Has anyone had their vet tell them their mare wasn't pregnant when she really was?

[About Time]

I have an older mare that we tried to get in foal last year and was told she did not take. She was checked when she was 3 months along and my vet said she was not pregnant. I know this mare well and she is all the sudden gaining tons of weight. This is normally a very hard keeper and I keep cutting her grain back more and more because she is huge. She seems normal otherwise. Her udders are always full and keep filling more. I know its crazy because the chance that my vet was wrong that late into a pregnancy is unheard of. Or is it? Anyone had any experience like this?

[Laurierace]

I think every breeder has had that happened at some point. Get the vet out asap and find out for sure.

[DennisM]

One of the best stories like this that I've heard is from Rolling Stone Farm. Check it out. Go to www.rollingstonefarm.com and click on EM Ghamma Ray under "latest client news."

[KBEquine]

A friend bought a mare several years ago who was certified not in foal several times. Yes, she had a colt.

Get the mare checked, again.

[Oakstable]

Yes, it has happened to me twice.

[szipi]

I have had several experiences like that - despite being blessed by top-notch veterinary help, it happens....
I don't even have my mares ulrasounded at 14 days - I rather go with 16.
It's actually a pleasant surprise when the open mare miraculously proves to be pregnant...on the other hand sometimes the extra embryo is not all that great. Several years back my stallion's (Lotus T's) mother, Key Moment was bred to Ariadus. We knew that the mare double ovulated and at 16 days there were twins. The (very experienced repro-)vet came back 5 days later and looked and looked and looked for 45 minutes, until he was convinced that there was only one embryo. 8 months later, when the mare bagged up and started dripping milk all of a sudden, I knew that there was trouble, however there was nothing else to do, but wait for the inevitable abortion. It never came. The mare delivered a healthy filly (who became a site champion premium mare with the AHHA) and a mummified fetus. i was very-very lucky.

[florida foxhunter]

It happened to me too...........a maiden mare checked on day 16.........the vet I was using then said no foal. A few months later I had to take her to U of FL for something and they asked if she'd been bred last season.....I said yes, but it didnt take. They said, oh yes it did......look.
I felt quite lucky they found it so I was able to vaccinate, feed, etc. her properly. She had a lovely filly by Paparazzo (my Claim to Fame full sister).......who just got started u/s today!!
Here is a photo of her a few weeks ago at RMI A Shows winning Reserve Champ Best Young Horse........it was her first show too! i"m crazy about her!

[unbridledoaks]

Yep! Happened to us twice...

[nhwr]

It has happened to me twice too.
But I have also had mares with false pregnancies twice.

At a certain point, your vet can only use uterine tone and hormone levels (not commonly done or necessarily reliable) to determine a mare's status. Your mare may "think" she is in foal, even if she isn't. Or she might well be pregnant.

How far along do you think she'd be?

[bloomingtonfarm]

My Padinus foal born this year has a story of his own too. The mare was check at 16 days with twins so close together that he suggest to send the mare to a vet hospital as he was afraid he would destroy both if he tried. Rush to St-Hyacinthe hospital who confirmed she was in foal but of a single embryo (the other one was a kist) but they were not sure she would hold the foal. As I did not plan to breed her again that year if she would lost her foal I did not have her checked again manualy before October or November... where the vet said she did not feel anything as...no embryo.

As I always had the feeling that she was still pregnant I had her checked again in February and there he was. You see, there is a time where it is very difficult to feel a mare in foal as the embryo is still tiny and if the mare is old as was my case, the uterus has dropped and it is almost impossible to know if the embryo is still there.

[Lesley Feakins]

Have that happen with one of mine. She was a 3 yr old which we were backing and breeding that year. We continued backing her and riding her thru to the fall when we noticed she looked slightly pregnant and then soon after she started developing an udder. A nice surprise as I really wanted a foal from this mare.

Another time, a boarder brought her very old mare to the farm. As soon as she arrived I thought she looked pregnant and asked. I was told she had been checked by two different Vets and both said she was open. Well, I just thought she looked like that because she had had several foals in the past. BIG surprise when one morning we went out to feed and there was a foal standing by her side.

[camohn]

Three times/twice with the same mare. Both were older mares that had a tilted uterus...so I guess the little bugger found a place to hide!!

[Iron Horse Farm]

A very good friend bought an older mare from a breeding farm as a riding horse. She hadn't had a foal that year and three breedings to their stallion turned up no foal. She was sold for peanuts as an 18 year old trail mare. I mentioned to my friend that the mare looked pregnant. I was told in no uncertain terms that she was just fat and that she had been U/S 3 times. I told her "but she looks fatter on one side than the other!" I must have scared her because she called and had the local vet come out and palpate her...............no foal. Then she called me to chastise me about spending the $ on the vet call and time missed from work to be there for the vet. ONE WEEK later she called me for help because she went out to feed and there was a colt in the snow! :eek::eek:

[Faircourt]

Just happened to me this breeding season. Mare was out on a breeding lease, returned not in foal. Rode her all winter and spring,thought she looked big when we pulled her blanket off in March but just thought she was falsing. Delivered a healthy and beautiful baby boy on May 26. Pretty amazing. She is an older mare, 21, and really didn't show too much until right before delivery. Mine also has a tilted uterus. It's amazing after all the things I have done in the past to try to ensure that everything is perfect, shots at the right time, vet checks, great diet, delivery at the vets, and this one is born without a hitch or problem with no prep and no help. Life is funny.

