As promised, Bella status pictures

[CarolU]

I took these this afternoon...

http://gallery.pethobbyist.com/data/23115Bella_060501.jpg

[Pasofinoguy]

Looks like a filly.

[Carol Nelson]

Oooo...that bag looks like she's precariously close...I can't see if there's any wax...has she had any wax?
On the flip side, I don't see the hollows above the tail in the croup...I don't see that she's got the familiar V-shape to her belly, but she's a maiden so won't probably show that as much...looks a little slab-sided too!
All I can say is...."Heck if I know!!!" :lol:
My Sora delivered a filly two hours after not even looking half as ready as that! ;-)
Good luck...and happy getting up every two hours!!! ;-) :lol:

P.S. She is a beautiful mare though, Carol...this baby will be your gift of thanks from her!

[DebbieS]

She's not a maiden - remember her son that was sold before her travels began??

She looks so uncomfortable - poor girl. I hope she has it soon!!

Thanks for the pics!

[CarolU]

If she wants to deliver me a filly in two hours that would be just fine. I just can't imagine her getting any larger then she is...she can hardly move.

She has 'sparkely' teats when the flashlight is on them, so yes wax. She is NOT a maiden mare...this will be her third foal. No dripping yet.

Yes, we're VERY close. Maybe we'll have a Cinco de Mayo baby?

[Carol Nelson]

Whoops...ok...but that's good...at least you know she knows what to expect of motherhood...I always worry about my first time mommies until I see how they accept their babies.

...anyway, she's beautiful...and we'll all be waiting for the big announcement!

I just read the part about the sparkly teats...well, when she is close to delivery most likely she will have GOBS of milky wax hanging from them, may leak a little milk, she might get nasty down the insides of her legs...the gobs can also slew off and then come back...oh, they do love to be secretive about when that little one is coming! grin...

[baileyholc]

OHH a new baby coming. :razz: Can't wait.

[PasoVicki]

The top picture looks incredibly like a photo of Danesa I took yesterday. Bella is beautiful, and she sure looks ready to have that foal.

Now I have to ask a stupid question. How can you look at a pregnant mare and predict "Looks like a filly." ???

Vicki

[LynnG]

her teats should be much more pushed out and hard ......if she is real close to foaling...like within a day or so. sorry. 8-)

[Pasofinoguy]

I thought everyone could tell just by looking. Its been a year since I have seen a mare ready to foal so I may be way off. Heck i never know what i am talking about anyway lol.

[appyday]

She looks great...keep us posted..

[Pasofinoguy]

I am kidding. Its the boobs they tell the story. Its how they set up. Thats how you tell. It doesnt always work but its fun to guess.

[CarolU]

Vicki, there is a 'theory' that if the teats point frontwards, it is a filly. If they point down, out, or back, it is a colt. I think the year we kept track of it on here, it was right most of the time. Maybe Hollis is reading this and will tell us what the odds turned out to be.

Adam, mares have teats...not boobs. ;-) Well, maybe some of the people in their lives are boobs. LOL

[JennLM]

Hmm I have no guess as to the sex of the baby but seems like you got it covered with checking so often.

Someone mentioned a anlert system, is it like a baby monitor? I use that on some of our dogs in isolation to hear them whever I am if they have a problem. (Or I do trying to eat out my walls, remind me to share those pics some time)

Anyone guessing on the color? What color is the Sire?

LOL teats vs boobs, I still call them chicken boobs when we go grocery shopping...

[CarolU]

Jenn, this is a 'love child'. We have no idea "who yo daddy' is. ;-) Or when her due date is! :shock:

I rescued Bella last July (all DebbieS's fault). She's a full Peruvian Paso. Debbie pleaded her plight last July and then brought her from some yea-who cowboy in So. Dakota and met me in Colorado with her.

As I kept pouring feed into her she kept getting larger and larger...one day I told my hubby, "I think she's pregnant." His reply was "That's only wishful thinking on your part." This kept up for two months and one day I noticed her stomach move. I felt it and YEP! I came in and told hubby "Wishful Thinking just kicked me!"...LOL He wouldn't believe me until he put his hand on her and got kicked too. LOL

This is Bella last July:

http://gallery.pethobbyist.com/data/23115BellaSideFull.jpg

[JennLM]

Wow, so this should be interesting for sure. How neat, 2 for 1 deal.

I love all these babies being born on here. I get to watch them grow up. Yeah!

Hopefully she will foal soon for you.

[CarolU]

It's more then 2-for-1. The 'cowboy' was going to sell her to the canners. He is a QH guy and had no idea what to do with a Paso. So, saving her, we saved her baby too. That is what Carol meant by my reward for saving her.

Bella is very special to everyone here on the BB. She kind of belongs to everyone here. This little one is our bonus.

So yes, we're all VERY excited.

