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Holly
Gold Member
England
529 Posts |
 Posted - 27 Nov 2008 : 11:04:36 PM
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I tried twice to put my mare in foal this summer using chilled semen but both scans showed that she hadn't taken so i decided to leave it till next year and try natural covering instead.
My mare is a very good doer and has had 9 months off due to injury so did get very porky over the summer.
However since september I have brought her back into work and ride her about twice a week for an hour or more at a time plus she lives out 24/7 and is only rugged whenits foul weather and shes only fed a small amount.
I expected her to drop weight quite quickly over the winter but she appears to be getting fatter!
I thought that maybe she might be pregnant after all but last week she showed signs of beingin season, no squirting but she kept holding her tail to one side wheni was brushing her which she normlly does when shes in season.
What do you think?
Can horses still com into season when they are pregnant?
Is it unlikely that he vet would have got the scan wrong?
Thanks
Holly x
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vjc
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
4952 Posts |
Posted - 27 Nov 2008 : 11:22:57 PM
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well i have had a similar thing, one of my mares was tested in foal at stud but two weeks after returning appeared messy, not squatting though, i have heard of mares showing in season when in foal but it is rare, i am thinking of testing her with the wee foal test as it is less invasive. here`s hoping we are both having foals next year!  |
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pat ww
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
3459 Posts |
Posted - 27 Nov 2008 : 11:25:40 PM
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I would have thought that the scans were accurate. They are done very early, its the ones after a couple of months where a developing foetus can move and not be within the sight range of the scanner. Fat tummies donot necessarily mean pregnancy, we have a mare her looks pregant 365!, but Rosa has had 2 foals and each time was very slender, nothing to see till a month before.
Gentle exercsie wont do her any harm, even if we've all got it wrong! but if you want to try again next year its best to get the weight off now, and then let her put a little bit on just before you want her inseminated again. Slimmer mares on a rising plane of nutrition are supposed to be the easiest to get in foal. |
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dreammagic
Gold Member
Scotland
641 Posts |
Posted - 27 Nov 2008 : 11:31:26 PM
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I had a positive blood test result last year, but ended up that she wasnt in foal, would recomend if you really want to know to have her tested again, rather than hang off. Better to no for sure.
Anne |
    
Equine Photograpic 1st 3 pics, JPS EQUINE 4th pic |
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vjc
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
4952 Posts |
Posted - 27 Nov 2008 : 11:37:21 PM
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thats the problem with a blood test, if they were in foal but lost it the hormones can still give a positive reading, only if they were never in foal will you get a negative! the wee test is supposed to be 98% accurate even if they have aborted, mind you how you catch the wee could be quite entertaining!!!  like you say the most reliable is a scan or manual exam. |
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dreammagic
Gold Member
Scotland
641 Posts |
Posted - 27 Nov 2008 : 11:59:39 PM
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I never realised there was a wee test? My girl always has a wee before i feed her, gona have one more try and then give up i think.
Shall have to get her slimmed down i think she is a good doer gets fat on fresh air
Anne |
Equine Photograpic 1st 3 pics, JPS EQUINE 4th pic |
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vjc
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
4952 Posts |
Posted - 28 Nov 2008 : 12:27:38 AM
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| yes its called wee-foal you can google it, suppose to be very accurate and not give false results! i remember an article in h/hound about it. |
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razgold
Platinum Member
USA
1576 Posts |
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LOU
Gold Member
England
637 Posts |
Posted - 28 Nov 2008 : 08:30:40 AM
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Holly,
Vets do get it wrong on scans, I had a mare into cover this year scanned empty at 21 days, I wasnt happy with that so scanned again 2 days later a lovely ickle bambini.
Also a few years ago I was given a mare who people had tried to get in foal for a whole season scanned Empty in September, had a lovely filly the next May!!
Have the wee test just incase.x.x.x |
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Holly
Gold Member
England
529 Posts |
Posted - 28 Nov 2008 : 08:42:07 AM
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Thanks for your replys. I have no idea whats going on it just seems strange that shes not loosing any weight as its winter, shes being exercised and shes naked most of the time. She normally drops weight in the winter as theres no grass.
Patww- im exercising her to try and get the weight off for next year as my vet said she needs to slim down before we try again next year.
I will have to try the wee test and see what happens. I dont think that she is pregnant but i am puzzled as to why shes not loosing any weight!
Thanks
Holly |
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azraa
Gold Member
United Kingdom
1030 Posts |
Posted - 28 Nov 2008 : 09:57:04 AM
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| one of my mares has been in season while in foal, i called the vet to check and she was in foal still she had a healthy colt. |
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Holly
Gold Member
England
529 Posts |
Posted - 28 Nov 2008 : 10:30:56 AM
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Are there any signs or symptoms that she would show if she was in foal??
If she is then she will have got pregnant in August as that is when she was last inseminated.
Holly xx |
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azraa
Gold Member
United Kingdom
1030 Posts |
Posted - 28 Nov 2008 : 10:44:11 AM
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hi,
has anyone used a human pregnancy test ,just out of interest. |
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Holly
Gold Member
England
529 Posts |
Posted - 28 Nov 2008 : 10:52:27 AM
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Funny enough my work colleagues were just asking me if I can use a human pregnancy test...my guess is no otherwise everyone would use them, probably to do with the different hormones and chemical reactions!! dont actually have a clue!
I just looked at the wee foal test and it says mares must be 120 days pregnant or more to get an accurate reading so i cant use it yet as if my girl is preggers then she will be about 104 days ish.
xxxx |
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bexr
Gold Member
England
818 Posts |
Posted - 28 Nov 2008 : 10:52:57 AM
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One of my mares was examined 6 weeks before she foaled and was told she was def. NOT IN FOAL, so got a bit of a shock when easter was stood there, my poor mare had been ridden just 2 days before she had her. |
Bex |
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azraa
Gold Member
United Kingdom
1030 Posts |
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vjc
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
4952 Posts |
Posted - 28 Nov 2008 : 11:26:28 AM
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| omg bexr how on earth did the vet miss that!!! as for the human pregnancy test i have often wondered if that would work, but i suppose you need to try it on a non preggy mare first then a pregnant one to see if it reads correctly, not cheap then so might as well buy the correct one! good luck holly, here`s hoping your mare is in foal, and i will check mine after christmas.Verena. |
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ali bali
Gold Member
Scotland
641 Posts |
Posted - 28 Nov 2008 : 11:46:36 AM
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| Hi Holly, it might be my imagination but I have been thinking that the grass appeared to remain 'good' for longer than normal. Could this be why your mares not losing weight yet? Just a thought! Al |
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carole ferguson
Silver Member
United Kingdom
457 Posts |
Posted - 28 Nov 2008 : 12:29:40 PM
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My dartmoor mare was scanned as not in foal - and then had a beautiful filly the following April - and a friend's arab mare this year - who has had 2 foals - was scanned in foal - yet would have accepted the stallion as she showed in season at either 8 or 12 weeks. The vet then re-scanned her - and she is definately in foal.
She had never shown any signs of being in season when she was in foal before - so they can always fool you. |
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mouse
Silver Member
United Kingdom
309 Posts |
Posted - 28 Nov 2008 : 1:15:45 PM
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I used the wee foal test and it was accurate. We now have a lovely 5 and a half month old colt . Re catching the wee my poor husband had to do it because she always wees while I'm mixing her feed and I can't scoot round and into her stable fast enough to catch her!  |
    
