Is My Mare Pregnant?

Question
We had just bought a 12yr old mare who  has been a brood mare for years and once we brung her home we noticed that her udders where sort of filled. The first time we met her the owner said she could have been exposed to their stallion sometime last year, but we didn't think so till now. We had had to deal with her dancing for a while before she allowed us to check her udders. My mom showed my some of it. To me it looked like water, but it had slight coloring. I checked her Volva and it was very soft. I couldn't tell if her hindquarters where jelly. She was so tense about us touching her hindquarters we couldn't tell. Once I got her to settle down I started to poke her and pushing in to see if there was a jiggle and there was some. She has been really kicking at her stomach for a couple weeks. We went weeks to see her and got some history and left. The next we asked to ride and she didn't want the saddle on and she was really raising her legs as if there was a baby. I looked at some of the pictures I took and saw her udders were a little big for not "being bred last year". We can't tell if she is truelly pregnant or it's just harmonal. Is there someone who an give me an opinion?

Answer
Hi Chelsea,

First, I must let you know that a 12 year old mare who has been used as a brood mare and has had quite a few foals, could have an udder that does look "sort of" filled without being pregnant.  And it is not uncommon for there to be a watery type fluid that has a yellow tinge to it always present in the udder that can be expressed out.  

Also, the fact that she has been used as a brood mare could explain the softness of her vulva and hind quarters.  The more foals a mare has had, the more "broke down" I guess you could say, everything becomes.

It is not normal for a pregnant mare to constantly kick at their stomach.  I don't know about where you live, but where I live we start to get these tiny little bugs, kind of like itsy bitsy flies, that will really start to bite at the horses' underbellies and udders and the mares will be kicking at their bellies a lot because the bugs are biting them.  It also sounds like when you tried to saddle her and she started kicking at her belly, that she may just be what I call "cinchy."  She knows she's about to be saddled and is just throwing a temper tantrum.  She doesn't want to be cinched up.

If your mare is indeed pregnant and is far enough along to already have her udder filling, soft vulva and jello hind end, then you should be seeing and feeling very strong foal movement in her belly.  If you're not seeing or feeling a baby moving at all, then my opinion would be that you just have a crabby brood mare on your hands, and if they sold her to you saying she is broke to ride, she is probably only green broke at the best or possibly been mistreated, considering you say that she danced a lot and didn't really like you touching her hind end.

Just look and feel for any foal movement, and that will tell you if she's pregnant.