Now if one of these more experienced foalers would just take over for the next few weeks for me.....I'm a wreck. :-?

[Carol Nelson]

Carol...if I were closer...I WOULD take baby watch with you!! ;-) :D I am really missing not having a foal on the ranch here this year (due to the drought)...I think I'm gonna have to breed at least one mare for next year. That's what's so much fun, the waiting and the watching...and nothing's more exciting than seeing that hoof, and then that nose, followed by the second front hoof...knowing that all is well, and waiting for the rest of that baby to enter this world!!! Just enjoy it, girl...it's priceless!!!

[GeorgeGuns]

OMG I do NOT envy foal watch!!!! But ya know, once it all starts to happen, the tiredness gets forgotten so easily.

Bella looks beautiful, then and now. But Carol, hunny, the side shot makes her butt look big. I won't tell her, hehehe.

I'm voting for a chestnut flaxen mane and tail with a lot of chrome, and gaited.

[CarolU]

I'm voting for a chestnut flaxen mane and tail with a lot of chrome, and gaited.

I like the way you think!!! LOL

[Heidi]

I'm voting for a chestnut flaxen mane and tail with a lot of chrome, and gaited.
Ha! Wishful thinking on the color part...
I'm voting black-based. Either bay or black...but I'm leaning towards bay and hoping like heck for gaited!
What if she has a PINTO marked baby?! :D Or a gaited Appy?! :shock:
Heidi

[Blameitonbrio]

I vote black and white paint filly. One of them gaited deals, as DebbieS' cowboy neighbor says.

[Terri]

Whatever color she is, she sure is taking long enough!

http://bestsmileys.com/anxious/4.gif

Did I say she? Oh, yeah, it is a filly. Probably dark bay.

[Barbwire]

I just showed Steve the before and after pics of Bella. I laughed and said she looked like me with her big ole butt and belly. He agreed wholeheartedly. Turd! :evil:

[DSDECKERT]

I vote black-bay filly too and SOON! She sure looks great Carol - you and DebbieS did a great thing!

[CarolU]

Isn't ANYONE going to wish me a buckskin filly???? That is what I want!!!! :evil: :evil: :evil:

[DebbieS]

I'd wish you a buckskin filly, Carol, but you know who I want it to look like ;-)

Just a thought. Our Princessa is 1/2 Peruvian Paso and 1/2 QH. She is nicely gaited, and a very nice size (a little larger boned and taller) that most Peruvians. If you get a gaited filly (or colt), the resale value will be great.

Here is my mom riding her (my mom likes a larger horse) She is 5'9".
http://animalstaples.com/personal/Oct2005mom2.jpg

I wished I knew how big her mom was (dam was the Peruvian, sire was the QH)

Good luck Carol and Bella!!

[PasoVicki]

I'll wish you a buckskin filly, Carol, if you'll wish me the same. You probably have at least as much chance as I do, maybe even better. Both of Danesa's previous foals have been colts, as have both previous foals by the sire, I think.
Vicki

[LynnG]

Okay girls here's your buckskin newborn gaited filly ...well to look at at least....until Carol's get here!
http://www.geocities.com/lynngallup/gracewoodfarm/images/marietta/2_21_06MariettaGait2.jpg
well buckskin looking as a baby, she's actually as a dun/silver grulla when she finishes shedding her baby hair.

Carol get your sleep while you can......you started checking her about a month too early! :roll: ;-) 8-) you're getting closer. I'm on official break from foal watch until July. :-?

[Carol Nelson]

Ha...the fun thing about Carol's mare is that she didn't know WHEN to expect that baby...and she is a first-timer (am I right, Carol?? You've never done this before...right?) Yes, when I was green I started a full month ahead watching for that baby...and soon tired of that. Now I've worn it down to about the last two weeks... and I missed three out of four last year. :roll:
However, the one we needed to be there for we were there for...our Pinto mare Canela, who needed a little help, and with the other three, we were only a few minutes late. So HAD there been a problem, we would've been there to catch it soon after.
In fact, you might remember Coreen telling me to make a cup of coffee and settle in for the night ...and I did just that...I went in to make a cup of INSTANT coffee...came back and my colt, Devante, was on the ground. Couldn't have been gone ten minutes!!!
Carol, you're gonna love every minute of it...and even if there's a problem...it's remarkable how everything you've ever read comes back to you and you'll do just fine. Just enjoy! ;-)

[LynnG]

Carol N....how's the stallion station going?

[CarolU]

Carol, I haven't had a foal in over 30 years now. I had several when we were on the ranch, then a string of bad luck, lost two foals and one mare (actually this was a mare/foal both, the foal came 6 weeks early, no one was there, the foot got caught up in the rectum and tore her out). Scared me off breeding again...so this is a BIG fear factor for me. My vet insists I've already had my life time's quota of bad luck and so shouldn't have any more. I sure hope not.

