Hannah is now 180 days in foal!

Day 180

The fetus has quadrupled its weight in just 30
days. Mane and tail hairs have appeared; it's
about the size of a Beagle.



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How the days are flying by now! Hannah is changing shape so quickly that I am shocked when I look at pictures from just weeks ago.

I have not been doing much work with her as she has felt sluggish and not interested. But when I went for a lesson on an ex-Grand Prix dressage horse, I was told that the mare I was riding had been schooled long and low up until six weeks before foaling. The instructor explained that the maintenance of supple muscles across the back was what helped her mare give birth so easily. She also added that perhaps Hannah was just being lazy by not wanting to do anything (hmmm??).

In my lessons on the dressage school mistress I have realised some serious faults in my riding style. I squeeze too much when I should be letting my leg hang loose by the horse’s side and using taps. Perhaps this is due to Hannah being slow off the leg, but then again she could be slow off the leg because of this!

I tried my new riding style out on Hannah when I took her in the school for a short session on Saturday and what a difference! She was sharp off the leg, responded every time I made contact and was so easy to ride! It just shows how you can get into habits over a period of time and then your horse fall into the trap too.



I really enjoyed our schooling session and what encouraged me is that Hannah absolutely loved being back in the school again. It is so nice to see a horse enjoying its work, it makes all the hard work and effort worth while.

Hannah has also got a new sister coming in October. After a lot of thinking and discussions with my Dad I have decided to loan a 17hh WBxTB chestnut five year old mare. She will have her own Blog soon, so watch this space!

170 days tomorrow

Hannah is really blooming at the moment. Her coat is shinier than it has ever been before and her temperament is just perfect! She is going to make a great mum.

I bought her a haybar in preparation for the foal being born as if I put haylage on the floor she just paws it around and then will not eat it. She was terrified of it for the first few days but now thinks it is absolutely brilliant. I have noticed that there is always haylage left in it, which there never was in her nets. She is obviously eating much more naturally now and not wolfing it down like she used to.

She has been doing a little more this week as I feel she has been getting quite lazy and enjoying being a broodmare far too much. I went for a lesson on an ex-Grand Prix horse on Thursday and the instructor said she schooled her mare until six weeks before she gave birth. She did lots of long and low work with her and transitions to help keep her back supple and her joints moving as they should do.

So as a result, Hannah has been going back in the school and doing just that! The first time I took her back in (she has been hacking out most days) she was so excited, which just shows how much she enjoys her work. We are only taking it very slowly as I don’t want to push her too much as I know she would love to be cantering round and round if I let her.

I have also made the decision to look for a horse to loan while Hannah is in foal and has the foal at foot. Initially I did want to buy a youngster to bring it on, but my Dad pointed out that I would be awful when it came to selling time and for once I have to agree with him. At least in a loan you know where the horse is going back to from the very beginning. I am looking forward to whatever work lies ahead.

150 days... We made it!

Gaining more than a pound every 10 days, the
fetus now is about the size of a rabbit. Hair
graces its chin, muzzle, and eyelids. If you
look closely, you'll see that eyelashes have
emerged.

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I cannot believe Hannah is now 150 days in foal! In one way it feels as though she has been in foal for ages, but it also feels to have flown by without me noticing.

The picture and text above is from a really useful website someone directed me to. It’s amazing how much they change in such a short period of time. Unlike human babies, foals have to come out quite advanced. They have to be able to walk around almost immediately so all their joints have to be in an advanced form to that of a baby.

Hannah is doing really well, although she has started being very lazy in the school so I am going to reduce her work now and will keep her schooling sessions to just a walk and trot and hack out more often. She has lost a little bit of weight since she was brought back into work, but this just accentuates the dropping of her stomach. I will try to get a photo of her this weekend and I am sure you will notice a huge difference from the previous pictures of her.

We had the dentist, I mean equine dental technician, out last night. He said she had some ulceration caused by sharp teeth down her left side near the bit and up at the top on her right side. After an hour and fifteen minutes of rasping they were lovely and smooth. I wish I had called him out earlier really as he was extremely informative and tried to show me exactly what he was talking about (with the aid of a torch) and a lot of what he said made sense compared to the way she has been going when ridden.

The dental technician also said he thought she was slightly younger than I thought. I believed she was six rising seven when I bought her which would make her 11 rising 12 now. However, he thought she was either eight rising nine or nine rising ten. The latter being the more likely. So that would mean I bought Hannah as a five year old. It would explain a lot about her behaviour traits and how green she was when I bought her!

He also mentioned that he did not think she was half Irish Draught and half Thoroughbred as I thought. He has a horse at home who is quite like Hannah and she is three quarters Thoroughbred and just one quarter Irish Draught. So Hannah might not be the carthorse we have also thought her to be!

Meet Hannah's friends...

I mentioned that Hannah hacked out with her new friend Fiddler, so I thought I should include a picture of him (chestnut) and Sue’s other horse Bruce (dark bay). I am looking after the two of them next week while Sue jets off to South Africa for her 40th birthday!

