Mare over due

Question
We have a maiden mare who was due on March 26th, she has been bagged up and is ready to burst with milk, her vulva is noticeably stretched but very little colostrum is coming through she's not dripping or anything.  she is very relaxed and has been since conception, the foal however is having some kind of party in there, you can physically see her belly sway.  this morning she was standing in her field and was scratching herself up off a branch.  she is uncomfortable off her food and drinking little amounts.  is there any way i can naturally bring on the labour, massage or something?? I'm all out of ideas

Answer
Hi Laura,
             The good news is that it sounds as though your mare is close. The bad news is, that there is no way to speed up a mare's pregnancy. The sooner that you want her to give birth, the longer it will take.

While, I am sure that she would enjoy a bran mash or a massage, it will not have her give birth any sooner.

The average gestation is 340 days, but a mare can be in foal for as little as 320 days and as much as 400 days and deliver a healthy foal.Every mare has their own schedule and it never seems to match ours :-).

Lisa