This Ultrasound shows Annie's ovary is ready to release an egg.
Time to enter the equine exam room.
Val giving Annie some comfort and support.
It's important to get the perineum clean before the A/I procedure......
The romantic moment is here. The 'stallion' has arrived.......
All done. Annie says, "Whooeee! That feels sort of weird".
Val walking, a hopefully pregnant, Annie back to the trailer.
Yes!! Annie's pregnant!
Annie is due to foal in only 6 more months. A horse gestation period lasts for about eleven months, or about 340 days. A heartbeat can be detected on day 21, and the fetus gender can be determined by day 70 of the gestation. We were able to watch the heartbeat(!!), but it was too early to find out the sex of the foal yet.
Halfway through gestation the fetus is the size between a rabbit and a beagle. The most dramatic fetal development occurs in the last 3 months of pregnancy when 60% of fetal growth occurs.
If you'd like to read more about Annie (Fantastyk Gal) and Val's experience in preparing her for breeding, as well as the handsome stallion Val chose for her beautiful mare, check out the Fantastyk Voyage Blog.
I'm getting very excited about Annie's baby and hope to be able to watch it being born or, at the very least, to be there soon after.
Have you ever bred any of your horses, stallions or mares?
Have you ever watched a foal being born?
Or handled a newborn foal?
31 comments :
Wonderful post, as usual, I did learn something. Thanks!
I have experienced many breedings and births. I used to raise miniature horses.
The wonder of birth, amazing!
Hope you are able to see the birth of your friend's foal.
U is for unique...like you are delightfully!
I was wondering what you were going to do for U!. Very interesting. Hope the foal is healthy and born with no complications.
I've never bred a mare. Dusty is the only mare I have that could be bred, but with her personality if I bred her without her permission I know she would be mad and insulted. Kind of 'how dare you' without asking. I'd love a little foal, who wouldn't but we just don't have the time to devote to training one right now.
We were lucky to arrive at the barn where we used to board just in time to see a foal being born one morning. It was amazing.
I often wish I had pictures at least of Keil Bay as a foal. And of Salina with her foals.
Loved the info on the ultrasounding!
OH my goodness! Keep us updated on Annie! She's very cute. I used to ride a horse at lessons that looked a lot like her...
I would like to have a breeding farm when I grow up...but I doubt it'd actually happen, lol. I've never seen a foal born besides on black beauty (lol) but I have handled a newborn! Friends of ours bred their miniature pony, and the same day that it was born we went and looked at it--it was THE SWEETEST thing I've ever seen! It was soooo small and romping around...
Foals are so cute, and soft, like velvet, and just silly. My 4H leader had a mare that foaled two summers ago, and the foal had this cute little fly mask that made it look like a bug. It lay in the sand with bugeyes. It was also really cute...but what foal isn't?!
U is for Ulysses, who we've been studying in school...
How exciting! It would be the Ultimate to watch a baby horse be born. Or any baby really.
Thanks Lisa for the recap and the memmories! I would love to see an ultrasound of her now, huh? I get so excited thinking about it. Usually, I try not to dwell on it, because that makes the waiting easier but I wonder what she's going to have? Colt or Filly? And what color??
WOW! I've never witnessed the AI procedure....yeah, how romantic! :)
I bred one QH mare, who gave me a lovely colt. I was there when he was born (as a matter of fact I got to help him get into better position to be born as the Vet couldn't make it for a couple of hours), was I stressed? YOU BET!!! But it all turned out well.
I remember thinking how strange his soft little hooves with the "fingers" looked.
Hah!!! This is the perfect post to accompany mine!!! I wrote about Sienna's birth and life with US (us, not USA).
Yes, we have bred mares and raised foals. They were all Shetlands, Welsh, and Quarter Ponies, with the exception of one Tennessee Walking mule. My grandpa USED to be a logger (using mules) and he bred his TW mare to a donkey to get a mule. The horses all came undone when that foal opened its mouth and brayed...lol!!!
I also USED to work at a TB and an Arab breeding farm, so I have been exposed to lots of horsey reproduction in my life time.
Stop by when you have a minute, and you can see a pic of Sienna just minutes after her birth! :)
Mel
PS-It is still snowing, it is 20 degrees, and the wind is blowing a steady 40 mph. Can you say FREEZING!!!!! LOL!!!
I had an ultrasound done on Lostine many years ago to see if she could carry a foal. It was a no-go. She had too many cysts, most of which were quite large and in the worst location -- right where the embryo needs to connect to the top of the uterus.
Ultrasound! What an Uplifting and informative post.
I was tickled by the gizmo to get the pony tail Up out of the way!
I had a friend who took her mare to the stallion in the old way. It was successful and a colt was born, but from then on, she was embarassed to ride past the stallions home because the mare always raised her tail and fought to go there. I guess she wanted a large family:)
Good luck Val. She's a pretty horse and I'm sure she will be a good mother.
Lisa, you're blessed to have such a great neighbor.
Dan
I've never bred a horse but I've seen a few foals shortly after their births.
"U" = UNDULATING
My first response was ouch.
But I am truly in aw of the since of fertility.
Not to change the subject my daughter Amy will go for an ultrasound tomorrow. As time is near. She will go every week now. When she went home yesterday her baby has dropped and no longer out front. She can see her toes. I was shocked when she came over today. Looks like she dropped 20 pounds.
