I have 2 mares here a few spot who has been served 3 times over 3 days, and a lovely old qh girl, shes 26 personally thought she is abit too old. Sadly yesterday I was checking her over and found a huge lump in her udder, and her hind leg on same side is slightly swollen, when they arrived I had the owner here of a mini mare im foaling so I didnt get a chance to check them over. My thoughts when observing it was a tumor,could grow burst open and be a big mess, and if she was infoal could end up mare and unborn foal dead. I rang owners and they said no they want her infoal regardless,I sorry said I wont be putting our boy over her, so I will rang my vet and she what she says, so she arrived out and yes bingo its a tumor, when she comes into season and gets infoal most likely it will grow rapidly, and yes the udder could burst and be one hell of a mess, could lose the mare and unborn foal, another option is surgery. So I rang the owners back they had settled down and I explained everything and they have agreed not to get her infoal, the vet is writting a vet report on her and has posted it too them.Shes such a lovely old girl, she just needs being made comfortable and she deserves to have the best quality of life possible in the time shes still alive.Another mare coming on Sunday, I know her shes healthy and is in good condition, Ok maybe Im fussy but mares are coming onto your property and your stallion is serving them. It must be amazing some mares that people exspect to get infoal.
wow, 26 & still breeding, she must have been in good condition.I would have thought at 26 it would put too much strain on her body overall to her detriment.You did the right thing to the mares benefit, welfare, I dont think the owners were looking at the overall picture & the long term effects on mare & foal, not to mention the extra stresses on you.
Good on you for sticking to your guns TSTD. At 26, well yes, one would have thought retirement was well deserved.
The whole issue of sending mares to stud seems to be one that has issues for all parties As a mare owner, I have to say there are plenty of places I wouldn't send my girl. I always like to meet the stallion owners and have a bit of a chat and I am a big fan of service contracts. That way I know what I am paying for and should expect in return.
But I think too, that as a mare owner, the onus is on me to send my girl to stud in the best possible condition. Which nearly backfired on me this year, because she is prone to being a fatty, so I dieted her down to a more respectable size and then worried that she was too light I then worried about our topsy turvy spring weather and a week before she was due to go she got the hoof abscess from hell :roll Luckily that burst the day before she went.
So I rocked up to the stud with my mare, slightly lame with some filling in the leg and worrying about all sorts. Happy ending - she came in that afternoon (that's my girl !), has been served twice and I am now counting 21 days and hopefully a positive scan Then it is just 11 months
The poor girl does look old her last foal was 5 years ago Im pleased they agreed with me in the end. We have had bad exspriences with 2 Studs sending mares to and a miniature stud as well it was very disheartning.Yes I have a stud contract and I also say approved mares only,mares have to be healthy to put nice healthy foals on the ground, good luck with your mares scan JennyR hope alls gone well with your girl and shes infoal.
Thanks TSTD - you will probably hear the celebrations from there ! Zara was my competition horse for years, had her first foal at 14 and this will (hopefully) be her second and last. She is 18 this year, looks great and is an amazing mum, but by the time this one is weaned she will have earned her twilight years in peace and quiet
Well the poor Qh girl died in the night last wednesday, something majorly wrong with her, lucky I had had the vet to her and had a report sent to the owners of her health, then last thing I really wanted was for her to pass away here then I waited and waited for the digger and it didnt come till the next morning.Same day a mini that we rescued has dislocated her hip and is also heavily infoal, I had a feeling she was, because she in poor condtion and has muscle waste over her rump this is the cause of her hip to go.I certainly didnt get her infoal, shes such a dear wee thing a gorgeous black and white pinto, she is having surgery tomorrow but sadly is a chance she will loose her foal.Fingers crossed all goes well.
