Early signs of foaling down

Question
Hi Lisa, I have a mare that is pregnant and i would like to know how far pregant she is. According to my calculations she should foal down in July but to me she looks a lot further. Is there some way of telling how far she is. I want to ride her but im not sure if this is safe.

Answer
Hi Chantell,
                 I am gathering that you do not have the date that she was bred? Your vet can palpate the mare to get an idea of how far along she is. A more exact way is to have the Vet ultrasound her. Depending on the breed, some mare's bodies do show signs of the pregnancy earlier then others.  You can tell that a Thoroughbred, is in foal sooner then you can with a Quarter Horse, just due to the mare's body type.

Lisa