Operation: Let's have a real-life Knabstrupper! Current Stage: BABY IS HERE

[BlackOak2]

That test kit is going to be fun.
One of those moments that the desire to 'be right there' creeps up quite high! I'm in on that science-y thing myself.

And now I'm suddenly reminded of the one song 'Double, Double, Toil & Trouble, Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble.'
-_-
Either way, seriously fun little thing.

[Toadally]

Oh, that makes a lot of sense with the shots! I never would have even thought about how they could give the foal an immune boost, that's pretty cool!

The milk test is super interesting to me, seems like an interesting way to predict a foaling. I've learned so much just reading through these pages

[Silverine]

UPDATE!



WE HAVE MILK

Oh my gosh, guys. This is so exciting.

This morning I went out and checked on mama mare and played with her udder a bit. I didn't expect anything because her right udder was still swollen with edema. But then! I fiddled with the left one and wouldn't you know it, a tiny drop of milk came out! It was clear, amber-colored, and thin - exactly what is to be expected right now.

This evening there were substantial changes in her udder. There is no more edema. None. Everything you're seeing in the video is her filling the mammary glands with things that are supposed to be there. For some reason, while it is less full than the right, the left udder is producing more expressible milk at this point. (I'm thinking that may be due to residual inflammation from the edema keeping her right udder kind of clogged for the moment. It's entirely possible I'm wrong on this but that's what my brain has decided.) Ho-lee crud this is so freaking cool.

Honestly I was not expecting any milk when I went out this morning and really expected not to get anything when I went back this evening. But things are happening! Ahhhhh!

Anyway. There are still a lot of stages to go through before I hit the "I'm sleeping at the barn!" phase. First, Mojo's milk will slowly change from clear amber, first to colorless, then to somewhat cloudy, then chalky white, and finally it will look like actual milk. Second, baby needs to shift quite a bit more backward - right now it's still sitting a little bit more forward (but not much). Third, we'll see Mojo's tail head and croup relax. They look kind of soft in the video but that's just because of her winter coat and where she's at weight wise. The muscles themselves are still firm. And fourth, Mojo's vulva will lengthen. (If you guys would like I can do some pics and/or videos to explain what I'm looking for in the vulva, but I felt like that's a bit more of a sensitive area than the udder so I'll only actually take that if people are interested.)

So, there's a bit of waiting still left to do but if everything goes well baby Mojo should make its debut sometime within the next 30 days at the most.

[Silverine]

Well hopefully today's update is filled with even more fun info for you! I love sharing and letting people experience this with me, even if you guys can't be here in person.

Yeah, I'm super excited about it. And now I actually have milk to test with it! I'm going to try and get enough for to run a test with tomorrow to start establishing a baseline.

Pax was kind of a "leap of faith" choice when I first picked him. He was only three that year and had only had three foals but his price point was so good and his owner so nice that I just couldn't pass him up. And thank you, I do think they complement each other quite nicely. Hopefully baby will get all of the good parts rather than the bad ones.

Oh, I know (on the internet) Aries! His mom posts a bunch in the FB groups I follow. He is a very nice boy. My plan is to hopefully move more into the Knab world than the AWSSR world so he wouldn't really work for that, but he is definitely eye candy.

[h0rsey]

This is so exciting! I’ve never seen those types of tests before, usually we use a strip where we get a drop of milk out on a paper and compare it to the color scale for pH but that’s really cool!! I can’t wait for the baby

Do you have any name ideas yet??

[Silverine]

I do but I'm keeping them to myself for now because they might change.

[Malakai10]

Anyway. There are still a lot of stages to go through before I hit the "I'm sleeping at the barn!" phase. First, Mojo's milk will slowly change from clear amber, first to colorless, then to somewhat cloudy, then chalky white, and finally it will look like actual milk. Second, baby needs to shift quite a bit more backward - right now it's still sitting a little bit more forward (but not much). Third, we'll see Mojo's tail head and croup relax. They look kind of soft in the video but that's just because of her winter coat and where she's at weight wise. The muscles themselves are still firm. And fourth, Mojo's vulva will lengthen. (If you guys would like I can do some pics and/or videos to explain what I'm looking for in the vulva, but I felt like that's a bit more of a sensitive area than the udder so I'll only actually take that if people are interested.)

