# In foal or fat?



## Chantellehoff (2 June 2019)

Hey
Iâ€™m new to all of this let alone having a pony. I have had my mare for 3months now. I donâ€™t know any history apart from that she is 5. When I got her she didnâ€™t have any hard feed no hay in the field just small amount of grass. Since then she has hard feed once a day and hay in her field. But I have noticed she has put a lot of weight on in the last month. A few people have me worried that she could be in foal?
Best option is to get the vet out which I am doing but for now am worried as I thought she was just having to much feed not enough work so have taking the one feed a day away and work her for 40min every other day.

What are peopleâ€™s opinions.


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## Moon River (2 June 2019)

Is there a lot of grass in your field? She's in really light work so could just be getting more calories than she needs.   Vet check asap is your best way forwards then either diet/muzzle/restrict grazing and if possible up the workload if she is just getting porky or you can take advice and plan as necessary if its a bogof!


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## Chantellehoff (2 June 2019)

Moon River said:



			Is there a lot of grass in your field? She's in really light work so could just be getting more calories than she needs.   Vet check asap is your best way forwards then either diet/muzzle/restrict grazing and if possible up the workload if she is just getting porky or you can take advice and plan as necessary if its a bogof!
		
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Yeah th


Moon River said:



			Is there a lot of grass in your field? She's in really light work so could just be getting more calories than she needs.   Vet check asap is your best way forwards then either diet/muzzle/restrict grazing and if possible up the workload if she is just getting porky or you can take advice and plan as necessary if its a bogof!
		
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yeah there is a lot a good spring grass. She is constantly head down grazing  I have stopped the hard feed for now. And have a weight tape to check her weight weekly.


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## HeyMich (2 June 2019)

What size and breed is she? Our welsh pony literally lives on fresh air - he has a paddock of about 1/3 of an acre with short grass in. If I were to give him hay and a hard feed every day he'd probably explode... Might be why your pony was on restricted grazing before? If you are worried, I'd call the vet to check.


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## Shay (3 June 2019)

To be honest it sounds like far too much feed and too little work.  But if there is a chance she could be in foal you would be better to check.


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## LaurenBay (3 June 2019)

Ask the vet to come out, only way to be certain. You need to know what you are dealing with, if she is in foal then arrangements need to be put in place. If she is fat then she is at risk of lami and you need to get the weight off sharpish. You won't know what route to take unless you know for sure if she is or not. Without knowing her history there is a chance she could be in foal.


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## Amymay (3 June 2019)

Post a picture. We love these ðŸ¤—


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## Chantellehoff (3 June 2019)

amymay said:



			Post a picture. We love these ðŸ¤—
		
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How do I post a picture? Iâ€™m new to all of this.


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## Chantellehoff (3 June 2019)

LaurenBay said:



			Ask the vet to come out, only way to be certain. You need to know what you are dealing with, if she is in foal then arrangements need to be put in place. If she is fat then she is at risk of lami and you need to get the weight off sharpish. You won't know what route to take unless you know for sure if she is or not. Without knowing her history there is a chance she could be in foal.
		
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This is what is going through my mind.


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## Chantellehoff (3 June 2019)

HeyMich said:



			What size and breed is she? Our welsh pony literally lives on fresh air - he has a paddock of about 1/3 of an acre with short grass in. If I were to give him hay and a hard feed every day he'd probably explode... Might be why your pony was on restricted grazing before? If you are worried, I'd call the vet to check.
		
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Literally all we know is she is a 5 year old cob. She is 12.1 hands. In all honesty I think the grazing she was having was due to lack ok care. If I knew how to post pictures I would show you the difference we have make in just 3months.


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## Leo Walker (3 June 2019)

in the reply box, along the top theres a little square with what looks to me to be a drawing of a montain in it, its next to the smiley face. Click on that and you get the option to upload a photo


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## Chantellehoff (4 June 2019)

Leo Walker said:



			in the reply box, along the top theres a little square with what looks to me to be a drawing of a montain in it, its next to the smiley face. Click on that and you get the option to upload a photo
		
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It wonâ€™t let me as images are to big.


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## Red-1 (4 June 2019)

When I want to shrink pictures I upload to Facebook or Messanger, then save them from Facebook or Messanger. The saved ones will be smaller. They have to be under 1MB to upload here.

Alternatively, if you are using Windows there is an option to resize in the menu when you open a photo.

I would restrict grazing right now, and there is likely no need for hay or for hard feed at all.

Mine is 15.3 ID X TB and she is on a sectioned off piece of field 20M X 20M for 1 hour in the morning and 2 hours at night currently. The grass at the moment is crazy. The rest of the time she is either stabled or turned out on an all weather surface. Lush grass is not really suitable for horses and even if the field looks short, they will be eating it as it grows.

No one has seen your little cob, but it is considered healthy to see the faint outline of ribs when coming out of winter. Generally with a cob weight gain is easy, it is weight loss that can be difficult. 

If you are suspicious about her previous care, then I would have a worm count done as well as teeth etc, if you have not already done so. Either way, an overweight horse is not healthy so I would have the vet check for pregnancy and then organise a sensible diet if she is just overweight.


