Pregnant mares! ***NO STUD*** Picture Heavy!

Now to start off *these are not my horses or of my breeding but the horses at the ranch where I board my horses* please keep rude remarks out. It is merely to show that I have taken note of there horses and that I am trying, without the support of the barn owner (who also refuses to give me the other boarders numbers to notify them), to take care of them.

Over the last couple months a few mares that I have been working closely with had become 'well rounded' at first I put it off as having been do to eating the tall flood-irrigated grass and not being worked as for a time I was unable to do much with them. Recently, when I was able to go out again for the first time in nearly a month for more then 5 minutes, I noticed that it was more then grass and that their utters were even swollen, so I know they are WELL into gestation. I have checked most of the mares but two you are not able to get near enough to do a full check and one of those I am almost sure is and is looking excessively wide for one foal.

Two other mares that are out there were expected and one has already dropped (dont worry I have foal pics!) and the other is waxing.

I know that several of the mares in question are registered. The BO refuses to get any of them vet checked and hasn't let any boarders know whats going on. So I am letting them know as I see them.

Rosie shortly after I first started keeping my gelding there.


Rosie a couple of days ago


Rosie's utters


Rosie is the only one I have 'before and after' shots of. She is a registered racing breed paint with remarkable papers going back to Easy Jet, Man of War, and Top Deck to name a few.

Blue Eye/Monroe



Two Socks (I can not remember her real name) is the one who was brought onto the property in foal and is waxing.


I don't know this ones name so we just call her Oreo or Oreo Horse. The owner got the horse when her father passed and never goes out to see the horses and has never ridden the horse even though someone broke her for free so that the woman could. <boarders horse>


Oreo's utters


Star <boarders horse> Star was a rescue, nearly dead at two for lack of care. She has now found a home with a nice gentleman, who happens to be gay, that loves her dearly and did all of her training. Although he is experienced with horses and goes out there often I sort of doubt he could tell the difference in a pregnant mare for any other. And if I remember correctly she is also papered.


Star's utters



Now I admit that I might be seeing more then is there but I am not the only one that thinks at least most of these mares are pregnant. I have been watching them and there is no doubt in my mind that this is more then pasture fat.

And the Newest addition to the herd!!!! This is Classy and her new baby colt who is about three weeks old now!

None of the udders look "full". Go compare them to the nursing mare's udders. You will see a marked difference in size and shape.

All three mares look incredibly obese. So yes, it could just be fat. Easily. The before and after pic shows a mare that has gained a lot of weight ALL OVER. I would be more worried about how morbidly obese they are than if they could have immaculately conceived.

The pasture is horrible. So much potential for injury.

I also find it horrible how you feel you have to point out the owner's sexuality. If they were straight you wouldn't feel that need, so why does it matter? What impact does that have on the question, or on the horse in general? Bigotry lives while we give it breath.

The udders don't look full but by glancing at the mares I would have suspected the same. Their bellies are huge! They look like my pregnant mare. I like Oreo. I will take her is her owner does not want her! Thanks!!!
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The reason I mention is orientation at all is because with him it makes him extremely uncomfortable talking about anything female. He tries to block out anything having to do with a woman's anatomy hence the not being sure he would have noticed. I find there is NOTHING wrong with being gay and that the wrongness comes from those who think it bad to speak of it.

I have check the utters against the other mare that is KNOWN to be pregnant and I NEVER said that they are getting ready to drop or that their utters were full just that there were SWOLLEN and more so then they had been when I first got there. These mares are also kept with a gelding which I believe and the old trainer believes to be proud cut so it is not how they could have "immaculately conceived"

This post is not thrown out there on pure hope it is an educated (maybe less educated then some but I have worked for vet at a breeding farm) observation. Also nursing utters are far different from the utters of a maiden mare which most of these would be. I am also mostly posting this at the absurdity that the gentleman who owns the property refuses to get them vet checked when I am not the only one who is seeing this. The fact that one mare stuck her legs through a fence and was let to sit out there while the flies got to her cuts and they got infected is enough to turn my stomach.

As for the pasture....it is not my property! They only just opened that pasture up so that they can get to the other side of the property and rarely have I seen the horses up with the cars, this being maybe the 3 time I have seen them there. It is also not the ONLY pasture they have access to. And no I do not favor the conditions but it was better then the horses getting turned out on the highway.

And yes I realize I misspelled udders 100 times it just wasnt clicking with me....lol dyslexia is the worst.

I agree with the udders, not too full yet. I also was wondering why you pointed out the owners sexuality but you cleared that up.
Im not sure but to me these horses just look a bit overweight. Not saying that they aren't in foal, they may as well could be. We don't know that. It would be great to get the vet out if you are unsure...The thing that turns me off being possibly pregnant is the udders. Also, how long is the gap of time between Rosie's before and after photos??
On a side note, they are all very gorgeous horses! I especially like the two coloured ones but im biased

They barely even look swollen. A little fluctuation in size is normal from season to season, just like in humans. Breast tissue is affected by hormones without pregnancy. Horses can have a slight swelling when on season, coming up to season or when coming off season. Just like humans do when coming up to menses.

No one here can tell you the mares are definitely pregnant or definitely not. That's the domain of a vet. You have done your best to let the owners know your theory. That's all you can do. Starting a post here isn't going to change that. The only other advice anyone can give you is to call animal control or the SPCA. Neither body will do anything (although that sort of obesity should be just as criminal as starving a horse IMO).

I understand that the pasture is not yours, and you do not maintain it. If I were a horse owner, I would not be boarding there, but I guess that is personal preference. I know how accident prone horses can be, so I would make the choice to remove as much potential for accident as possible. However, that doesn't have any bearing on this thread.

Just like being gay doesn't. If he is really so uptight about female animals (which somehow I doubt, given he owns one) then he is being deliberately neglectful and should be reported.

Cute foal, and wow a lot of potentially pregnant mares...

I am scared out of my mind with all the horses out near farm equipment and junk all around :(

It's also nerving that the BO isn't letting the boarders know!! What the heck!

Three months between Rosie's pictures however to also point out Star is well worked he takes her off property every Monday he can and off on some new adventure 2 - 3 times per month and he has even said that she is getting unrealistically wide. To also make a note the new mare that is in the pasture (the big bay behind Star) does not have the same swell in front of the tits and neither does the mare kept separate from the heard because of a medical condition which is the main reason the udders pricked my interest. I also know for a fact that Rosie did not have those swells in the first picture because I had just finished working her and gave her a brush down and made she that she hadnt gotten any cut, as I do before I tack her up.

The simple point is that no one out there is watching the mares. The one dropped her colt in the pasture and was found a couple days later, he still has his belly button and hasnt been checked at all but he is a boarders horse. The other one that is known to be bred looks more heavy then I would expect from a mare her size. No one is watching and no one has supplies in case the mares need help.

Wow that's interesting...

Maybe the vet needs to be called to give an expert opinion on these mares. I don't know what can be done to get them more care. Others have said ring authorities, maybe that can be done.