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[RC] maiden mare newbie advice - Barbara Moulton

Hi All,
Joy the mustang is due in early June.  We are just
starting to get some grass here, so I am not sure if
her growing belly is more foal or more pasture...
anyway for the last two weeks or so my very social
always buddied up mare is keeping all to herself.  I
had been noticing some bites on her sides and thought
she was getting picked on.( poor baby!)  As she was
eating today I saw twice a distinct quick bump around
her mid belly towards her flank.  She shuddered her
skin but kept on eating.  Could that be a foal kick?
It made me wonder if she is biting herself? She is
very agile I have seen her bend herself around like a
pretzel to bite an itch close to her tail. Does a
maiden mare understand what's going on? I had a 12
year old maiden mare I bought in FL back in 72 who
dropped a foal 1 month after I got her - she ran away
from it and left him out in the huge overgrown field.
Another boarder found him and called me and it was
almost 5 pm before we could get both together in a
stall.  Cappie still wouldn't nurse Hobo ( dad must
have been some kind of traveling vagabond) so we
called the vet to give her the hormone shot to let her
milk down and it took the vet, the barn owner's grown
son and me( 14) to assist his first nursing.  Cappie
never did really bond to her foal and weaned him by
kicking him away when he was just 4 months old. I have
considered moving Joy to her own pasture since she
doesn't seem to care about being with horsey pals
anymore. The new pasture is really more of a big pen
so we would give up having acres of moving room with
gentle hills but I would hand walk her everyday to get
some fresh grazing for her.
sorry for such dumb questions but Joy means everything
to me and I want to do the best for her.
Barbara and Joy 8 weeks+4 days to go for 340 days gestation.

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