Is my mare pregnant, you think?

Question

Sunshine   QUESTION: Hello Sandy.

I bought my mare about nine months ago, and the owner said she had been with a stallion not very long before I came out to look at her. She hasn't came into heat yet and her udder is filling with milk. (I've also squeezed them, and she has milk) I felt just before her udder, and it is warm. Her stomach is big and bulging. I've looked under my friends mare's, whom are not pregnant and have come into heat already this year, and they are slim and et cetera.

Please help.
Thank you(:

ANSWER: Hi Kristal,

It does sound as though there is a possibility that your mare is pregnant.  But from the picture you gave of her udder, she should not have actual milk.  A  mare doesn't have actual, white milk until a day or so or even hours before she foals.  Clear, thin, watery fluid is not an indication of pregnancy, as some mares who have had previous foals may have fluid in their udder constantly, even when not pregnant.

Feeling warmth in front of the udder is also something that really shouldn't be felt until right before foaling.

Most mare's udders will begin to fill approximately 4-7 weeks prior to foaling, so a lot would depend on when she was with the stallion prior to your purchase of her on whether or not she is actually making a bag.

One thing you could look for at this point would be foal movement in her belly.  At 9 months or more, foal movement should be very obvious.

Keep checking her udder to see if it gradually gets bigger and watch for foal movement... then you should know if she is pregnant!

Best of luck,
Sandy

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: If she is pregnant she is due at anytime now. She was with the stallion the owner said a few days before we bought her, which was in Late July.

Thanks

Answer
If she was bred by the stallion in late July, she would be due late June, so there is the possibility that her udder is beginning to fill.  The timing would be right for that.

If her udder is beginning to fill, it will keep getting bigger from here on out.  Also, as I mentioned previously, foal movement will be quite obvious at this point.

Just keep watching her.