South Norfolk/Suffolk border |
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ashabarab
Gold Member
England
1378 Posts |
Posted - 28 Nov 2008 : 3:05:39 PM
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what a can of worms you have opened here
mares are very good at fooling vets and us poor slaves
one mare who l was sure was in foal was not according to my vet...on the THIRD scan we found foaly tucked behind the bladder
many years ago one mare l had doing miles as she was getting a ltttle 'chubby' was coming into season like clockwork but l could not cover her
after talking to her previous owner [l did not know she had even been covered] l called my vet
yes she was pregnant...colt came two days later..a month late!
another mare looked pregnant even bagged up...no foal although l was half expecting one to suddenly apear....she was huge and on starvation diet
then there is the type who fool you into thinking they are when they are not
or they are not when they are
what ever modern science comes up with untill someone teaches these mares to read and follow recomended guide lines we are still not going to know!
just my opinion
ash
ps l stop holding my breath when the waters break and it's almost here...then you have the next set of problems.. if your mare will actually let you watch the whole advent...l spent five years trying to catch one mare foaling...even drilled small spy holes in the back of her stable and l still missed it...gave up with her after that!
l took the hint as my nerves could not stand it....she did not want me around
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vjc
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
4952 Posts |
Posted - 28 Nov 2008 : 5:00:51 PM
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well ash just when i think i have heard all the strangest stories of mares fooling us your post is even more amazing the trouble is nothing is more dissapointing than thinking you have got a new arrival due then finding out at the end the mare is empty  there is no doubting my other mare but will have to get inspiration tested! |
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kathleen
Platinum Member
England
1835 Posts |
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rosie
Platinum Member
England
3662 Posts |
Posted - 28 Nov 2008 : 7:18:29 PM
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Strangely enough I had my mare tested about a month ago as she looked huge all of a sudden.
The vet came out (like me thought she looked in foal) did a blood test that came back negative but still putting on weight at a vast rate, so I asked him back to do a scan. That confirmed she was definitely not in foal.
She hadn't run with a stallion but had been with her colt who was gelded at 12 months old - I wondered if he had maybe covered her.
I've owned my mare for 18 years so thought I new her shape in all seasons ( I was wrong this time). Our grass must be richer than I thought?
Lisa |
     
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