[misita]

Kadija was confirmed 'not in foal', but we got this little lump 10 days ago.:-)) I also just had a MO from Canada deliver a confirmed 'not in foal' baby yesterday.

Shown at 24 hours.

[Nes]

Is their any recourse when your vet incorrectly declares a mare not pregnant?

We had a bit of a scare with my mare last year and thankfully we've past the time when she would have given birth :D. I did have her vet checked but the ultrasound machine battery died during, the vet said she had a "pretty good idea" - I was not thrilled. She did do a rectal and still couldn't feel anything. My mare continued to put on giant amounts of weight over the winter, but I found out later that was because the BO was still feeding her despite my repeated asking her to cut it out because she thought she knew more then the vet... (different issue, horse moved.)

My question is: if my mare had be pregnant I would have asked the vets to refund me the incorrect diagnosis. Has anyone tried this and had any luck?

[Iron Horse Farm]

Is their any recourse when your vet incorrectly declares a mare not pregnant?

We had a bit of a scare with my mare last year and thankfully we've past the time when she would have given birth :D. I did have her vet checked but the ultrasound machine battery died during, the vet said she had a "pretty good idea" - I was not thrilled. She did do a rectal and still couldn't feel anything. My mare continued to put on giant amounts of weight over the winter, but I found out later that was because the BO was still feeding her despite my repeated asking her to cut it out because she thought she knew more then the vet... (different issue, horse moved.)

My question is: if my mare had be pregnant I would have asked the vets to refund me the incorrect diagnosis. Has anyone tried this and had any luck?

In the case of my friend, the vet subtracted the cost of the palpation from the foal check visit......since it was all in the same week. :eek:

[Oakstable]

I sold what I thot was an open mare and fortunately the vet checked her again before she left.

[About Time]

Thank you all for replying. I am definately going to have her checked out right away. If she were pregnant, I would be very thrilled since her full sister just won a class on the line at Devon last week. She was bred to Balta Czar again and I am hoping and praying that she is in foal and if so that it is healthy. It will be as the Lord wishes it to be. The twist on this saga is that this mare is older and has been showing strong heat right along (to her boyfriend whom she is turned out with) so I was convinced she was not pregnant. And the even stranger thing is that a week ago, the mare (who is still turned out with her last baby which is now a 2 year old) just started behaving very attached to her daughter again and insisted that she start nursing again. So the 2 year old (after much coaxing) DID start to nurse. It lasted for 2 days. I was just about to separate them (which meant I had to move the mare to another farm) and the behavior suddenly stopped. I was dumbfounded. The whole situation is very strange to me. This mare never really dries up but she appears to be bagging up slowly more and more. Or maybe its just wishful thinking??? She is really fat though. There is no question about that. Thank you for all your input.

[About Time]

Just found the two year old suddenly nursing again this morning! I am really confused. She was weaned as a baby and has not thought about her mother since then. The dam keeps nickering at her...bidding her to come nurse. She looks as though she's in heat right now too.

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

That's really bazaar--I want to know how it turns out!!

[GCA]

Twice happened to us as well. Years ago BEFORE portable U/S Equipment, very experienced repro. vet palpated the mare, said no she had cyst....gave me a shot of prostaglandins which I did NOT give her, put in the fridge. Had the same vet out 30-35 days later and he said the exact same thing..Nope and gave me another shot...which I did NOT give....The night of Haleys Comet the mare had a gorgeous filly for which I called to ask when the vet could come and check my 4 legged cyst :D

Two years ago, aged broodmare (20 yro) who had not had a foal in two years was bred, U/S twice, once at day 17 and again at day 32 vet said no. Mare did not come back into heat, had blood work pulled to check hormone levels. Vet stated levels were not consistent with a mare that was in foal and told me no again. The following June, mare surprised us with a colt.....

Vets get it wrong too...sometimes more than once, even on the same mare :D

Denise Gainey

[Andrew]

The mare I leased was declared 3 time NOT in foal however, the leasor still feels she's pregos?????

[About Time]

I am still trying to get ahold of my vet. He has not yet returned my call from yesterday. I am sure he thinks I am crazy since he looked at her when she would've been 3 months along! Keep your replies coming because I am so intrigued by all of this!

[Nes]

The mare I leased was declared 3 time NOT in foal however, the leasor still feels she's pregos?????

