“My mare is about to have her first foal…”

Hi, my mare is about to have her first foal and this is also my first time to have a mare that is pregnant and I was wondering, if she will start to nest or anything before she is ready to have the foal, like other animals do. We are not positive on the due date and this is why I am wondering, that way we can watch her closely. Also, we have 2 other male horses and longhorns that she is with out in the pasture. For the last couple of weeks of her pregnancy should we keep her in a confined area by herself, such as a corral? I think that’s about it, any advice you could give me would be very much appreciated, please write back soon she is due around a couple/few weeks! Thank you very much!

Dr. Cheryl Rahal’s Answer:

Christa, mares can be sneaky about having their babies. Some mares show very little signs of readiness for birth, others are more obvious. Yet, only obvious to those who know their mares well. If in a herd, the mares will usually start separating themselves from the herd, going to a quiet, clean area. So, I do recommend that you separate her from the longhorns and the geldings. Geldings can be troublesome and actually try and herd the foal from their mothers sometimes. Your corral should be clean and have grass or you may need to add some bedding like straw. The early signs of foaling are ‘waxing up’ at the teats (small amount of dried on milk or colostrum), laxity of the muscles around the tailhead and anus/vulva, and shifting of the mares abdominal appearance from down and wide to up and back. They often become very picky eaters in the last few weeks, it nice for them to have supplemental feeds in the form of a grain/pellet.

 

“When is the best time to start the breeding process?”

When is the best time to start the breeding process with my mare to ensure a spring (April/May) foal arrival? More often than not, does it take multiple stallion visits for the mare to become pregnant? I am new to this process, and I would just like to be a little more informed. Thank you for your time.

Dr. Jack Sales’ Answer:

Hi Sandy,

A mare will carry a foal for about 11 months and 7 to 11 days. So, if you want an April or May foal ( which goes along with the normal time that mares actually foal in the natural environment – April thru July) you would want to begin exposing your mare to the stallion around the last week in April. Mares have an estrous cycle that lasts 21 days. During the breeding season, March through July) the mare will come into heat (she will be receptive to the stallion and readily breed) for about 5 to 7 days, and then she will go out of heat for about 15 or 16 days.
If you have her bred during her heat period and she conceives (gets pregnant) she will not come back into heat. If she comes back into heat she will need to be bred again during the heat cycle to see if she will conceive during this heat cycle. During the heat cycle, the mare is usually bred to the stallion every other day while they are receptive to the stallion, starting about the 3rd day of heat, so you may need to breed your mare 2 or 3 times during her heat period for best chances of her getting pregnant. This is a very simplified explanation to the mares reproductive cycles. If your mare doesn’t follow these general guidelines you may need the assistance of a Veterinarian for the greatest chance of success.

 

“What can be done to safely prevent an unwanted pregnancy?”

My 3 yr old registered Arabian was turned out while in heat with a 10 month old paint colt. He was caught grunting while mounting her. What can be done to safely prevent an unwanted pregnancy?

Dr. Jack Sales’ Answer:

Hi Olga. Although a 10 month old colt is very unlikely to have been able to get your mare pregnant due to his young age, exceptions can always be possible. If the colt was older and could likely get the mare in foal, I would recommend that you have a Veterinarian give the mare a prostaglandin injection 10 days after the colt was with the mare. This would bring the mare back into heat and prevent conception. In this particular situation though, I would suggest that you determine when the mare went out of heat. Then watch over the next month to see if she comes back in heat. If she does, there is no worry about a pregnancy. If she doesn’t, the mare can be given a prostaglandin shot at this time to bring her back into heat.

 

“Do proper geldings mount a mare?”

My friend has a horse (Rocky) who was gelded at about the age of 5. He is now 6. He has recently been put into a new field with his usual companion (Tom) and a few mares, one of which is in season. Tom and Rocky have recently started fighting over this mare. Rocky has shown a high interest in this mare and has mounted her fully, at least once. I was wondering, do proper geldings mount a mare or is there a higher possibility of him being a rig? If so what complications will this cause? Please reply as soon as possible. Thanks very much.

Dr. Cheryl Rahal’s Answer:

Rocky was castrated well into his maturity, and had ample time prior to castration for hormones to help develop his behavior. It is not uncommon for a gelding, whom has been castrated late, to exhibit stallion like behavior, herding mares, and occasionally mounting and attempting to breed. I’m not clear on your terminology of “a rig”, I’m thinking you may mean a “proud cut”, which again depending on who you talk to can mean different things. In veterinary medicine sometimes it means that when the horse was castrated, not all of the tissue that can produce testosterone was removed when castrated. This is common in horses that are castrated late, because they are much more developed and there is more tissue to remove. The other condition that you may be referring to is a cryptorchid, which is when one testicle has been retained in the abdomen, and only one testicle was removed at castration. The testicle in the abdomen can still produce hormones, like testosterone, but not viable semen, so they are infertile, but have the behavior of a stallion. A simple blood test can be done assaying for those hormones to rule out a cryptorchid.
Hope that answers your questions. Good luck – you may consider separating the boys from the girls during this spring fever.

 

“My stallion is very high strung and aggressive…”

I have a 6 year old stallion that we have used for breeding purposes. He is very high strung and aggressive. If I geld him now, will that help change his temperament?

Dr. Jack Sales’ Answer:

Patty, regarding the 6 year old stallion that you are thinking of having gelded (castrated), you could expect a lot of the aggressive behavior and stud like tendencies to go away, but a stallion that has been used for breeding and gelded later in his life (past 3 years of age) has a greater possibility of retaining a small amount of that previous behavior. All in all, though, it should improve his behavior greatly.

 

“Can a mare bag up and produce milk…”

Can a mare bag up and produce milk if she is not with foal?

Dr. Cheryl Rahal’s Answer:

Yes, it is not unheard of for a mare with out a foal to lactate. However, when this occurs, there are certain medical issue that should be ruled out that may required treatment, before the condition is chalked up to an aberrant hormonal mishap. The first would be an infectious process, such as mastitis, the second being a Pituitary Disorder, like equine Cushings Disease in the aged horse. If there is not a medical condition identified that requires treatment, most mares usually live with the lactation uneventfully. There is not a good treatment to reverse the hormonal signal that produces the lactation.

 

“My mare has stopped bagging up…”
My mare is at 343 days gestation, she has stopped bagging up. In fact her bags seem smaller than two weeks ago. Last year she was text book with her pregnancy. Should I be concerned? She does not appear in any distress.

Dr. Cheryl Rahal’s Answer:
Robin, if your mare does not seem distressed, eating well, has normal manure, does not have a fever, is not leaking milk, and does not have any vaginal discharge, there really isn’t any need for concern. One reason I can think of, why her bag may seem smaller now, is when the fetus changes position, it may not be causing as much edema (tissue swelling) because of less impingement on the veins or venous return. The fact that the fetus may have changed position is a signal of impending birth.