Hannah is doing really well and is back in work now there is no trace of lameness and her haematoma has dispersed. I have been taking her in the school every other night for around 30 minutes but she has been very forward going and silly – at least I know she enjoys her work!

There is also some news on me too – I have taken the plunge and booked a lesson with Debbie Jones. She is a BD trainer who I found on the website. She has two school masters who are both Grand Prix level (I think that’s right, I was quite overwhelmed when she was telling me what they do) so I have to go for an assessment on 30th August. I’m going to take Sue with me to take some photos and a video of me riding, although I will probably look like a sack of potatoes!

There is only 6 months, 3 weeks and 1 day until Hannah’s foal is due, the time seems to be flying by!

We've had a tough couple of weeks :(

Hannah trotted up lame over two weeks ago so rather than waiting to see whether it got better, I called the vet and asked him to come up and have a look at her. He couldn’t be exactly sure where the lameness was coming from but from the flexion tests he thought it could be something in her hock or higher up. She was prescribed Quadrisol for two weeks and then a reassessment on the third week.

She has been on the Quadrisol now for just over a week. I was a little anxious about following the vet’s instructions to light hack her while she was on it, so I decided to field rest her instead. When she was still lame after taking the anti-inflammatory for seven days I called the vet back and was told to field rest her (which she had already been doing!)

Andrea Johnson (nee Morris) my instructor suggested she should be box rested as that sometimes just gave them the time to heal if it was muscular. Therefore I kept Hannah in on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

The farrier and physio came out on Tuesday afternoon too. Simon (farrier) didn’t think there was anything in her foot that would cause her lameness, but we all know how low a pain threshold my horse has, so it could just be that the shoes were starting to rub a little. The physio then thought she trotted up sound after she had her shoes done, and the spasm in her back she had found on her last visit had settled down and improving nicely.

I decided to take her on a short hack last night because she was looking so fed up. We went with Sue Williams and her new chestnut TB gelding, Fiddy. Hannah was very jumpy all the way around, but it was nice she see her back in action and striding out. I am trying not to get too positive about it as I do know she is still on the Quadrisol and that will be helping any aches and pains that could be causing the lameness.

It was a memorable hack though… Sue and I had a larger and lime on our way home, and Hannah had a half of Guinness. Well, they say it’s good for you when you’re pregnant!

Over 100 days now...

Well, we have made it to this stage at last! Hannah is now starting to show being in foal and is looking very well. The only problem is that she has become lame on her back left leg, either caused by a problem in her hock or something muscular further up.

The vet has put her on an anti-inflammatory that is suitable for mares in foal and she is to be ridden on light hacks for the next two weeks. If there is any sign of lameness in the third week he will then nerve block her and go from there.

Just to be on the safe side I have organised for a horse physiotherapist to come over tomorrow afternoon. She works closely with the horse chiropractor who has seen Hannah in the past, so hopefully she might be able to detect something in her muscles which is causing the lameness.

I have attached several pictures that were taken of her at just under 100 days in foal… there is a definite bump there now!

Back in work

Hannah is now back in full work and working towards N24 and E44 on Wednesday night. As preparation I hired out Osbaldeston for an hour yesterday with the full dressage arena in. She went like an absolute dream, I could not believe how well she was going!

She is 64 days in foal today and still seems content and relaxed. Apparently it is the size of a small hamster at the moment according to a website I have found. I just cannot wait until it is big enough to start showing more, at least then I can stop panicking about her losing it!

Waiting for the 42 day scan

I brought Hannah home from stud two weeks ago and she has been a pleasure to own since then. She seems very laid back now which could be because of her hormones, and she is a happy mum to be.

She has her 42 day scan on Monday so that will be the last one hopefully. The next time I will see the foal will be when it is born after Monday. I am very excited about seeing it again, but there is also a nervous feeling in my stomach.

Once she has had the 42 day scan she can be brought back into work and hopefully get competing again in Novice and Elementary dressage tests before she becomes too heavily pregnant.

She is very content, and I think being pregnant suits her…

Hannah is still in foal...

After a very long night, I finally got my husband to phone the stud at 10.30am. I just couldn’t face getting bad news from them while I was at HORSE magazine… I just knew I would burst into tears and make a real show of myself.

Anyway, it was fantastic new… Hannah is still in foal, and the one foetus has survived the night! I am very proud of my girl and the little foal growing inside her… the poor thing hasn’t had an easy start to its life, but it must be a fighter.

She’s now at the same point as a regular mare, and has her 21 day scan booked in for Monday morning. Then she has a 28 day scan on Sunday. If everything is ok with the foetus, I can take her home that day!

I am going to visit Hannah on Saturday morning, so will get some pictures and post them on here when I get back.

Hannah's in foal to twins...

I had a phone call from stud this morning to tell me that Hannah was in foal, but she was in foal with twins! I cannot believe that this has happened to her. I know it can be quite common, but I just never thought it would happen to Hannah.

