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The average length of pregnancy in the mare is 338 to 343 days. However, normal gestation can range from 320 to 380 days.
around eight hours
Many people consider it safe to ride a mare during the first six to eight months of pregnancy, but it’s wise to taper off after that. Guzinksi usually stops riding her mares two to three months before foaling. The foal does most of its growing in the last trimester.
Mares generally foal at night. One study, for example, indicated that approximately 80 percent of foals were born between midnight and 6 a.m.
First Stage
The outward signs are restlessness and sweating of the flanks. As the uterine contractions become more severe, the mare may become very nervous, pacing, walking fence lines, looking at her flanks, kicking at her abdomen, and she may paw the ground.
“Mares may also stop labor during first stage delivery if disturbed. They can delay parturition (birth) for a number of days as they wait for an undisturbed time.” Signs of imminent foaling are variable and can be subtle.
Her foal heat cycle can begin as early as six days after giving birth and as late as 12 days. Ovulation will typically begin a day or two after the cycle begins. Successfully breeding your horse during foal heat is the only way to ensure annual foal production.
In feral herds, where equine behavior is not hampered by human conventions, 2-year-old fillies can and do get bred, provided they are cycling and receptive. Of course, not all are.
Horseback riding during pregnancy
When your center of gravity changes the ability to safely ride a horse is greatly diminished increasing the risk of falls, miscarriage, and broken bones. Continuing to ride through pregnancy is a difficult and personal decision that only the expectant mom and her OBGYN can make.
She will lie down more frequently than usual and may roll, as though she has colic. In the last 24 hours, she is likely to produce a loose stool; it is thought that this may be the result of the first uterine contractions. During the first stage of labour, the mare may get up and lie down repeatedly.