inlarged teats

Question
My mare has the same problem. Her foal was sucking for about 2 years. When i bought her her foal was still sucking!  We have asked our vet and he said thee is nothing you can do about it. He doesnt no anything that can bring them down!
I barrel race my horse, and im scared it hurts her, and when i try and touch them she tryes to kick me. Im only 13 years old and i've been asking everyone if there is something we can do!
My friends have been helping me to. We just can't find anyone who knows or has the same problem. I really would like to know what i can do! We just cant find anyone who knows of anything! Wheni go to a show everyone asks me if she is a stallion. Even when i do a Mare class the judge always asks me "did she just have a baby?"
please call (239) 834 7185 ASAP or (239) 834 7473
My name is Sammie.

Answer
Hi Sammie,

Unfortunately, your vet is correct in the fact that there is nothing that can be done to make a mares teats go down once they become that permanently enlarged.  I'm sure it is due to the fact that her foal was allowed to nurse for such a long time.

As long as the teats aren't hard or cracking, they should not be hurting her.  Exercise may actually reduce the size of the udder, but not the teats.  If the teats are hard, cracking or hot, she more than likely has mastitis, which is a problem and your vet would be able to help with that.

If she still has milk in her udder, it would help to stop feeding her grain or any other type of supplement and put her on a grass/alfalfa mixture... something that isn't too rich.

Otherwise, if her udder doesn't have milk and the teats are not hard or cracking, there really is no concern.  It may not look right, but it isn't harming your mare.