Is My Mini Pregnant?

[rescueblonde]

I got a few pictures before the farrier came out to see mama today. Her baby is pretty active! A family friend that has minis came out to visit and said with the foal being that active, she didn't think it'd be a month like the vet said. The vet didn't have his ultrasound equipment when he came out the first time to see her so we're going to have him out again to do an ultrasound and make sure everything is still going well.

 

[babsbag]

You can definitely see the bulge on her left side.

 

[rescueblonde]

You can definitely see the bulge on her left side.

Oh yeah! I was brushing her and baby gave my brush a good kick.

 

[Bunnylady]

Please, please post an "after" picture now that the farrier has had a go at those feet. That first picture has me cringing - proper foot care is so important for babies; I am hoping it is just a weird camera trick, but it looks like the bones in her legs may have gotten misshapened from the uneven pressure of neglected feet

 

[rescueblonde]

Please, please post an "after" picture now that the farrier has had a go at those feet. That first picture has me cringing - proper foot care is so important for babies; I am hoping it is just a weird camera trick, but it looks like the bones in her legs may have gotten misshapened from the uneven pressure of neglected feet

She's looked like that since we got her. The people that had her before us never had her hooves done and probably not the ones before that. They were curling up and the farrier has had to make several trips to get her feet looking semi-normal. The first vet that saw her said she thought she may have dwarfism in her lineage somewhere but I'm not sure if that's really a thing. I know dwarfism is but I guess I'm not sure if there are varying degrees of it or if they're just dwarf or non-dwarf.

 

[rescueblonde]

I was trying to read online about what the vet said. She never told me what form of dwarfism she suspected but Diastrophia Type 1 seems to match everything she was describing with her legs and back.

 

[Bunnylady]

I was trying to avoid mentioning that possibility. . . Though I wondered about it.

 

[rescueblonde]

She's a really small horse, even for a mini. I have a mini gelding that's around 34ish inches tall and he makes her look even smaller. She's about the same height as my large dog.

 

[HomesteaderWife]

Yes, there definitely has to be photos posted here when your foal comes! Best wishes!

 

[Bunnylady]

Dwarfism is a painful subject for mini breeders - producing a dwarf foal is deeply distressing for the responsible breeder. Most would view the breeding of a known dwarf with absolute horror; the people who let this happen would be spoken of with deep contempt. I imagine by now you have been made aware of the special care needs of dwarves. Your filly doesn't seem too badly affected; hopefully, she can be relatively comfortable for many years.