The vet has nipped one of the embryos, and the good new is that they were quite far apart which made it easier. But the stud told me not to get my hopes up because she could reabsorb the other one when the fluid is released. So it’s another night’s wait until I find out whether she is still in foal in the morning.

I can’t believe how miserable I feel… all this is happening to my gorgeous girl, and I am just too far away to go and see her. I feel so protective towards her and her foal at the moment, I am just praying the poor little thing survives the night!

Visit to see Hannah

I went to see Hannah last weekend and she looked really happy, relaxed and incredibly shiny! Could this be a sign?

She is having her 14 day scan on Monday morning, so every finger, toe and other body parts are firmly crossed that she is already in foal! If she isn’t, she will be redone when she next comes into season, and the whole waiting game will recommence… I don’t know whether I can take another two weeks like this!

Well, she's been inseminated!

I had an email from stud to tell me that Hannah had come into season late last week and she was going to be scanned Friday morning. The vet decided she should be inseminated on Saturday night, so it was just a matter of waiting for the follow up email.

I checked my emails on Sunday morning and discovered that all had gone well and she had been inseminated. We now have to wait for the 14 day scan to find out whether she’s pregnant… I really don’t think that I can wait for that long!

I’m going to go up and see her next weekend, as I put it off on Sunday to make sure that I didn’t upset her.

Fingers crossed!!

Hannah has gone to stud

Hannah is now happily settled at stud, and as predicted started showing signs of being in season as soon as she got off the trailer!

I was really pleased how well she travelled, did not sweat up at all and seemed to take the journey in her stride. She also settled quite quickly in her new stable once she had finished having a complete panic attack (snorting, shaking, etc etc).

I rang Trudy at Endhouse this morning and Hannah was eating and had showed no signs of colic in the night, which was fantastic news!

So it’s all down to her now. She just has to concentrate on getting pregnant then she can come home soon!

Only one day to go...

The past few weeks have absolutely flown by. I still can’t believe that it’s time to take Hannah to stud. I feel completely unprepared!

I just hope everything is straightforward, easy and calm for her. I also secretly want her to be caught the first time so I can bring her home in five weeks after her 28 days scan. I don’t know how I would feel coming home and Hannah not being there, I know I would have far too much time on my hands.

Wish us luck for tomorrow and send good vibes to Hannah!

Aghhh... she's come into season two days early!

As soon as I got Hannah out of her stable I knew there was something different. Having owned her for over four years now, I know all the signs of her coming into season. Tonight was no exception.

She flew out of her stable and began to prance about in the yard. From past experience I knew that having her in a head collar alone was not a good option, so I scrambled about for my Richard Maxwell Halter to save the day!

Heading out onto the drive (this was supposed to be a quick leg stretch before her tea) I soon had a horse doing piaffe on the end of the lead rope, with the most beautiful self carriage I had ever seen her achieve.

The real give away was her tail stuck right up… A definite sign she’s coming in season (oh and the loud snort that she only does when she’s in season and worked up).

I called the stud and they said to get her down there tomorrow… This alters all the plans that I have made, and has put me into a real panic.

However, when I tied her up next to a horse that I know she ‘squirts’ at when in season, there was nothing!

Hopefully, she is just showing the signs that she’s due to come into season and will just wait a few more days for my plans to be finalised.

I don’t think that I can cope with 11 months of this kind of stress!!

Only 10 days to go...

Everything is starting to become very real now. I'm having to think about what feed and rugs to take... I'm beginning to realise how much I am going to miss her!

We've got a really close bond at the moment and I don't want to lose that when she goes away.

I started thinking about when she goes when I was in her stable last night and found myself with tears streaming down my face! I am going to be a complete wreck when I leave her...

On the more positive side though, when she comes back she will hopefully be in foal and we will have moved into our new house. So even though there's lots of change, it'll all be good change!

The payment has been made

With only 14 days to go before before Hannah goes to stud, I have sent my payment to Meadow Stud. It seems to have made it much more real... Hannah really is going to come back in foal!

The preparations are now starting. I'm trying to remember everything that she will need when she goes to stud, and arrangements for when she comes home too.

We've got two dressage tests this weekend to contend with first though, N21 and E51... wish us luck!

The Decision to Breed from Hannah

Hannah is a 10 year old IDxTB who I have owned for four years.

I always knew that I would breed from Hannah, but when I discovered that I have to spend four weeks in London, it seemed like the perfect time.

I weighed up all of the pros and cons, which included the costs of putting Hannah in foal and the time aspect of it all once the foal was born, and I soon realised that I would regret not doing it.

Having short listed several stallions including Tyson, Donnersong, Demonstrator and Libro, I then came across Pro-Set at Your Horse Live and fell head over heels. He would fine my IDxTB down a little and he seems very intelligent, which I look for in a horse.

I have decided to send her to End House Stud near Clitheroe, Lancashire, where she will be put in foal through AI. So it's fingers crossed that the journey there goes well and she settles in her temporary home.

This Blog is to keep a diary of Hannah's time at stud, her pregnancy, and her future foal.