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Sunshines foaling * Update * He is Here *

108K views 1K replies 89 participants last post by  KyMoMoF3CuTiEs 
#1 ·
So, I am a little nervous, excited, and well I am just unsure of how to handle myself. We bought a great mare today!! Perfect for my kids, she just happens to be bred. Looks to be about ready to pop. I checked when I got her home and she has no waxing and looks to be closed up so I don't think it will be in the near like week or so. Just wanted to kinda keep up with what is going on and maybe have some people to back me up and give me as much knowledge as I can take in. I have raised several foals so this aint the first but, still a nervous situation.
So.... this is what I know she is a 12 year old QH around 14.5 hh. The studs got in the pasture with her 2 times, the owner was unsure of which stud she is bred by. So, today starts the foal watching and waiting. Please join me for support!
 
#39 ·
Well, I have had a close eye on my mare today because she has been stand-off-ish and acting funny. Shes not that swollen. Her tail is held up and kind of crooked. Shes is a little bigger bagged today but, not leaking or waxing. Its freezing rain/ sleet here for next two days :( Not a great picture of her bag but, she is acting crazy around flashes so I couldn't use my camera. She is really being funny today.
 

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#41 ·
Yep, if she's maiden, throw the rule book out the window. She could wax, she could not wax, she could bag up or NOT, she could get mushy in the back end, she could stay pretty firm, she could ......well, you get the picture. With maidens, I've been able to get realllly close to when they'll go, and still missed it by minutes to hours. One mare, I had in the barn on camera and watched her the first night and she wasn't the least bit interested in foaling. I fell asleep at 5 am and woke up a 7:30 am and guess what was staring into the camer? Yep, a BABY. Then I had another maiden, in the barn on the camera and the power went out for 10 mins. I walked out to check on her, because that's a guaranteed way to get them to foal, and guess what was already standing when I got to the barn? And the barn isn't even a football field away from my house. Yep, another BABY! LOL! So, I'd put her on every 2-3 hr checks from now on, until you get a 'gut' feeling.
 
#43 ·
You know, 12 isn't all that old and these mares have been dropping foals for thousands of years without our help. Thank God! But I understand your concern, it's always scary when you're not sure what to expect. I would just start setting an alarm for about every 3 hrs during the day and then the same at night for a day or 2 and see how she's progressing. If you get really worried you can always check sooner, but at least this way you get some sleep. I've kind of perfected the art of sleeping in the recliner and just waking up enough to check the monitor real quick and then go right back to sleep. Until I think we're at THE DAY, then it's 24 hrs on vigil.
 
#47 ·
LOL! Oh yeah, and here's the BEST sneaky mare story I've got. Last year my experienced broodie, KB, was going to foal that night. I knew it like I know where I live. So, I put her out in the yard between the big barn and the little foaling barn so I could clean her stall and re-bed it with straw, and didn't realize my husband was bringing in the stallions. He left the gate open and KB shot out threw that gate into the stallion pasture like she was shot from a cannon. It was snowy and muddy and ugly out, and what did she do? Laid down and dropped that foal in a mud puddle and was back on her feet like nothing happened the minute he hit the ground. SNEAKY HEFFAH! Didn't want an audience so she went to EXTREMES! :lol:

Mom and foal were fine!
 
#46 ·
Yeah, 12 isn't so bad. My mare was 17 when she had Lilly. And similar to these other stories, I too missed the birth! I was a teenager and was out constantly, every night, checking on that mare. A friend of mine living in the city invited me over for the weekend. My thought was "Sure, why not. It's not like she's EVER going to drop that foal" and of course, it was THAT weekend, she decided to foal! The only consolation I had was that everyone missed it. My parents looked out the window and there was a foal standing outside.
 
#49 ·
I have a 12 year old maiden due anytime now. 12 really isnt that old. My vet said 14/15 would be pushing it for a maiden. But my mare had a full exam before i made the decision to breed her.

She's been handling pregnancy well. 321 days today!
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#50 ·
Subbing!!

