Horses! (Or foals to be correct)
Since Christine requested it, I am now going to write a blog all about pregnant mares and foals.
I am going to be getting my info mostly from Wikipedia, but also from other sources and little bits of information that I have picked up from my vet.
First of all, a mare is impregnated by a stallion. Nowadays this usually happens by Artificial insemination (Artificial Insemination (AI): the mare is inseminated by a veterinarian or an equine reproduction manager, using either fresh cooled or frozen semen.), which is basically collecting a stallion’s semen and then freezing it and sending it off to be used to breed a mare. This is the most popular/best way to do it because a lot of times the stallion that people want to breed their mares too is too far away to do “live cover” ( the mare is brought to the stallion’s residence and is covered “live” in the breeding shed. She may also be turned out in a pasture with the stallion for several days to breed naturally (’pasture bred’). The former situation is often preferred, as it provides a more controlled environment, allowing the breeder to ensure that the mare was covered, and places the handlers in a position to remove the horses from one another should one attempt to kick or bite the other.) plus artificial insemination is also safer as the spread of sexually transmitted diseases is reduced, and also there is no chance of a mare kicking a stallion.
The mare is artificially inseminated or bred by live cover, and then she will be checked in about 16 days to see if she “took” (meaning that she is pregnant). If she did not take, then the mare can be bred again on her next cycle until she takes, and is pregnant with a leetle baby horse.
The mare or she is also called the dam, has a gestation period of about eleven months (or about 320-370 days). Usually they are bred in early spring so the baby will be born when it is warmer weather outside the next year. Oftentimes mares are bred right after after the birth of their foal, around the time of their “foal heat” which is their first cycle after the foal is born.
The horse can be ridden throughout the pregnancy, usually up to about 1 or two months before the baby is due. At this point the mare will be pretty big, and she may even start to waddle (kinda like a pregnant human, i think its kind of cute to see a pregnant mare waddling around [: ) since her tummy is so big)
I just thought this little pony was just so dang cute with her big prego belly. Just showing how big they can get.
And here is another pic of a pregnant mare, I think they said she was about 9 months along from where I got it.
So, I am going to go back to the beginning of the pregnancy. The first 30 days of pregnancy are very important, as there is about a 10-15% chance that the embryo will be resorbed, so it is very important that the mare does not undergo a lot of stress and is well taken care of.
Sorry for that little jump there. So after 11 months of being well taken care of and making sure the mom has everything she needs, she will go into labor. Since horses are prey animals, labor is usually quick, and often happens at night to prevent any predators from getting them (if they were in the wild).
There are many signs that show when a mare is going into labor. One of the big ones is that the udder starts to fill noticeably with milk, and the teats distend at this time also. Next, the teats start to wax, which is where sticky drops of milk show up on the teats, and this usually means the mare will foal in about 24-48 hours. The whole foaling process takes about an hour. The foal is positioned with both feet forward and its head in between its two front legs when coming out. The foals hooves are covered with a rubbery substance so it does not hurt the mare on the way out. The foal comes out with the hooves first, then the head will start to show about the time when the knees come out.
There is a picture showing how the baby is positioned inside the mare before it comes out.
After the baby is completely out, they usually stand up within the first hour of birth, can trot and canter within a couple hours, and can gallop the next day. The ability to get up and move so quickly is due to the fact again that they are prey animals, and need to get away quickly if needed.
Foals grow quickly, usually putting on up to 3 pounds a day. They can start eating solids at about 10 days, and after eight t ten weeks will need more feed to supplement the mare’s milk.
Between four and 6 months of age, the foal is weaned from its mother, which is where the baby is taken away from its mother. A foal that has been weaned, but is less than 1 year old is called a weanling.
So that is the whole process of horse pregnancy and babies! Now here are some pics of babies:) If you want to know anymore (christine [: ) just let me know! Sorry it took me a while to get this posted.
here is a guy holding a baby, they can be held pretty easily when they are younger.
and another little guy.
a newborn foal and its mom.
Here is my friend Alissa’s baby when she was first born. Her name is Midnight and I think she is like 5 or 6 years old now?
And the last few pics are pictures I took just yesterday of a baby colt that is about 7 days old. He is at the place where I rode last night.
Mocha and her baby boy (he does not have a name yet)
momma and her baby relaxing in the stall
he was tired…
Sorry the pic is bad, but my camera was being weird and he kept moving right when I took the pics.
and the last one, its bad again, but he is so cute!!
There you are. Babies. I want a foal of my own so bad.