I have a maiden mare that is due to foal anytime...at least it looks like she is. I say that because we bought her last June as open and found out in October that she was in foal. We have no idea when she was bred or to what. She has had small bits of wax for the past 2 days and is really soft around her tail. I know that she is close, but she has just turned 3 yrs old and it worries me. We measured her belly and she is just shy of being 4 feet across at the bottom of her tummy and she has developed severe edema in the last week. It runs from her chest to her udder and is bigger than the average hot water bottle between her front legs. She is out from 7am to 7pm(weather permitting) so she gets lots of excercise. The last 2 days she has wanted to stay in and eat. Guessing that her due date is close, but how close??
You should be seeing a foal any time from the sounds of it. Being out is better than just standing in the barn when you have edema. Normally a mare won't produce a foal bigger then they can handle. The swelling you are seeing are probabally what are called milk veins and are common, especially when they are good milk producers. Wax, well, it is unpredictable unless you know a history on a mare and being she is maiden doesn't help any either. They are inconsistant in what they do ! Once you see leaking milk then you are really close if she leaks, in most cases no more than three days off and I would say closer to less than 48 hours.
Tammy - My maiden has edema right in front of her udders. She had a little from about 90 days, but it has grown 4 times the size in the last two weeks. It does not go to the front of her body, but I understand that is common. My vet was out today for routine visit and he said she looked great. I am posting a picture of her edema so you have something to compare to.
Kathy- My mare had that swelling about 4 months ago. I was very worried and called the vet and he said that she was fine. That small edema has now turned into a 1.5 inch ridge running from her chest to her udder. Between her front legs feels like a hot water bottle...LOL....it is huge. I just checked on her and her udder is starting to get that shinney look to it. Her teets are not filled out, but not all mares fill out before foaling. It is so frustrating not knowing when she is due as i live about 4 miles from my barn. I am heading back in about 1 hour to check her again. She was comfortable and not showing any signs of distress or labour when I was there. I wish she would just do it and get it over with...
My maiden mare also has the adema that you are describing. It is about the thickness of a hot water bottle as you said. You can see a ridge all the way along her belly looking at her from the side. It runs all the way from her udders to between her front legs.
It started at about day 320 for her. Some days it seems to go down a little, but, it doesn't go completely away. She is turned out from 8am til 6pm everyday.
My friends mare did this same thing during the last few weeks of pregnancy.
Best of luck to you. We are at day 332 today. I'm expecting my mare to wait a few more days. She is making good progress, but, no dripping milk yet and her udder hasn't gotten that shiney look about it yet. She still seems to have her mucus plug,too.
I live about 14miles from the barn. So, I'm planning on camping out in a friends horse trailer that has living quarters. I installed a Walmart camera system, so I can watch from the warmth of the trailer.. instead of bugging my mare every hour in the cold barn. HOPEFULLY, I won't miss it. This is my first time breeding and I"m so excited!
Laura.
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