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pregnant mare

Savannah

My 9 year old mare was exposed to a 3 year old colt from October 07 to February 08 when I found out that he was with her and demanded she be moved. She is now showing signs of being in foal (or so my friends say) She has a large belly that is very hard and she does not like me to poke at it.. About 2 months ago her milk glands in front of her udder started to swell but there is no heat in them. About 2 weeks ago I checked her for milk and got a clear liquid from her teats - I check her almost every day now to see if it turns a milky color (my friends said it will turn color before she foals. My question is could a 9 year old mare that has never been bred have these signs if she is not bred, and also how far in advance does the mare have clear milk before foaling? As I said I don’t know when she was bred or if she is bred but people told me that they seen the colt breed her.

•   Kimberly Mallmann says:

  November 06th, 2008 at 03:38 PM

  Hi,

  If your mare was bred, she would be due between September this year, to January of next year. The best way to find out if she is for sure pregnant, is to have a veterinarian come out to palpate or ultrasound her. The 'glands' in front of her utter swelling could be an indication that is indeed bred, but some mares will have swelling in that area during a heat cycle. Normally, by this time of the year most mares are no longer coming into heat, but some mares will have late heat cycles and could be a cause. The production of milk before foaling differs from mare to mare. Some mares will produce milk and 'bag up' (utter filling) months before foaling and some will do it weeks/days before foaling. Your mare could be showing the signs you mentioned just due to a symptom of a late heat cycle, or becuase hse is pregnant. The only accurate way of telling she is bred, is to have her palpated or ultrasounded, and your veterinarian may be able to give you an idea of how far along she is, so you can be better prepared for when she'll foal. If people saw the stud breed her, that isn't a guarantee she is bred either. It would depend on if she had ovulated, where in her heat cycle she was, and if the stud has enough sperm to breed a mare. At 3 years old, most colts will, but it isn't an guarantee also. Sorry if this isn't the yes or no answer you were hoping for, but since pregnancy varies enormously from mare to mare, I really would suggest having a veterinarian check her out! Good luck!

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•   Dylan Whitehill says:

  March 09th, 2009 at 04:45 PM

  All of the signs that you mentioned describe a mare that is bred. But the answer to your question is yes, a mare could be having a false pregnancy and but you can never be sure. It's not like they can tell us. lol well you'll have to get her ultrasounded. if you do have a bred mare have fun!

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•   Dylan Whitehill says:

  March 09th, 2009 at 04:47 PM

  All of the signs that you mentioned describe a mare that is bred. But the answer to your question is yes, a mare could be having a false pregnancy and show those signs but its more likely for her to be bred. You can never be sure. It's not like they can tell us. lol well you'll have to get her ultrasounded. if you do have a bred mare have fun!

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  Dog behavior help

  If you need help with your dogs behavior just e-ail me and i'll see what i can do for you. check out my website http://d04.net?1l

• User suggests:

  June 29th, 2009 at 10:46 AM

  hi, I can tell you from experience that yes your horse could be pregnate. My 10 year old horse had the same thing happen. There is some pregnacy tests you can do on her but theres a high chance shes pregnate. Just watch her. Its a wonderful thing f she is pregnate. Good Luck. I've been there before.

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