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## Chantellehoff (4 June 2019)

I donâ€™t a full worming when I g


Red-1 said:



			When I want to shrink pictures I upload to Facebook or Messanger, then save them from Facebook or Messanger. The saved ones will be smaller. They have to be under 1MB to upload here.

Alternatively, if you are using Windows there is an option to resize in the menu when you open a photo.

I would restrict grazing right now, and there is likely no need for hay or for hard feed at all.

Mine is 15.3 ID X TB and she is on a sectioned off piece of field 20M X 20M for 1 hour in the morning and 2 hours at night currently. The grass at the moment is crazy. The rest of the time she is either stabled or turned out on an all weather surface. Lush grass is not really suitable for horses and even if the field looks short, they will be eating it as it grows.

No one has seen your little cob, but it is considered healthy to see the faint outline of ribs when coming out of winter. Generally with a cob weight gain is easy, it is weight loss that can be difficult.

If you are suspicious about her previous care, then I would have a worm count done as well as teeth etc, if you have not already done so. Either way, an overweight horse is not healthy so I would have the vet check for pregnancy and then organise a sensible diet if she is just overweight.
		
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ot her. She is due again but I am doing a working count this week with her.


Leo Walker said:



			in the reply box, along the top theres a little square with what looks to me to be a drawing of a montain in it, its next to the smiley face. Click on that and you get the option to upload a photo
		
Click to expand...


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## Leo Walker (4 June 2019)

Her neck looks quite thin compared to her body still, but I'm inclined to say fat not in foal. I would expect more belly and less general weight gain if it was a foal. She could  be fat and in foal though so def worth a vet check to put your mind at ease!


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## Chantellehoff (4 June 2019)

Leo Walker said:



			Her neck looks quite thin compared to her body still, but I'm inclined to say fat not in foal. I would expect more belly and less general weight gain if it was a foal. She could  be fat and in foal though so def worth a vet check to put your mind at ease!
		
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## Amymay (4 June 2019)

Itâ€™s almost impossible to tell from your photos.  Let us know how you get on with the vet.


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## Chantellehoff (4 June 2019)

Chantellehoff said:



			Literally all we know is she is a 5 year old cob. She is 12.1 hands. In all honesty I think the grazing she was having was due to lack ok care. If I knew how to post pictures I would show you the difference we have make in just 3months.
		
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## Leo Walker (4 June 2019)

You need to get a side on, stood up straight picture. What she looked like 3 months ago doesnt matter for this. 3 months on good grass is enough for your average cob to balloon. Mine can do it in a week, never mind 3 months!


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## Bojingles (7 June 2019)

I'm going to buck the trend here and hazard a guess she's in foal. But hard to tell from those pics x


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## Gloi (8 June 2019)

I feel she is both fat and in foal. If you do not 100% know her history there's always a good chance she has been in a field with a colt. The vet will be able to tell you.


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## PapaverFollis (8 June 2019)

I'm putting a small amount of money on in foal.  Just a small amount.


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## Chantellehoff (18 June 2019)

hi guys just thought Iâ€™d update you all. She is just got fat.


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## LaurenBay (18 June 2019)

thanks for the update. With correct feeding and exercise I am sure she will shift the weight in no time.


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## JanetGeorge (18 June 2019)

LaurenBay said:



			Ask the vet to come out, only way to be certain. You need to know what you are dealing with, if she is in foal then arrangements need to be put in place. If she is fat then she is at risk of lami and you need to get the weight off sharpish. You won't know what route to take unless you know for sure if she is or not. Without knowing her history there is a chance she could be in foal.
		
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You would be right if all vets (even equine vets) had a clue about determining pregnancy.  But unless you KNOW a vet is a good repro vet, there IS a good chance they are wrong!  My current example is a healthy 11 month colt.  At 1st scan, he was twins, at 28 days he was "a malformed conceptus with a weak heartbeat."  Of course I was advised to abort the mare BUT - I knew the mare a LOT better than the vet and her scanner did  (and she WAS suposed to be an experienced repro vet - but it was my first season with her after my vet of MANY years retired.)  So I ignored the advice - it was too late in the season to try again.  No sign of her aborting the foal so got her scanned against at 60 days by which time it was a "60 day conceptus with no heartbeat."  No explanation of how it grew fom 28 to 60 days and heart stopped beating as vet scanned, lol.  I watched her and worried a bit, but not long after she was certainly showing signs of being still in foal - so the only thing that worried me was if it would have 3 front legs or two heads, lol. And he was absolutely fine in all respects.  The FACT is thateven experienced vets can get it wrong.  The mare was called Surprise for a reason - her dam was meant to be n.i.f. when I bought - her - so stud vet said.  For the next 8 foalings, good vet never found a pregnanc at first sweep - he'd say - not seeing anything.  I'd say 'keep looking, this is Portia.'  He always found them in the end - always in the 'wrong' place - or something.  Seems she passed the skill in disguising pregnancies onto ONE of her daughters - the next 3 were never a problem scanning.

So - keep your eyes on her Chantellehoff .  Feed her and work her as if she was NOT pregnant - won't do her any harm if vet is wrong.  An in-foal mare is better being a bit on the fit side - and even a little on the lean side unil 6-8 weeks before foaling.  Watch the top line - and watch the belly.  If the mare is lean on top and has a fat belly, that will tell you it is time to ease up a little and be a teensy bit more generous with food.


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