Baby on Board?
How to tell if your mare is in foal
by Karen Briggs
Dear Karen,
I think my quarter horse mare is pregnant, but I don’t know
for sure. When I rode her last week with
my friends, I noticed she was a little crankier than usual, but I thought that
might just be because of the weather. I
don’t know how to tell if she is pregnant, and I don’t know what to do if she
is! Can you help?
Charlene Stacey
Dear Charlene,
If your mare has been in the same field with an ungelded colt or stallion, there’s a possibility she could be pregnant, but crankiness isn’t usually a sign that a mare is in foal. In fact, it usually indicates the opposite, as many mares get a little grumpy when they are “in season” (not pregnant, but willing to be bred by a stallion if the opportunity presents itself!).
Mares go through a cycle about every three weeks, and are in
season (also called being in heat) for four days to a week at a time. You can usually tell if a mare is in season
because her mood will change; most mares get irritable, although some get very
laid-back and dreamy! It varies a lot
from one mare to the next; with some mares, you can barely tell when they’re in
season, while with others it’s very, very obvious.
In any case, if you think your mare might be pregnant, you
will need to get your veterinarian to examine her to find out for sure. He or she will do what’s called a rectal
palpation, inserting his or her gloved arm into your mare’s rectum to feel the
uterus (womb), which is right next-door, anatomically speaking. Certain signs will tell your vet whether your
mare is carrying a foal. Early in a
pregnancy, your vet can also use an ultrasound probe to take a picture of the
inside of your mare’s uterus, which can help identify a fetus (unborn foal)
while it’s still very small.
With all of these wonderful technological tools at our
veterinarians’ fingertips, it’s a lot less likely these days for a mare to be
pregnant without anyone knowing. But
every now and then you still do hear of a mare who
looked completely normal, didn’t show any signs of being in foal, and then was
discovered one morning with a perfectly healthy baby at foot! So it’s best to have your veterinarian find
out for sure, rather than guessing.
If your vet determines that your mare is in foal, ask him or
her for guidance on how to help her have a healthy pregnancy and a healthy
baby. You will need to vaccinate her for
diseases like equine herpes virus (which can cause abortion), give her
higher-protein, higher-energy feed, and prepare a suitable stall for her to have her foal safely.
Do some reading, too, so you’ll be ready to raise the baby right!
Good luck!