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  Discussion on NEED SOME EXTRA CROSSED FINGERS AND TOES
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Member:
Srobert

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 27, 2005 - 4:27 pm:

I have been watching the "new baby" threads with great interest and delighted with all the happy news. Now, I find that I need the special brand of HA family support myself! Here's the story.

We have a gorgeous "old stock" morgan mare who really should have been bred several years ago, but there were lots of other horsey things to deal with. Plus, I couldn't seem to find the right "gentleman." Until this spring when I met the most gorgeous Andelusian stud - WOW! It took some doing, but we finally got mare and semen together on an appropriate date. Unfortunately, when my vet looked at the semen under the microscope NOBODY was moving. My understanding is that the little guys were supposed to be zinging around in their little pond. This lot was doing something that looked more like the dead man's float. She kept checking - hoping they might perk up - but they kept floating.....

It seems they wrong extender had been used by the collecting vet (or at least one that didn't agree with the collective constitution of the tadpoles). The collecting vet agreed that nobody was moving in there.....

So, we arranged to take her to visit another gentleman (this one in person) but of course we had to go through the motions of doing and ultrasound to verify she wasn't pregnant.

Which brings us to yesterday - supposedly the 14th day post conception. All interested parties (horse, vet, me) arrive and the ultrasound is set up. In goes the vets arm and almost immediately down to her jaw DrOps her chest......she says this mare sure feels pregnant in the "left horn" and then proceeds to share lots of other jargon that indicates she might very well be pregnant. Unfortunately, the ultrasound was inconclusive - something about possible delayed conception and this might only be the 12th day or the embryo was hidden in a deep fold or whatever. She also had not gone back into heat. My vet - who is fabulous - rarely errs on the side of optimism, but she was grinning from ear to ear (they had apparently been placing bets on the situation on the drive back to the clinic to meet us.....)

Could this really be true? An older (9) maiden mare who might very well have gotten pregnant on one application of "non-viable" semen (as verified by 2 vets)???? I think I'm glad we are not discussing my 17 year old daughter here!!!

Bahia goes in again tomorrow for a re-check and I am literally pacing the floor! I had accepted that she wasn't going to be pregnant - in fact, I didn't even consider it a possibility - and now I am on pins and needles! I guess what I mostly need is some more fingers and toes crossed for Bahia and I. Or just some words of sage advice (I especially like the ones that involve bottles of wine) on managing these types of situations. PLEASE???
Member:
Srobert

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 27, 2005 - 4:45 pm:

Whoops - of course her JAW DrOpped to her CHEST!! (the other would really be something to write about!!!)

See - I AM really jittery~
Member:
Redalert

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 27, 2005 - 7:33 pm:

I'M KEEPING MY FINGERS AND TOES CROSSED FOR YOU!
Nancy
Member:
Srobert

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 27, 2005 - 8:10 pm:

Thanks Nancy. I wasn't even nervous before - now I'm a basket case. I hate not knowing!! Bahia has still not gone back into heat - which is a good sign I think....
Member:
Hwood

Posted on Thursday, Jul 28, 2005 - 1:27 am:

WOW!!!!! It's a MIRACLE!!!!!!!!!!! Now THIS baby is going to be something SPECIAL!!!! LOL
Member:
Srobert

Posted on Thursday, Jul 28, 2005 - 3:57 am:

OH, I hope there is one! I still can't believe it's possible. A sleepless night (note the time on this post) and we're not even watching for a foaling! I did think about going out with a flashlight to see if she might be acting like she was in heat - but that's just going a bit too far don't you think???
New Member:
Cutting

Posted on Thursday, Jul 28, 2005 - 9:00 am:

Shari,
Not to be overly optimistic, but congratulations! It only takes one and your mare sure found it. I had a similar situation this breeding season. I ordered semen on Friday for a Saturday delivery. The office person forgot to mark the package Saturday Delivery and I didn’t get the shipment till Monday. The mare did ovulate on Saturday. When the semen arrived it was not in the best of shape. I introduced myself to the two or three swimmers that I could see and did go ahead and inseminated the mare. Last week I did a 60 day check on this mare and it looks like we have a filly due next year. Needless to say the breeding facility and I are both thrilled.

