This is an archived Horseadvice.com Discussion. The parent article and menus are available on the navigation menu below:
HorseAdvice.com » Equine Reproduction » Horse Breeding & Artificial Insemination » Pregnancy Diagnosis »
  Discussion on Mare 4 months in foal showing in season (?)
Author Message
Member:
imogen

Posted on Monday, Nov 19, 2007 - 6:46 am:

Hi Dr O

My mare was scanned in foal from a covering on 10 July. My understanding of your article on pregnancy detection is that from day 90 to 180 (she just over 120 days at present) it is very hard to detect pregnancy by palpation/ultrasound but I'm not sure if I have that right.

She was showing possibly in heat the past week (when everyone's mares seem to have been in season from the warm weather) but it could have just been excitement on hearing the harriers out hunting too.

I would like to know because I am currently "minding" her and was about to start on the pneumabort injections etc. next month - should I request the vet to try to check if she is in foal or give the first injection next month anyway and then check she is still in foal when she gets to 180 days?

This mare does not show visually in foal until quite late normally. I could not say if she is grass-belly or in foal just by looking at her.

Thanks for your advice as always.

Imogen
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Nov 20, 2007 - 7:02 am:

No it is not that pregnancy is hard to determine but it is difficult to palpate the fetus do to it being low in the abdomen. It is easy to tell if she is not pregnant however.
DrO
Member:
imogen

Posted on Saturday, Dec 1, 2007 - 4:45 pm:

An ultrasound scan today showed she is in foal. I was advised to stop riding her though - my vet says the standard advice is that pregnant mares should only be ridden in walk after the fourth month.

Anyone any views on that?

Imogen
Member:
dres

Posted on Saturday, Dec 1, 2007 - 5:48 pm:

That is interesting.. I rode my brood mares thru the 9th month / walk/ trot / canter.. end of the 9th month it was getting harder for them to bend around my inside leg and to reach under with the inside hind.. The only rule of thumb i went by was not to get them over heated / winded or exhausted..

On the first day God created horses, on the second day he painted them with spots
Member:
mrose

Posted on Saturday, Dec 1, 2007 - 6:46 pm:

I always thought you needed to be careful until the fetus was attached, then after that you could ride them or whatever as long as they were kept in good health and weight. I always just walked around with them until the 3rd month, then rode them normally. Once they got big and uncomfortable, I would just take them for walks. I wasn't eventing or jumping or racing, of course, just pleasure riding.

Ann, my mares all get so huge there is not way I could either get a saddle on them or stay on them bareback at more than a walk. Plus, I always felt my extra weight was a little too much for them. but then, my mares are all shorter and smaller than yours!
Member:
ekaufman

Posted on Saturday, Dec 1, 2007 - 9:31 pm:

Hi Imogen,

Wow-- is this like when they told me to stop riding when I hit my fourth month? If the horse is fit, I can't imagine that moderate work would be harmful.

I wouldn't do a lot of fast work (isn't there a study that shows that reduces blood flow to the baby?). I also would knock off when she started to show joint laxity, or when I could see my own toes without looking down, whichever came first.

Glad she's safely in foal and that the heat behavior was a false alarm.

- Elizabeth
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Dec 1, 2007 - 10:10 pm:

Hello Imogen,
Our thoughts on this are in Equine Reproduction » Pregnancy, Foaling, & Neonatal Care » Pregnant Mare Care and Nutrition.
DrO
Member:
canderso

Posted on Sunday, Dec 2, 2007 - 8:43 am:

Hi Imogen,
I am doing a course on breeding at University of Guelph (where they have a Vet school and a Equine Research Centre). According to the timelines provided in the course:
Regular exercise to month 7,
moderate to light month 7 - 9
turnout as much as possible month 9 to foaling

(which is pretty much what Dr O says).
But each mare is different...
Member:
imogen

Posted on Monday, Dec 3, 2007 - 8:56 am:

I had also mentioned to the vet that I thought her breathing wasn't quite right (though that may be just age - bit of flaring nostrils and heaving flanks, more than I would expect for the degree of exercise) so he checked her heart.

She has a systolic murmur which has never troubled her in the 10 years I have had her... and he said nothing had changed there. Maybe he was just being super-careful. I thought it was a little conservative but as she is not a mare that you can ride only in walk I will probably stop riding her.

All the best

Imogen
Home Page | Top of Page | Join Us!
Horseadvice.com is a BBB Accredited Business. Click for the BBB Business Review of this Horse Training in Stokesdale NC