Some people believe what they want to believe.
My neighbours had a case of beer that my mare was preggers after the vet checked her :)

[Iron Horse Farm]

Some people believe what they want to believe.
My neighbours had a case of beer that my mare was preggers after the vet checked her :)

This is sooooo true! When I did my first ET, and the big Belgian mare arrived at my farm, a farmer neighbor who has Clydes came over to congratulae my husband on finally getting "real" horses. I explained the ET process to him and told him that the Belgian mare was going to have an Oldenburg foal. WHen I walked away he tried to convince my husband that some young vet had "taken my money and sold me a bill of goods" and that he would be back in the spring to see my Belgian foal. :eek:: Never saw him again. :lol:Bet the dark bay foal with the white socks was really too much of a shock. :lol:He happens to have gorgeous black and white Clydesdales, but really had his own beliefs.

[judy eakins]

I HAD MY HORSE CHECKED TO SEE IF SEE IS IN FOAL THE VET SAID NO
MY HORSE HAS TOTALLY CHANGE THE WAY SHE IS WITH PEOPLE SHE COME'S TO YOU. SHE WAS BREED IN MAY 19 . MY KID SAID SHE HAS TO BE SHE IS LETTING ME BRUSH HER IN HER STALL I HAVE NOT SEEN HER COME IN AT TALL ALL SUMMER . IS A BLOOD TEST BE THE BEST TO GET DONE. SHE HAS HAD TWO FOALS BEFORE WITH NO PROBLEMS.

[Laurierace]

Get the vet to come check your mare.

[ambar]

Is their any recourse when your vet incorrectly declares a mare not pregnant?


Hello, your vet is a human being, not a computer. Why do you think you are due "recourse"?

[scribbles]

I dont think you should be owed anything, MAYBE if your vet is really nice refund or credit you that ultrasound that was wrong...

[Pony Fixer]

I have missed a couple in my time. There is a time frame when the baby "falls of the edge" of the pelvis, but before it gets really big, that it is really difficult to tell (and even an ultrasound won't always help--you think yup, yup, yup, ovary, uterus, uterus, uterus, ovary, as you go along, but if a loop of bowel or something is there, you could misinterpret).

And BTW, 3 months is one of those times that is hard to tell!

I also once had a mare to preg check at a Tbred shed. If I had just palpated, I would have called her in foal. Uterus had tone, slightly enlarged, etc. But I could not find a thing by ultrasound. A couple days later, a colleague has the same experience checking this mare. Oh, the owner forgot to tell us he'd put her on Regumate. She was open, but Regumate makes them feel pregnant!

[Kyzteke]

My GAWD -- why isn't this thread 12 pages long?!?!

My thought is that if you've been breeding for any length of time, this has happened at least once. I've had it happen twice.

Why? Because vets are people and people make mistakes. Also because not all vets are created equal -- ESPECIALLY when it comes to equine repro. Geeze, they only get something like 2 weeks of it in vet school...

My "leg vet" is very horrible at it. Once, because I was SURE my repro vet had missed a pregnancy, I hauled a mare to my leg vet (was going there anyway). He palpated and said "oh, no doubt this mare is pregnant!"

I was trying to form the words to tell my repro vet "nah, nah -- you missed it!" when (per my request) he whipped out his ultra sound to take a look. No, she was NOT pregnant....she was in heat.

For those who know equine repro, the "in heat" uterus feels nothing like the "pregnant" uterus...so it was a big "my bad," on the part of the leg vet.

He did have the good manners to be embarrassed....and thank goodness I didn't have to eat crow in front of my repro vet.

[Fairview Horse Center]

Yes, it happens every year to at least one of my breeders.

[Signature]

We keep hoping this will happen to us :) We have an imported mare that always gets in foal but loses it at before 15 days. We always hope the vet was wrong... but so far she's not been, darn it - year 3 of trying and I've definitely seen her teasing so I think vet was right again unfortunately. :)

[EquusMagnificus]

Count me in the ones hoping my vets are wrong!

I have bred my lovely imported Hanoverian mare to Wolkentanz II twice this year and she didn't take. Aaahh... I guess the gods were against me this year.

I had her checked twice.

Oh I know, they are probably right but gosh I'd love for them to be wrong!!

[Hawkridge]

They were wrong about your mare once already EquusMagnificus.....:lol: so let's hope they are wrong again this year :yes:

We all know that she has a lovely dark bay filly baking in there right now....

[buschkn]

I REALLY wish my vet were wrong. I have a mare I bred to Calido I twice this year and no pregnancy. I only have one baby coming next year now, so I would loooooove a surprise Calido baby out of this mare to keep my other one company. :) *sigh* Pretty sure I'm not that lucky.

[dressurpferd01]

Had a vet in FL, probably the same one as szipi, miss a mare in foal a week before she foaled!!! Had another mare last year, never bred (by us anyway), kept gaining weight, kept cutting feed, had the vet check her, yup, preggers. After DNA testing damn near every possible sire on the farm, still don't know who knocked her up...