Be sure to ask your vet to let you know the condition of the CL, in the non-pregnant mare regression generally should occur 14-15 days post-ovulation. Sometimes this early in the process the CL and tone of the uterus are just about as telling as actually seeing a black circle on the ultrasound. Good luck and let us know how you come out?
Member:
Srobert

Posted on Thursday, Jul 28, 2005 - 1:26 pm:

Hello: Unfortunately, no miracles today. We'll have to leave those to Sherri and Priscilla. Whatever she felt on Tuesday has gone away and Bahia is going into heat again. Not a tragedy, but oh it would have been such a pretty baby! I was planning to take her up to meet bachelor #2 - but now I am thinking it is too late to breed
again this year and should probably wait and start earlier next season. Thanks for your support! Now, let's hope we hear from Priscilla soon so we can get our baby "fix!"
Member:
Jodeen

Posted on Thursday, Jul 28, 2005 - 1:43 pm:

Oh Shari, i am sorry to hear your news, i know you were so hoping. i have been down that road many times with my bay mare. took us 3 years to finally get her in foal. had a beautiful little stud colt last year. after all that you would think i would learn, but NO we are taking her again next spring to a nice QH. i know how hard it is to wait and wait and hope. depending on what you want the foal for, its really not to late. good luck and keep trying, they are so worth the wait.
Member:
Redalert

Posted on Thursday, Jul 28, 2005 - 2:14 pm:

Oh rats, Shari ... and you are probably right about waiting till next Spring. I just "passed up" a current heat cycle on a beautiful mare that I also decided to wait until Spring of 2006 !
Nancy
Member:
Qh4me

Posted on Thursday, Jul 28, 2005 - 3:08 pm:

Shari, I hope she is pregnant, will keep my fingers crossed for you. If she is, that must be one fertile mare!!

I am no expert, but have been dealing with the AI a few times now and know alot of breeders, I feel your pain when you get a straw full of non-movers. I got semen shipped from Texas to Ontario in March, and it got left on the tarmack of Dallas Airport. I didn't receive it for 48 hours, and when the vet checked, there were still 30% swimming, but my mare had already ovulated 6-12 hours before. She was checked in foal at 17 days, but at 30, she had absorbed. vet said that maybe the sperm wasn't strong enough or the egg was too far gone to keep the pregnancy. So if your mare did take, just be sure to check her again around day 40. As Bonnie said, it only takes one.
A little concerning about the extender.
There is so much costs associated with AI, usually breeding facilities, or owners of studs have the stallions semen tested against different extenders, for the benefit of themselves and the mare owners. Sure beat's re-collecting, shipping etc. I would have thought that extenders get tested way before they would ship out some semen. It makes it very frustrating on the mare owners end. Especially when it is too close to get a second shipment.

Bonnie, interested in your comment, you have a "filly" due next year. I had made a post earlier wondering if anyone had attempted sexing the fetus at day 60. My mare is 60 days and we have an ultrasound this weekend, so I am hoping that the fetus is cooperating and we can too find out what it may be. I know we are looking for a bright white spot on the ultrasound, but last time I checked, I thought I saw lots of tiny white spots....I guess thats why I'm not a vet!!
Member:
Cutting

Posted on Thursday, Jul 28, 2005 - 3:50 pm:

Shawna,
I saw your post on sexing at 60 days, but I don't have a good photo to help you with. Lord knows that I am not a vet either. We are a small breeder (4-7 mares a year) and I only do the AI for ourselves. I don't even have my ultrasound hooked up to a printer.

Of the 30-40 mares that I have personally been able to check, I have only definitely seen one clearly and several I guessed on. It is so dependent on the machine, the mare, where the attachment took place and the tech doing the checking. Hopefully our good doctor O will find a photo that can help you understand what you are looking for.

I love to check to see if I can sex the fetus but mostly I am just doing my final observation before the whole thing DrOps into never-never land and confirming that all is still progressing properly.
Member:
Tangoh

Posted on Tuesday, Aug 2, 2005 - 8:41 am:

Hi Shari,
I've been away for 5 days so I'm just catching up on all the latest HA news. Sorry to hear your mare wasn't in foal but I'm sure you'll get a gorgeous foal eventually from your mare and it will have been worth the wait.
Member:
Qh4me

Posted on Tuesday, Aug 2, 2005 - 10:47 am:

Sorry Shari, somehow I posted and didn't notice your previous post stating the mare wasn't pregnant. I'm sorry to hear that.

Bonnie, we did get a pretty good shot of the fetus twice and my vet is calling for a colt. But now is the long 9 month wait to see if she was right. Like yourself, the ultrasound was just to make sure that everything was progressing properly. The sexing part is just a bonus.

She has taken a snapshot, and is going to try and get it downloaded of the machine, if she does, I will post it.

Shawna
Member:
Srobert

Posted on Tuesday, Aug 2, 2005 - 8:10 pm:

All clouds have a silver lining. We will just enjoy her being "not pregnant" this fall. I rode her in a bunch of gaming classes at a show this weekend just for fun - and we had a BALL!!! DId really well against the "real" gamers even though they wouldn't give me a "senior citizen discount" on my times. I certainly wouldn't have raced her around like that had she been barely pregnant....

We'll try again in the spring when everything is especially fertile!!!

Thanks for all the good thoughts. Shari
P.S. Shawna - I hope we get a chance to see that ultrasound photo!!
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