Going a little crazy and need to talk to horsey people about it! - UPDATE: Fly in the ointment.

[Silverine]

I'll put a TL;DR at the end for those of you who don't want to read this super long post. ^-^;

Please do not quote the whole post! It's way too long for that.

So, as some (or maybe many?) of you know, I own a 13-year-old Paint x Hanoverian KWPN* mare named Mojo. (About two years ago you lovely forum people helped me decide on her show name - A Touch of Magic.)

This is her. (Please excuse the saddle position. It slipped back after I loosened the girth when we were done.)


Fewer of you will know that a friend of mine owns a lovely Lusitano stallion. Said stallion is the sire of a mare I trained many years ago that, for various reasons I won't go into, I am 99% certain is dead. I met my friend after searching for the stallion. I did not expect him to still be living, but amazingly he was and I was lucky enough that his owner let me come visit and we became friends.

This is him.


I'm going to backtrack for a second to the mare that I trained. She was amazing. She was a complete freak when I first started working with her, but apparently all she needed was consistency because once I started working her regularly she became the most willing, wonderful horse I've worked with. She was two at the time and I took her from basic groundwork to her first ride and then a bit further before the events that led to her to being sold out from under me and everything after that. (To be clear - I never owned her, just worked with her while my barn owner owned her.)

This is her as she was when I knew her. (I am not riding her in the picture, it's the person she was eventually sold to.)


Anyway, everything that happened with the mare was many years ago - about eight years. And it has haunted me ever since. I still quite literally dream about that mare on a regular basis. (At least once a month or so.) If I'd known what was going on with her after she had left I would have bought her back in a heartbeat. But that's all in the past and can't be undone.

In trying to find a way to move forward I found the stallion. Getting to meet him went a long way toward healing old wounds - I saw so much of what she was in him. It was amazing to be able to meet him and spend time with him.

This past year the thought has been going around in my head that I want to breed my mare to this stallion. This has not been a spontaneous decision. I've spent a lot of time going back and forth in my head about whether or not I should do it - would this really be a good cross, would my mare be able to handle it, would I be able to financially support both mother and baby, especially if something went wrong? There has been a lot to think about.

Back in April I had the vet come out to do a breeding soundness exam on my mare. She's 13 and I was fairly certain that none of her previous owners (two total that I know of) had ever attempted to breed her. (This was confirmed by the vet during the examination.) At my previous barn I had watched as my barn owner wanted to breed her personal mare and had been unsuccessful because her mare was what is sometimes called a "dirty mare" - she had a chronically infected uterus. I didn't want to jump straight in with Mojo with the chance of something like that, and no idea if she had any issues that might cause problems for her or the baby.

So the vet came out. She said Mojo looked good, as far as conformation went. She then did an ultrasound and found a small amount of fluid in the uterus - not a good sign, but there wasn't a lot of fluid. Mojo was at a good point in her heat cycle to pull a bacterial culture so the vet went ahead and pulled one. The culture came back a week later showing light bacterial growth - not surprising considering the fluid.

So where to go from there? When the vet pulled the culture they found a partial hymen (the verification that Mojo had not been bred previously). Their theory is/was that the break in the hymen allowed bacteria into the uterus but was not sufficiently broken to allow Mojo to flush all of the infected material as she usually would. That left the infection trapped inside leading to the fluid we observed. They recommended a saline flush and antibiotics. I decided to go ahead with it since it's not a highly invasive procedure and has a high rate of success.

The vet came out and performed the flush and antibiotic administration back at the beginning of May. They did an ultrasound again before the flush to confirm that Mojo was at the correct point in her cycle. When they did the ultrasound they did not find any fluid, which is a very good sign! The vet had told me they hoped that by fully breaking the hymen when they took the culture Mojo would be able to expel the infection on her own. The lack of fluid gives weight to the hope that she was overcoming the infection even without the vet's help. There was also no sign of irritation when the vet did the saline flush. Another very good sign.

