirmed she was pregnant, but my friend refuses to believe since she had to be held the other 2 times she was bred that she wouldn't have stood for her stallion. She had them running together for 2-3 weeks. Anyways the vet said he can't feel the baby so it is small for the time frame, but the stallion is much smaller than the mare, she's 14.2 & he's barely 14 if at all.

I was just wondering what now, her former owner said to cut back food so baby won't get too big, vet said I'm doing great on feed but didn't say if I should up food, forgot a hundred questions. I feed her 3/4 scoop of 2 parts pellet 1 part sweet feed in morn & eve, give her fresh fruit (2 handfulls of baby carrots, grapes and apples cut up, sometimes melons, yes she's spoiled)in afternoon plus 2 slivers hay in morn & eve. Also how will I know when she is ready to go into labor, I've bred dogs and cats, but horses are new, I hadn't planned on breeding either mare.

Also she is grey and stallion is black and she threw 2 greys before, any idea on what she might throw, her mom was bay & sire was grey. Ebony I know is sire was black but not sure if mother was bay or black. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. Sorry so long, the 1st pic was taken today, 2nd was a week ago (when I called vet), 3rd is when I bought her and 4th is stallion, Ebony.

How did the vet confirm the pregnancy if he couldn't feel the foal? Maybe one of the more experience breeders could fill me in? BTW, I am not questioning the vet's confirmation, just wondering what else he saw.

To be honest, I would give the vet a call and ask your questions. They are generally in it for the welfare of animals, and just like doctors, usually happy to help out with any questions you have.

And your friend is naive if she really believes that a stallion and mare running together would not have gotten it on. I would also discard her advice about cutting down food - the general idea is that a foal will be the right size for the mare with the rare exception. Even foals that are hugely bigger than their dam at maturity are generally small enough at birth.

He did a palpitate(think I spelled it right), he said something on the lines of the left horn was clear but the right was blocked. He said he thinks foal is smaller than the date we think she bred, with a small male will it make a difference? I didn't make it home( work) until after the exam, but hubby was there, he's never seen someone stick their hand inside a horse. I've seen and have had my arm in a cow butt but not a horse either, obviously the are very strong and can clamp down quite hard.

You're right I'll have to call for his number he was filling in for regular vet. I have been reading up on this stuff but there is way too much info, and some conflicting.

That's what I told her about the stallion, she has bred before and maybe running with him made her relax, instead of showing up with a strange stallion to breed with. She really is a sweet girl, but has a temper right now and wants nothing to do with any of us including her pal Kalila, have already had to patch up her leg from well placed kick.

Hi, I'm not a big time breeder but have been through it a few times now. Advice I've had in terms of body weight is to play a balancing act. Too fat can cause issues at birth (have lost foal where this was a contributing factor) while too thin can cause several other issues. What I aim for is a nicely covered making sure the thighs aren't too chubby lol. As for foaling signs, I found this website Foalingsigns very helpful, although my girl the first time didn't play by the rules. Hope this helps

She looks preggers in your picture. The stallion is very pretty. Check the internet for articles on foaling. There are some good books out there too. Blessed are the Broodmares is a good one. My mare was generally sweet but when she first got pregnant she was a horror for a few months.

Thanks, have been googling everything I can think of, I only have 2 months if that for prep. Bought her as a retired horse for trail and end up a midwife, scary, never planned to ever breed. And yes she is turning grouchy( understatement) my mare is hiding behind me, great. Now I know why we were having issues with her being mean to my hubby( his horse), whom she normally loves, thought it was disrespect, just hormone, she's nasty to me now n she normally wouldn't go there I'm boss here. I'm playing it by ear and have my feed store guy helping me, he's awesome, looking out for my girl, that's why I don't go elsewhere, I call him he finds it! Thanks, I guess I'll handle it ok!

The only thing I could think of as far as diet was the amount of hay. Most of the horses around here get 1/2 a bale (3-4 flakes) every am and pm..

Other than that. How exciting, sometimes those unexpected surprises are the best! (I speak from experience.. )

Hey, not to question you, but I'm confused so I thought I would ask. On the one hand, the foal is so small the vet can't feel it, right? But on the other hand, she does look like the foal is big enough to be showing in her belly and you say you only have a couple months of preparation to get ready for it.

So how far along does the vet think she is? They carry for about 11 months.

I have only had one foal so far myself, so maybe I'm just confused.

As a side note, the vet missed my foal the first time he palpated (and the foal would have been about 3 months along) and then when my mare kept growing a belly even though she was getting exercise, I asked him to palpate again, and viola, this time he pronounced her pregnant. So sometimes I guess they can be missed if they are small enough.

Anyway, best of luck with your mare/foal.

Thanks all, I really appreciate all the info, The vet had a hard time feeling for the foal, wasn't sure it was as far along, but it had to be in the june time frame, that was when she was with the stallion. I really don't know what is wha,t I bought a horse for my hubby to ride and ended up with a pregnant horse. I'm hoping that the baby isn't small cause my friend, who used to own her had me put her on a half diet cause I was supposedly over feeding her. She still don't think she's pregnant. Also says she's a hard keeper regularly, yet I keep her at a perfect weight per my vet, guess you use good feed,it works. The stallion is smaller, does that make a difference, the old owner said she carries larger and cut her feed in half, I refuse to starve her. Thanks all I will look into the site foalingsigns.

May not be my place, but your friend does not seem very helpful.

On the other hand, good luck with your mare and baby!