Bye for now.
Grammy
I wish her all the luck. That is so awesome and exciting. Unfortunately the only birth I got to experience was a red sack birth and we ended up taking the baby to Ohio State (biggest equine vet facility around our area) and it was a nightmare. They ended up euthenizing the poor filly. It was definitely a memorable experience, but not one that I would ever want to take again.
Oh I love babies!! What a fun post!! I had one too many experiances with the vet and ultrasound machines. I tried to breed my mare two years ago, and she didn't take, 2000 dollars and a year later, I tried again. Now 2500 dollars later, she finally is pregnant!! She is due in March!! I can't wait.
I got to see her have a foal two years ago. It was really fantastic. I had never seen a foal be born until I moved to Lousiana. My husband breed his stallion, so we get to play with babies a lot.
It will be so exciting to see Annie's baby!!
U is for unique.
How exciting! I can't wait to see what the baby looks like. It's so hard to wait for babies, especially when they belong to our beloved animals. I wish Val and Annie all the best.
How Unbelievably exciting. I hope you get the opportunity to witness the birth and hopefully you or Val will post pictures of it on your blog :)
Yep we've had a foal born at our place. My son had a 1/2 Arab mare that we bred to a gorgeous Arabian stallion. We got a darling filly with a perfect diamond on her head. We named her Quintessence. It was one of the best experiences of my life. I have pictures of me with her and you'd have thought I gave birth to her.
When I was a teen, I talked my Mom into buying me the neighbor's mare...no one knew she was in foal. I came home from school one day and there was a little filly! How could we not have known?!?!?
In the mid 1980's, I worked on a breeding/training farm. They stood 7-9 stallions and we had dozens of mares in at one time. Did AI and live cover. I watched/helped many deliveries. Even experienced a set of twins...totally amazing, but sadly neither of them survived (typical).
Oh this is so cool. I'm learning soooo much. I'm really excited about this, seriously!
I definitely NEED to check back!
(Hugs)
~Michele~
interesting post and as always i learned something new.
always, always enjoy stopping by and visiting you.
have a good week lisa.
hugs
Yes to all of you questions - I believe was even present when Patrick was conceived (you think AI is romantic - a natural breeding wasn't exactly what I thought it was going to be - those two were so icky!), I was present when his momma (my Gracie) gave birth to him (no need assist she was professional at the chore) - and he's been a part of my life every since.
It was a great experience - but it was very expensive and alot of work too.
After he was born I decided never to breed again - unless I was a millionaire - because it was so expensive. I have no problem at all letting a professional outfit to the work for me and I will stick to purchasing the end product and I can still enjoy all the perks that come with a foal without the cost of actually breeding one myself.
wow, interesting photos :-x!
Lisa,
Oh my goodness! That's the most exciting thing EVER!
Where I board, I was just a few hours off when a foal was born.... TWICE! It was kind of agravating... so, yes, as you may have guessed, I have handled a newborn. They're soooooooooooooo cute! And the foals that were born there are STILL there, until they are yearlings and are sold at the race track sale. You see, the barn I board at is a breeding barn, but used to be a racing barn. There are still around 30 racehorses stabled there, (and 10 other horses) but the person who runs my stable doesn't race anymore... although she used to! But her daughter is now an eventer, and I'm going to be eventing Stewy next season! I'm excited... although nervous.... yikes!
Good luck with that!
xoxoxoxobffllyd
WHERE are you today!? no post to comment on!
I hope you're ok! <:-)
But I'll say, anyway, that V is for Victory.
Lisa-
Missing you today! Hope that all is well. That ulcer better not be acting up again!! :)
Growing up no AI...just the real thing. But I have seen a foal being born and handled a newborn. They are the sweetest things. Great post.
cool and romantic shots, my friend. :) It was neat seeing the "stud" in action.
How cool is that!?!! Thank you for taking us along. I'm UBER excited to see the little one when he/she arrives.
Utterly Amazing!! I so enjoyed this post!! Seeing that little baby foal on the ultrasound brought tears to my eyes....so sweet!
Oh, technology makes it all seem so simple! Here in Niger, the only way is the natural way :-)
I had Arwen mated in 2006, without success. Although we don't know for sure what happened, by the looks of it, she resorbed. She then spent a year without showing any heats, but being visited by a teaser brought all her hormones back and we mated her in October 2007. At the four months, I could see the first signs of belly growth and from there on, she just grew and grew. Her darling baby filly was born two weeks early on September 1st, without any complications. The birth itself took 15 minutes, and after four hours, the filly had stood (and fallen!), eaten, peed and pooped properly, so everyone could relax and go to bed! I was in Sweden and talked to Anette on skype out all the time :-)
Isolde is now three months old and as beautiful as can be! Anette's barb mare Sahara was mated to the stallion of her choice (or should I say colt?) and their offspring is expected in end of January 2009. Sahara's belly is way smaller than Arwen's at the same time, so I don't think her little one will be born earlier. Everyone in Zinder is convinced that Sahara's baby is a colt, since colts here are supposed to take longer before they pop out! We'll know in a few weeks if there's any truth (or lucky guesses!) in that!
Looking forward to part II of the story!
Warm greetings from West Africa,
Esther
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