So, there's a bit of waiting still left to do but if everything goes well baby Mojo should make its debut sometime within the next 30 days at the most.

Could you make a video and/or pictures explaining what you're looking for with the vulva lengthening? And then what will the croup and tail look like when relaxed? What do you mean by the foal shifting back? they NEVER explained things like this in my bio class its always 'pregnant then x number of months later BABY' as if its a complete surprise when it'll arrive

[Silverine]

Could you make a video and/or pictures explaining what you're looking for with the vulva lengthening? And then what will the croup and tail look like when relaxed? What do you mean by the foal shifting back? they NEVER explained things like this in my bio class its always 'pregnant then x number of months later BABY' as if its a complete surprise when it'll arrive

Sure! I'll grab some pics/videos this morning. Let me know if there's anything else you'd like me to explain.

[BlackOak2]

-_- *Don't get excited... Don't get excited... Don't get excited...*

Just... really. Can't help BUT be excited!

*Don't get excited... At least wait until baby watch has begun!*

[Silverine]

02/16/2022 Update

Lots of changes going on with Moji-mare.

First off, I created a video about what changes I'm actively watching for. Do not watch this video if you are not okay with looking at what's under a mare's tail. The video is safe for everyone until the 1:15 mark. After that we start looking at lady bits. You can find the video here.

If you have any questions you would like me to answer in a video with Mojo just let me know!

Second, Mojo is definitely ready to kick this kid out. Today I noticed that she has started rubbing her tail. This behavior can be caused by gestational discomfort as far out as 3 months from foaling, but this is the first I've seen it in Mojo. Because this behavior has such a wide window it is not an indicator that anything is imminent but is interesting to note. She has also started scratching/biting her sides a lot more than she normally would. Finally, her vulva had noticeable changes from this morning.



The upper left image is the state of Mojo's tail when I saw her this evening. The upper right is a messy spot on her side from where she'd been scratching/biting at it (she did this while I was there and was not excessive with the scratching). Bottom left is her pretty face. And the bottom right is our first milk test! The test indicates that she is not in foaling range yet. Right now she is right in between the two "non-foaling" colors so she still has a bit to go. But milk values can change super fast so it's recommended to test every 12 hours.

Do not click the following link if you don't want to see under a mare's tail. Here is an image of the changes in her vulva. Morning is on the right, evening on the left. Looking at the picture you can see that the bottom of the opening itself is further down than it was this morning and the "wrinkles" where she was tight before have smoothed out quite a bit. The relaxation has pushed the lips outward a bit. There's also that new little red spot. I don't know what that is. It might be cracked skin from the stretching or she may have nicked herself when scratching her tail.

So we're definitely getting close. I'm confident enough that she won't have it tonight that I'm not going to sleep at the barn, but I'm unsure enough about it that I took the butt strap off of her blanket just in case. (Don't want baby getting caught in it. )

As an aside, I spent about an hour with Mojo this morning just hanging out in her field. I gave her her breakfast and then sat on a bucket by the fence. After she ate she came over and just stood with me. She chose to do that instead of eating her hay. She stood for a bit with her head in front of me and snuffled my face and hair and seemed to take pleasure in fogging up my glasses. Then she enjoyed some forehead scratches. Finally she stepped forward so that her chest was in front of me and her head was hanging down behind my back. She stood there for the rest of our time together and seemed to really enjoy it when I'd scratch her chest and neck. Only after I'd left did she wander over to her hay bag. It makes me feel incredibly honored that she decided to spend time with me instead of eating. <3

Just pinging you to let you know the video is up.