Tomorrow the vet comes again. They will be pulling another culture on Mojo (assuming we were correct in our predictions and she's at the right point of her cycle). The hope is that this culture comes back clean. If it doesn't come back clean I've decided to pull the plug. I want this foal, but not enough to put Mojo through a bunch of procedures (like Caslick) that only might be successful. But if it does come back clean I'll be sending Mojo to my friend for her June cycle (which should start around the 18th). And if that happens, and Mojo catches on the first go, I'll be looking at the possibility of a birthday baby! (Today is my birthday. If Mojo goes down to my friend for a June 18th cycle and catches on the first go there's a possibility of the baby being born on May 27th of next year.)

So I'm both super excited and very nervous. And not only nervous for the test results - just nervous because of all the stuff that has to fall into place for this to happen. You know what they say - "The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry." I just had to share with everyone to get some of my nervous energy out.


For anyone curious - both Mojo and the stallion have been color tested. The stallion is a palomino (ee Aa nCr) and Mojo is brown (EE Aa nn). If bred together they can produce bay, brown, black, buckskin, smoky brown, or smoky black foals.


TL;DR
I might be breeding my mare around June 18th. I'm excited, and nervous, and going stir-crazy.

*I found out in November 2021 that Mojo is actually by Art Deco, which makes her warmblood half KWPN and not Hanoverian.

[Malakai10]

I'll put a TL;DR at the end for those of you who don't want to read this super long post. ^-^;

Now I'm super excited for this baby! Will you show us pictures once she's been born?

[Bean Team]

ping

Good luck with everything! I get that your first foal can be very hectic and stressful, but I hope your mare has a healthy pregnancy and you're greeted with a healthy foal down the line

And yes please, do show us pictures once the foal is born

[Silverine]

Now I'm super excited for this baby! Will you show us pictures once she's been born?

Well hopefully Mojo will come through with a clean test this time! I should know by next Thursday. And of course I'll share pictures! If all goes well this thread will probably turn into a progress one with pics of Mojo as we go along as well.

(Side note, I also hope it's a she. But with my luck it'll be colt. )

Thanks, that's what I'm hoping for, too. I'm kind of thinking that if she comes back still infected at least that'll mean that I can stop stressing. But if she comes back clean that'll just be the beginning! Though the stress would probably go down after the 30-day mark when everything would be settled. But the point from conception up until that point would be a non-stop stress fest for me!

(Second side note: For those who haven't picked up on it - I overuse the laughing emoji when I'm freaking out. )

[spottedleaf10]

Wow, congrats! Good luck on getting a foal, hopefully, it's just as good as that one you trained... I bet it will be if you get one!

ping

[spottedleaf10]

P.S. your mare is really pretty!

Wow, congrats! Good luck on getting a foal, hopefully, it's just as good as that one you trained... I bet it will be if you get one!

ping

[Clover Stables]

ping

Wow! I hope everything goes well. It can be stressful. My aunt breeds horses, so I get to take care of the foals sometimes. It can be stressful, but it is definitely worth doing it. I hope for a healthy baby. Also, Happy birthday!

[Mlloftus]

.

That's AWESOME! You better show us I picture if/when the baby is born! What do you think you'll do with the foal? (Like, will you show her/him?)

[Elaina Brewster]

I'll put a TL;DR at the end for those of you who don't want to read this super long post. ^-^;

Good luck, I know, I was always disappointed that I never bred my mare that I use to have. Definitely, show some pictures!

[Silverine]

Thanks. In my head I know that no new baby will be the mare from before, but having that connection to her would mean a lot.

I've helped raise two foals in the past, and did foal watch for one of the mares, but the stress this time is totally different. At least it's kind of a good kind of stress? Keeps me distracted from everything else, at least.

Of course I will! I like to share my ponies so that would be a no-brainer. Both parents do well in dressage, and I enjoy dressage, so that would hopefully be our direction. Though the stallion is also a great reiner so that's another possible direction. But mostly I just want a happy, well-rounded horse.

Thanks. I didn't buy my mare for the purpose of breeding, so it won't be the end of the world if we don't get a baby. But I think she'd produce a really nice baby. (Though I'm biased, of course. )