Looking for some opinions on competing the pregnant mare. I have a mare that is (hopefully, I will know for sure after her recheck tomorrow!) 51 days in foal. She is a fourteen year old mare that has been retired from the show ring-- but she is far from being an old nag!! My younger sister wants to take her to a regional 4-H championship in June (the mare will be around 90 days in foal at that point). This mare has been ridden regularly here at home, so her exercise level would not increase dramatically.
I was wondering if anyone here has successfully competed with a pregnant mare? I do not want to allow her to take the mare at the expense of the pregnancy. She has had problems with maintaining pregnancies before, but any pregnancy that she has successfully carried above 40 days she has been able to carry full term. She is UTD on all shots but I am aware that even immunizations cannot eliminate all risk of illness... The show is approximately 2 hours from our farm (the horses would be shipped early early AM). I plan on (if we take her) disinfecting her stall prior to putting her into it, as well as bringing only her own buckets/supplies/etc...
We competed with our pregnant mares last year on a rather stressful schedule. Our show season is short but intense.....(we went to Syracuse NY for a show, trailered back (about 6 hours), unloaded the horses, they were home for a day then headed down to Maryland for a show for an example). They did not have a lot of time off yet they not only did really well (All American qualified) but it did not seem to affect the pregnancies and they delievered healthy fillies this spring.
I don't see any problem with competing wih a pregnant mre however I would always be watchful and make sure the stess and activity levels are managable for her. I would also be very mindful about the environment you are taking her too...i.e., make sure she is up to date on vaccinations and keep to your worming schedule.
Goood luck!
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