Thursday, July 30, 2009

How soon will it be safe to ride a mare you hope just got pregnant?

we just purchased today and since she hadn't been handled in over two years she was really stressed out when we got home but her in a separate area away from our stallion and a%26#92;the next morning intoduced them and within 10 minutes they were fooling around and within 30 minutes he had mounted her seveal times and we left them together all night long and now we hope she is pregnant as they don't seem interested in each other for the past 3 days they just graze together and don't pay much attention to each other.Hope this means he got her pregnant and I need to know when it will b e safe to start riding her. I have already gotten her over the fear of being touched as long as there is a fence between us and now I am working on getting her to accept my presents in the pen with out fear i'm going to try and hurt her
Answers:
Mares are in heat on average from 3 to 5 days but their standing heat (meaning when they will stand still to be bred) may be as little as 24 hours. Some mares are in heat for a week. It really depends on the mare. Breeding for one day only does not mean that she may be pregnant if she was already going out of heat. If your stallion's semen count is not high and is not full of good quality sperm then she may not be pregnant either. Breeding by natural cover like you did is sometimes the easiest way to get a mare pregnant because horses know a lot more about these things than what us people (even vets) do. A lot of times if we have a mare that is hard to get her to take (pregnant) by A.I. or by live cover with us handling them, a quick little turnout with the stallion does the trick. It is amazing that it works that way.
For the exercise of her, since she has not been handled for 2 years, I would be cautious in overworking her now if you think that she might be pregnant. The vet can ultrasound her in 15 to 30 days (depending on your normal vet- typically day 23 you can start to see something). If you dont have enough money to pay for that, you can simply wait a little longer than that and see if she comes into heat again. A mare will normally not show any signs that they are pregnant until several months into the pregnancy.
In general with our mares we do not work them for the first 30 days or put extreme stress on them if they are not used to that amount of work. If they are used to getting worked a lot, then we lighten the load on them and only work them half of what they are used to doing. In your case, I would not work the mare until you confirm that she is in foal if that is what you want to do. She is under stress since she is not used to being handled, you probably do not know her breeding history (if she has ever absorbed or aborted a foal), so adding any more to that could easily cause her to absorb the fetus if pregnant.
Once she is confirmed in foal, then you could slowly increase the amount of work that you do with her. The slower the better. Use the next couple of weeks as bonding time with her, because you are going to have to be able to handle her for the vet (to do the ultrasound, to give her the necessary vaccinations to keep her and the baby safe, and to assist with the delivery if necessary) and to handle her after she has the baby. A mare that will not let you touch her is going to have issues with you touching the baby. Plus, if she will not let the baby nurse, you are going to have to get the milk and the colostrum from the first day or so in order for the baby to survive.
Get her used to being handled and touched everywhere, and once she is in foal, start slowly with some light lunging and add some more work each time that you work her. Remember to give her days off and to supplement her feed with extra protein and fat (as well as hay) since she is not only going to have to support a growing baby inside her but she is going to be getting into shape at the same time. Her calorie intake will need to be increased as her energy needs increase.
Hope that helps.
By the way, the end of your question says that you are getting her to accept presents in the pen without fear. But then it says that I am going to try and hurt her. You might want to change that.
This is typical behavior for a mare who has been covered and is no longer in her cycle. A blood test can confirm whether or not she is pregnant--call your vet.
You should discuss your desire to ride her at that time and find out what your vet recommends.
Good luck!
First you might want to check to see if she is pregnant by checking with a vet. If she is pregnant than great but i would not ride her until a couple months after she has her foal. But if she is pregnant i would still lunge her about twice a day. And obviously you can ride her if she isn't pregnant. Another way to tell if she is pregnant is to see if her belly is getting larger or her nipples are bigger and maybe even producing milk. Well i hope this helped you out! Oh and good luck if she has a foal!
It is safe to ride a mare as a non-pregnant animal until the 7th month of pregnancy. If she doesn't come back into heat again for the rest of the season, she is 99% sure to be pregnant. I would have a vet check though.
At her 7th month you can ride her till her 9th month. There can be no gallops, jumping, too much cantering, any thing too jostling. It is reccomended that you only walk. From 9 months to pregnancy there should be no forced exercise, except walking to keep her somewhat in shape. No riding or pressure on her back.
I just recently read this in a 4-H project book, and we are waiting for conformation to see if my mare is pregnant!
Best of Wishes!!
~jimafreak~
you can continue riding her but definatly know when its time to stop (when it becomes to much of a challenge for her) and you want to just keep her going slow when you ride her.
no jumping
no galloping
etc lol!
good luck
Hi there. When a mare is bred and checked in foal, (you can have her ultrasounded at 14 days after her last cover(being bred), no need for a blood test and it takes time to get it back, and you can't have her palpated until 45 days), she can continue the same exercise that she had been doing before she was bred. It sounds as if she has not been worked with for 2 years. Don't do anything strenuous with her until she is checked in foal, and until after 35 days. She could easily abort if overstressed or overexerted by exercise. Do as you are and play in the pen with her, bond with her and get her trust. Become friends, this is more important while she is pregnant than riding her anyway. You need to separate them into different pens, as the stallion could injure her and she could lose the fetus.
I wouldn't try to ride her while she is pregnant because she was not ridden for 2 years before and stress could cause her to lose it. You can always start riding her after she foals, when the baby is about 3 months old and he can follow you around on the mare.
Pro trainer and breeder
You should definitely check with a vet to see if she's pregnant or just wait and see if her nipples or stomach is getting any bigger. From personal experience you could ride her until she's nine month's pregnant, but ride her easy. keep her at a trot and dont make her gallop around a lot. after about nine months you shouldn't ride her but you should walk her every day or just leave her loose.
I have had 4 foals born from my mares (and I hope 2 more this year) and we rode them throughout their whole pregnancy. Of course when they got really close we wouldn't do anything strenuous on them just a walk or maybe a trot. When their foals got a liittle older we rode the mares around to let the babies get exercise!

Good Luck riding and with your little one!
You can ride them at any point and all the way up to about a month before she is due but I would not do very hard riding on her after 5 months.
My mother has been breeding for over 35 yrs. %26 Myself 19yrs. We ride ours, easy rides. No hard working. You need to keep the mare in shape for the birthing. Like us. We take ours on trail rides. Good luck!!
Mares can and should be ultrasounded to check for conception at 16 days post cover, then at 30,60, 90, and 120 days. Your mare is just acting like this because she has ovulated and gone out of heat. As for riding her, you can start to do moderate exercise with her at any time- and indeed, you should ride her at least a little bit throughout her pregnancy. She will need regular vet care, and she will also need to have her feet seen to on a regular basis- hooves grow faster when a mare is pregnant, just like your hair and nails will grow more if you are pregnant. I would caution against feeding too much grain early in pregnancy, however- feeding mares too much early on only makes them fat, and this can cause problems at delivery. The same thing is true of people- excess weight in pregnancy is a hazard to both mother and baby at delivery. Your mare needs a regular diet, and access to good hay or pasture. Hope this helps.

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