Hello! I rescue horses on occasion. This sweet little pony captured my heart as soon as I saw her. She is currently on a feedlot but I have a shipper bringing her to me today. My plans for her arrival are to quarantine her, farrier visit, vet palpation, supplements both for gestating mares as well as for gaining weight, free fed alfalfa/grass hay, and get her up to date on deworming and shots. What I was wondering though, is what is the probability that both her and her foal will be okay? When I talked to the feedlot they said she looked like she had two to three months left. I'll take pictures and upload them as soon as she gets here but I've never rescued a heavily pregnant mare before. I dont know her condition as I just have one head shot they sent me. But I feel like if she's on a feedlot she probably hasn't had the proper care for a pregnant horse. What toll is that going to take on her and her baby? Anyway, thanks for reading through my rambling. I'll try and keep this thread pretty updated as I know pregnancy threads are addictive.
I've seen plenty of pregnant feedlot mares have healthy and strong foals. As long as both her and the foal get plenty to eat, they should be OK. Just be sure she doesn't get fescue grass. Is she underweight? if so, how much?
Good luck! and I can't wait to see pictures of this girl!
The shipper just let me know that due to unexpected issues, my pony will be here tomorrow night or Thursday morning at the latest. It's a little bit frustrating just because I'll be leaving town for five days on Thursday. My family will still be here to take care of her but I won't be able to spend much time with her or get her an ultrasound or any vet care for that matter until after I'm back. Minor setback. We're just hoping she isn't too heavy and won't drop her goal while I'm gone. I'll still try and get pictures when she arrives. She didn't look super skinny from the one picture I was sent but it wasn't a great picture so I guess I'll just have to see.
Not sure why they wouldn't be ok, esp if mare is at a decent weight? I'm not sure what you are looking at for supplements but a quality feed designed for mares in foal would be your best bet to achieve those goals.
Starting with the vet is the best plan and it sounds like that's what you're doing so I wouldn't be too worried about the rest.
Sorry for the delay! Her ultrasound went well..she is estimated to be 9-10 months along. She is very scared of people but we are working on that. I can now catch her after a bit of work. She will let me scratch her neck and we are trying to work on belly scratches.
Finally have progress! She has wax on her teats. Foal was kicking a lot today and movement could be seen near her tail. Her butt is very jello like as well. How long do you guys think?
Need some full body shots, both from the sides, and head on and tail on. From what you've posted I'd hesitate to take a guess. I suppose it's too much to hope that you'd have been told if she's ever foaled before? Any history at all?
OK! Those are much better, though why the are loading sideways is beyond me. From the front and rear, she's still looking very pregnant side to side, so she hasn't dropped much yet. Though in the side pics, she is dropping, it doesn't look like the foal has moved itself into position yet. And of course, it can all change in minutes. What color are the wax plugs on her teats? I'm looking for clear, light honey, dark honey, white or creamy. Is the inside of her vulva a bright red yet? And can she lift her own tail still? (That last one is very unreliable, some mares never lose control of their tails, but some lose it completely. Others it's varying degrees of lax rather than resistant when you want to lift it.)
The drops of wax were a off white. I got her to let me touch them once and nothing came out when I milked her. She's still fairly nervous around people but I got close enough to her butt to take that picture. I'll see if I can get her to let me see what her vulva looks like.
Sounds like she hasn't 'let down' yet, she should make a bag when she's really close (assuming she's not maiden). Don't get kicked trying to look at things she's not comfortable with, I forgot you mentioned she's off a feed lot and probably not real good with being handled.
Yeah, when I first got her she was very very scared of people. I can now catch and lead her, load, scratch her head, neck, belly, and bum without a rodeo. I got her to let me handle her udder for the first time yesterday as well as lift the tail. We are working on it. She's acting really restless today. When she's standing she will shift her weight and look at her belly every once in a while and then she'll walk for a bit and stop to do it again.
Sounds like what I call Baby Playing Tarzan on her rib cage. The foal is very active a little before the end, could be hours, days, weeks, trying to move into position. Once it's all settled and good to go, then things settle down a bit until she enters the first stage of labor. That may only be marked by her looking at and/or biting her belly and sweating. Especially if you see her sweating on a cooler/cold day, get your catcher's mitt out and put her in the stall, if you're going to use a foaling stall.
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