I recently purchased a 17 yr old mare (had three foals) and is 329 days pregnant. Last night she showed signs of abdominal pains, looking at her stomach and kicking once at it, acting in distress.. I thought she might be showing the first signs of labour, but then noticed she had not passed any manure for 4 hours. She did pass a normal stool shortly thereafter, and was quiet the rest of the night, with 6-8 piles by this morning. She is relaxed around the tail, and her udder is a little filled, but not hard and no wax. Today she seems a bit restless....I am very worried about her colicking....I read somewhere that this can happen during the last month. Should I call the vet, or what should I do?????
Kelly (63.172.47.198)
Posted on Wednesday, March 27, 2002 - 12:46 pm:
Anyone that has had a pregnant mare has gone through this. Keep an eye on her, make sure that she has plenty of exercise. As long as she is now comfortable, and passing manure without straining, you should be fine.
Most likely the foal is causing pressure on her internal organs. That can be quite uncomfortable for the mare. She will probably roll to help position the foal for delivery. If she is obviously in distress, sweating, with an increased heart rate, and not producing manure, you should call a vet. If her discomfort passed and she is again relaxed, all should be well. It sounds to me as if you may expect a foal within the next 10 days!
Jess (142.166.254.113)
Posted on Wednesday, March 27, 2002 - 03:04 pm:
Thanks, Kelly! I appreciate your response and as she seems fine, today, I will certainly take your advice!
Sandy (64.158.241.214)
Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 06:40 pm:
Jess, I had a mare that at 7 months pregnant began acting as though she was severely colicking. She was sweating, shaking, flopping to the ground, thrashing violently. I thought for sure she was going to abort. I called the vet out immediately, and by the time he got here, she was grazing peacefully. He did a colic exam on her and determined there was no obstruction, everything was fine, except the foal was extremely active at the time. His diagnosis was exactly what Kelly said, the foal more than likely was putting a lot of pressure on her gut, making her extremely uncomfortable. He told me if it happened again, to give her a dose of Banamine. I have not had the problem with her since, and she is due Apr. 18.
Jess (207.179.135.98)
Posted on Wednesday, April 03, 2002 - 05:06 pm:
Same symptoms again last night, but I was less worried this time, as she did seem to be passing manure. She is at 336 days now, and we have a camera and the monitor in our bedroom. I haven't slept any more than an hour at a time for a week and am as tired as that poor mare looks, not to mention cranky No wax, her bag is filling, everything else looks right. I am quite stressed out about this....and she isn't even overdue......
Although I feel like I should start this letter out with something like "Dear Abby" I appreciate the willingness everyone has to share their time and talents with others. Here goes, we stand two stallions. Last night one of our clients called to inform us that her 16 year old mare was in hard labor. Unfortunately she is still about two months away from her "due date" When we arrived, she was indeed exhibiting the signs of active labor, pawing, turning in circles, laying down, rolling, extending her legs and straining. In addition she was passing quite a bit of gas and manure. Her vulva was extremely swollen, extended and very soft. By the time we arrived, she had been in this state for about 2 hours. She continued like this for about 45 minutes more. She then started to eat and act as if nothing was out of the ordinary. We went home and the owner (you guessed it) spent a restless night in the barn! She called us this morning and said the mare was calm the remainder of the night and then started displaying the same behavior again this morning. We advised her to contact her vet. My question is two-fold. First, how early can a foal arrive and still survive? Second, if this was some sort of colic, what can anyone suggest to treat it, so as to prevent an early delivery? If you have any other advise, it would also be greatly appreciated!!! Thank you very much! Sign me, A Stallion Owner with Sympathy Pains!
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No wax, her bag is filling, everything else looks right. I am quite stressed out about this....and she isn't even overdue...... 
