[Shannon]

Originally Posted by prairiegirl

NEW PHOTO to come this afternoon. I just checked her again and her udder is DEFINITELY larger than yesterday! Ahhhhhh, I am not ready for this!

Can't wait for the pics!

[prairiegirl]

March13
March 14
March 16

[prairiegirl]

I think her udder is fuller than yesterday...but again, I might be just wishful thinking and posting photos that show no change at all!

She is laying down more than usual and napping. Eating, drinking, going to the bathroom normally.

[prairiegirl]

Oh boy! Two days ago it was +5...today it's -22 with the windchill! Not baby weather by a long shot! Ick.

To add to my concern it snowed an inch or so last night (just when grass was finally visible, sheesh) and my mares are RUNNING down the hill to visit the two geldings over the fence. Every time I see Vegas moving faster than an amble I cringe, thinking she's going to slip or topple head over heels down that hill. I know it's unlikely since they have navigated that trail a hundred times but it's still stressful. I don't want to start penning her up too soon or she go batty but I also don't want to lose my mind!

[bratt79]

Hello Prairie girl, don't feel bad about your worries. This year was my first time having a pregnant mare as well. The only advantage I have is that i bred the horse at my place so i know when she was last covered. My mare was a maiden and i literally had knots in my stomach from worry. Well yesterday morning at 230 am she brought into this world a very beautiful boy, pictures can be seen on my thread first timers.... Also my mare started bagging up approx 5 weeks before she actually gave birth. I kept checking her like you, people thought i was crazy, and i would notice things that were or weren't there. I think in my opinion all new moms go through this with their first foal. Also some of the other signs to look for her to be getting close as i noticed with my mare was the position of the foal, she went from being really wide to not looking pregnant at all from the front or back, but from the side I swore her belly was gonna touch the ground. Her tail seemed to stick up farther where it connects to her butt. and she got really squishy feeling around her tail head, like jello. I don't know if i am much help, this being my first foal and all, but i felt the same as you for 5 weeks when i noticed her bag starting to fill up. I think we all go through it and i am sure everything will be fine in the end, just hang in there. Oh, the best investment i made was a stall camera too, got it at walmart for like $90, this way if i did wake up in the middle of the night i didn't actually have to go outside, i just turned my tv on to see what was going on, also helped me be able to actually see my baby born. hope this helps.

[prairiegirl]

In Post #32 I posted a photo of her udder taken today, the 16th. I think it's SMALLER than yesterday and the days before! Is that normal? Eeeek!

[accphotography]

Oh yeah... bigger, smaller, bigger, smaller, way bigger than before, smaller again, slightly bigger, foal... LOL!

Something in that neighborhood anyhow... depending on the horse.

ACC

[prairiegirl]

Well, her udder has reduced in size over the last few days but is still not 'normal' like my other mare. And she is definitely heavier lower down in the belly rather than in the middle as she was before. She has been lying down often...five or six times a day I will see her lying down (after I just saw her eating or wandering around). Occasionally she will roll before she gets up...looks like an upside down turtle...quite hilarious to see actually. She is swishing her tail alot too, occasionally holding it to the side for a minute or so. Eating, drinking and going to the bathroom normally.

[prairiegirl]

Taken today, March 24th.

She seems lower in the belly but...
...her udder has shrunken away to almost nothing!

Ten days ago her udder was actually, well, an udder. This is so frustrating. I am quite sure now that I have NO desire to breed my horses...the wait, the stress, the not knowing...no thanks!

[prairiegirl]

She's getting close...from the back she doesn't even look pregnant anymore and her tail head is frizzy AND her hind end is getting jiggly on top! Her udder disappeared for a while, almost entirely at one point, but it's back and fuller than ever. I can't believe that I was thinking she was ready back in March yet, ha ha ha, talk about newbie panic! She is finally looking like the photos posted showing mares ready to foal. I am away from home for a few days so my sister is keeping watch. (Updated pics to come Wednesday when I get home.)

I just saw that a mare who was with the stud around the same time had a foal--buckskin paint out of chestnut paint mare--two days ago so I think it's going to be soon!

OK, her dam was a cute dun (they look identical actually) and her sire was a (homely looking) chestnut. (Sorry, but I speak the truth!) The color calculator says we will likely get a zebra dun like Mama or a bay like the stud. I didn't click any of the other choices because I don't know what they mean but do you think there's any other possibility for colors?