I bred a mare to foal at 14 maiden at due date.
Had her on watch for a week, myself and my neighbor who was super excited traded days. It was my night, I knew she was about to pop, fully bagged and streaming milk. I was going out every 30 mins to check when it started pouring rain. Went in, watched half a movie and ate a pizza... Guess what was standing next to her when I went back out? Yeah, I was only gone for 30 mins!!! I bet she dropped her the second I turned around to walk to the house!!! Had a healthy beautiful filly!

Hang in there!!
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#51 ·
Im actually so glad to hear all these stories!!! Im afraid to go to work right now because my maiden mare has started to bag up....Im going out once an hour while im home and she just looks at me like im a retard....a retard with treats...lol I know I will prob miss it....but I really dont want to....and Im soooo worried that something will go wrong...Ive got the foaling kit ready..etc etc...ughhhhhhhhhh lol
 
#52 ·
So, me and hubby was talking. He said it would be better to let her foal in the field. So we shut the back gate to where its about 2 acres up here right by the house and let her out. He said once she foals then place her in the stall. What do you think? He thinks she will be more relaxed and comforted out because she is new to here and thinks it is just a better idea. I can check her with a flash light from my porch through the night this way. Where are you all's mares?
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#53 ·
For my mom's horses, she has several paddocks with large, 3 sided shelters. She opens up the paddock's gate to the pasture during the day and shuts them into the paddock at night. This way she does not stumble around in the dark searching for the expectant mares all over a 10 acre pasture that is anything but flat ground :lol:

Letting her out in the pasture during the day and stalling her at night is the easier method for frequent checks and allows her to move around to get some exercise during the day. Same thing my sister did with that 18 yr old maiden I mentioned earlier. Easy to check on her at night while in a stall but foaled out in the large paddock with her own dam as her midwife while my sister had left for work because she thought the mare was still holding out :lol:
 
#54 ·
I have a 75 X 125 yard for daytime and then at night they go into their foaling stall. I have a camera hooked up that transmits to my t.v., so I can watch tv and switch over to the monitor mode if I want or I can just watch the monitor. We let her out in the yard during the day with hay and water, if it's nice, and at night we put her in. I keep the same routine until the foal is old enough to go out to pasture with the other horses, then I introduce them back into the herd until it's time to wean the foal.
 
#55 ·
It is so cold out today, snow and icey. Wet and goopy! I went out in the field to check on Sunshine because she is laying and looking at her back end, she got up and came to me but didn't want me to love on her as usual. Her tail raises a little and she blows. Is she having contractions? I didn't want to bother her to much as I did not want to pause labor, keeping a eye on her but, what do I do just run out and wipe baby with a towel and move them if she has it? We have never really had foals when its been this cold.
 
#57 ·
If it's snowy and icey and goopy out, unless you want to deal with foal pneumonia and $1000 vet bill, I'd move her into a warm stall now. Once baby is delivered, and has stood and nursed, you can wipe with a towel to dry him. Vets recommend you allow the foal to shiver for a while because that helps clear their lungs of any meconium or aminiotic fluid that's in there. Once the baby has stood and nursed, you can put a foal blanket on him and he'll stay nice and warm. In nasty weather I don't let them out until it clears up.

It does sound as though your mare may be in the early stages of labor, I'd move her now.
 
#58 ·
I got her up. She didn't want any part of it and is pacing. She was kinda rude. :( Didn't want me to touch her. All I got was a picture of her belly, it looks to be in a small v from away but up real close not so much. Also it looks as though the movement of the foal is very minimal but, her stomach tightens and she blows. I set and watched her from away for about an hour. Ugh! She's probably just laughing at me and saying ha she is gonna have a sleepless night. Load picture of belly when I get in.
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#61 ·
So, not sure if it will be tonight or not. But, her bag is getting bigger. She has started rubbing her back end on boards of the stall wall. So what am I going to name the baby?!?! Throw some names my way. Mother is sorrel/chestnut. Daddy is possible dark bay Arabian.
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