[kellidahorsegirl]

OK, we bought a 5 year old mare back in feb around v-day of this year,,,,she was for sale cuz she was thought to be open. Well lately, she has looked kinda fat to me, but more just a hay belly look. She doesn't seem to have flabby hind end or shoulders and her neck is very refined. Just the last couple of days, I have noticed her bag get bigger. This picture is from a couple weeks ago, so her belly is a hair bigger, but it shows pretty much her current condition.

We do not know when the old owner pulled the stud out of the pen, but we will find that out tonight or tomorrow (whenever we get a hold of him).
My question is: If a horse is just chubby, can their bag swell up and all this means is that she's a lil overweight? OR, like how we kinda got thinking today...is it possible all these signs could mean she is pregnant?

I'd rather not have her pregnant, but if she is, we'll take care of her to the best of our ability and then sell the colt...somewhere....but not at a local auction (no slaughter babies here!). But I just don't know anything about mare pregnancies, as I've tried to avoid them
Any help or thoughts would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much.

[AppalosaCowGirl]

What a pretty mare..... (is she an appy?) that is all sorry i cant help with your problem... (cross fingers and wishes for the best!!!!)

[kellidahorsegirl]

She's a red roan Quarter Horse I guess we may end up getting her preg checked, but I'd rather not if a lot of people think she's just chubby. Hmmmmm

[prettyqtrs]

Actually she's a bay roan, not a red roan. A red roan is sorrel + the roan gene. Bay roan is bay + the roan gene. So if she was a red roan she would not have a black mane, tail, and legs. Also if you look at her color, it looks bay, not sorrel.

From that picture it doesn't look like a baby belly. But, without knowing the last time she was bred, etc it is hard to say. But as always, just to be on the safe side and help prepare yourself, I'd get her preg checked.

[kellidahorsegirl]

prettyqrts, do you know anything about them bagging up? I know with our sheep and cattle, they don't really start bagging up until they're almost due. When we got her, she had just had her foal weaned....

I guess I could wait to get on edge til we talk to the old owner. I'm just not sure cuz her belly is pretty low these days. I'm gonna try not to get ahead of myself though.

Thanks for the correction on her color All the same to me haha Just saying she's not an appy

[kellidahorsegirl]

anyone?
As of now, we're still trying to get a hold of the old owner, but I'm really leaning towards the preg check. Just wondering if anyone has seen this before and NOT had a pregnancy.

[Shannon]

Do you know how old the foal was when it was weaned? If you got her in Feb and her foal was weaned at 6 months or less, I'd highly doubt you'd see a pregnant mare bagging up right now. However, I could be wrong, so I'd still just opt for the preg check

[prettyqtrs]

As far as the bag- mares generally start bagging up 4-6 weeks prior to foaling.
Did she have a foal last year?

[kellidahorsegirl]

She has had 2 colts so far and she's only 5 The guy had her just to breed. I'm not too sure how old the foal was, but it didn't look like it was a yearling just yet.
What I'm getting is that the stud was out with them in pasture or something last summer......thats all we know. I'm going nuts trying to get a hold of the guy! haha
A friend of ours last night said they don't bag up just cuz they're chubby, so really who knows. I'm sitting 50/50 on it. We're looking closer at the preg check option now just cuz, but we're a very small town and I'm wondering if the vets do that (have to call is all). They couldn't ultrasound my other horse's bowed tendon cuz they said they wouldn't know what to tell me...great. But I imagine if they could get the ultrasound in there, at this point in time, it'd be pretty obvious if there was a foal or not.

I think we'll try to get this done this week. Sure hope she isn't!

I don't do mare birthing well cuz we had one when I was still in like 7th grade and it was my aunt's mare. I came home from school to check on her and found part of her intestines on the ground on my way to her. The foal was upside down and backwards and had already died in her. VERY bad experience, so I am nervous of that. AND I don't want to add to the horse population!

[prettyqtrs]

Well if she's had foals previously...you will be able to see that she has had a bag. It's not like its going to shrink back to the size it was prior to having foals. So maybe that is what you are seeing. I'm not 100% sure.
If the stallion hasn't been with her since last summer/early fall, she'd be well into her 4-5 month *AT LEAST*...at which point, even on my maidens I've seen some size increase in their stomachs. I'm not sure...unless she was bred really late fall or somehow over winter was bred (not likely, because mares don't generally cycle over the winter months) or he had her under lights or something early February....thats the only way I could see her size being the way it is right now for carrying a baby. Otherwise, if she was bred last summer or early fall...she should be bigger by now.
It just might be partially what I call 'baby belly' from having foals--kind of streches them out a little and maybe some weight gain...which is making her appear bigger or heavier.
I don't know exactly what to say, I look at that picture and think--looks like she needs to lose a little weight. But then, what if the guy lied and bred her late January or early February...
I don't know, I'm going to lean on the side that says not in-foal. But I could be wrong. As stated, I would try to have her check just incase, you at least then know what you could have in store for yourself in months to come.