Whats next, we lost our little mare and her nearly due foal, she died Monday night, my friend went to see her tuesday morning and found her dead, they didnt even know,my friend went inside and told them, they did her bloods and everything was good, we took her up there treating it as an emergency early thursday morning, thinking the vet would get onto it straight away or as soon as possible for hers and the foals sake but her left her till monday afternoon, he sedated her around 1pm to try and manipulate the hip back in but was unsucessful, my friend went there at 4 pm and she was still lying on the ground, she tried to get up, I said why on earth was she not got up,a lack of communication also, we thought we were doing the best for her,she should have been watched more carefully even checked in the night, we arent impressed we thought we were doing the right thing by her, wish we didnt take her all the way there. I asked him did you take notice if the foal was till alive after she came out of the sedation, he said no i he didnt think to check, a mare due to foal left on the ground that long needing help to stand would stress to the max so I think shock and the sedation killed her.We are pretty disgusted, and feel so bad poor little horse, no mare no foal but I bet we get a good vet bill for it.!!!!
OMG, I am so sorry Jenny to hear this, that is shocking treatment she was subjected to, poor wee girl. I know it wont bring her back but can you argue the bill as it was their neglect towards her that could have been her demise?? I suppose hard to prove but surely the wait for her treatment is wrong and the lack of checking during the night....??
Thanks everyone, yes has its been very hard to deal with, I will be putting together a letter, I know it doesnt bring our little mare and foal back but they need to know how we feel about it all.I did say to the vet nurse how we felt, and I said I bet we still get a large vet bill and we have 2 dead horses, being the mare and foal, she didnt say much!!.My poor friend is still upset finding her dead.
Hi Clare meant to mention to you, Jet Bar has gone upto Nadi to ride, shes having a ball, and hes loving it, going really well, Nadi and Jet Bar could go along way together ,hes 16.2 and she looks so good on him, they have 3 of our appies up there now, good advertising for us.Now one of our cats is crook,hes having trouble to swallow, and has lost his meow, could be something not nice!!, will take him to vet tomorrow in Amberley, bit put off vets at the moment, but he has too go.
That is fabulous Jenny, those girls have been a godsend for sure!!! I nearly bought a property near them and it would have been great to be able to go for rides with them but Steven didn't like the house (boohoo). We are putting in an arena here at home and a conservatory on the deck for another room on the house instead of moving. I am going past you again this weekend with Lisa P down to Chch for a clinic, closed QH show and the SI Futurity but yet again not able to stop and see you, will cast a 'thinking of you' thought to you as I go by!! All the best for your cat, I had Poppy in the vet's for arthritis in her elbow, she is 5yrs, worn out already by chasing balls etc!! I have to tell everyone not to but it is hard when she is throwing it at you all the time!!
Ditto what the others have said. That is appalling service bordering on cruelty, never mind just plain bad horsemanship and care. You would expect so much more from a vet hospital.
Given the average size of vet bills and the total lack of care, it may even be worth doing the small claims thing if they don't come to the party. Maybe write it all down while it is fresh in your mind including what the vet nurse said.
All thoughts for a happier breeding season from here on in
Hi Clare the QH mare that died here was a lovely horse, in her day would have been stunning,have a good trip with Lisa, shame about Poppy, far to young to get arthritis.Hi JennyR, thanks for your message, has your mare foaled yet,its hard when we put alot of faith in our vets, it was an equine hospital Rosie went to but a supposedly a top horse vet, 30+ yrs hes been our vet so as you can imagine we are feeling very upset.I just dont understand why he left her so long when we were advised from a vet down here thats its an emergency situation and he knew we were taking her there, and needs treatment ASAP.We just feel very sad for the poor wee horse,just wish we never took her up there, my friend took some photos of her for me I got them in the mail yesterday, just of her head when she was lying on the ground and sorta sitting up.I have written things down, when Im not feeling so horsed out I will write a letter.
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As a mare owner, I have to say there are plenty of places I wouldn't send my girl. I always like to meet the stallion owners and have a bit of a chat and I am a big fan of service contracts. That way I know what I am paying for and should expect in return.
I then worried about our topsy turvy spring weather and a week before she was due to go she got the hoof abscess from hell :roll Luckily that burst the day before she went.
Then it is just 11 months 