I figure that if Suzie can get a buckskin filly out of a black mare, so should I!!!! I don't know what her first colt was, colorwise, but her second was a B&W Spotted Mountain Saddle horse. Probalby looks a lot like Princessa in Debbie's pictures.

[Bonnie M]

Here is what my mare's teats looked like ~ 6 hours before she foaled. Looks like maybe they were pointing backwards....and it was a colt.

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g177/bonniepaso/MVC-009S.jpg

And she had a lot of swelling up in front of her udder.

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g177/bonniepaso/MVC-010S.jpg

[CarolU]

:( That's NOT a full, tight bag with jutting nipples!!! I don't see any squirting milk either. :shock: :evil:

Never mind ya'll...I'm just going to keep on worrying and checking on her! :-?

[Cindy]

Not all of them read the book. :lol:

[CarolU]

Not all of them read the book. :lol:

That's what I was afraid of.... :-?

[Cindy]

One word, actually two. Camera and Monitor. No more (entirely) sleepless nights. Watch from the comfort of your own bed. No other way to go.

[CarolU]

Yeah, Judi had that set up....and I could do something similar, but so far she is still loose in the pasture with her choice of where to be. She is sleeping in the foaling stall, but that is all her choice. I honestly think she does it because I can SEE her in the pasture without going outside. I can't when she's in the stall, so I have to GO check.

She's a very naughty permiscuous Paso. :shock:

I will lock her in when/if she ever gets to the jutting & dripping part. Right now she's just driving me NUTS.

[Pasomom]

Poor girl, She makes me miserable just looking at her. Hope she pops that baby out real soon!

[Carol Nelson]

Carol N....how's the stallion station going?


Sigh...well, Lynn, it's another testimony to the way my luck sometimes runs. Two weeks after I move to Texas, Sept. 11 happens and the horse business bottoms out. Now I build a breeding facility in the middle of a drought!
No one is breeding this year. Even I am not breeding...and my vet who stands several cutting stallions is not breeding. One local vet I take my dog to bred ONE mare this year. People just aren't breeding when they're not sure they will be able to feed their critters. Yes, it has been disappointing, but like I told my partner...everything's there...and will be there when it starts to rain again...so we will keep our fingers crossed! :-?

[LynnG]

Carol N ... and price of feed and hay is up - up due to increased cost of fertilizer and fuel. I'm having to pay $.50 more per bale from the local farmer and I buy alot of hay so that adds up too. We are 4.5" below our normal rainfall. I'm going to try to get as much spring hay stored as possible for the year. The hay is being baled today and put in the hayloft. My source is not as high though as what I hear some of the famers are charging this year. They have to to try to at least break even and some profit. Can't blame them at all.

I planted a winter grazing rye which did come in handy this spring despite mostly dry weather and have already started planting perl millet for summer grazing. Well it still needs to be fertilized, which brings up the cost of grazing. But I only have so much room for hay storage.

Yes, we need an upswing in the weather with more rain (after all hay is harvested) and lower fuel costs. :lol:

[Terry Wallace]

Carol...(U)...Bella is not at full strut...give her another 6 to ten days....

Lets get a faol date prediction going...I will predict she foals on May 13.

I'd try to be present for the birth...Bella looks a bit overweight!! In case she needs help..... !

BTW..its a BAY colt !! Hehehehehe!!!

[Tracey]

My neighbors mare, at 1:30 when checked did not have a full bag or dripping milk, at 5:30 she had a dry baby standing up nursing!
May 10th, bladk bay colt.

[CarolU]

BTW..its a BAY colt !! Hehehehehe!!!

You're just MEAN! I have two bay boys here already! We certainly don't need another one! LOL

I'll bet on Mother's Day the 15th.

[DSDECKERT]

Oh I hope that poor girl doesn't last another 11 days! Looking at her makes me miserable.....

Bay filly on 5/5 - Cinco de Mayo!

[Blameitonbrio]

Black and white pinto colt (I wish you a filly, but I am guessing colt!). May 7.

[Mellifluous]

I am going to say May 14th - A special day for me! I am predicting black with 4 stockings and a bald face - colt.

[paintedhorizon]

Well I'm kinda late on this! LOL What a great story!

I say a seal bay filly born 5/7 at 2:43 am.

Got any more recent pics?

[DebbieS]

May 8th, dark bay filly (although Listo has those black/white pinto genes ;-)

Sorry, wishful thinking. Don't want to confuse anyone - Listo is :cry: :cry: a gelding and has been for a few years :cry:

But, we like to dream that this is their love child 8-)

[paintedhorizon]

:?:

[CarolU]

Not yet...still a few more days. She is having a VERY hard time moving around now...poor thing.

[paintedhorizon]

Oh man! I was so hoping for a baby!

[Camilla]

Hi Carol,
How exciting for you!
Just read this thread, don't know the background...
do you know the daddy? Is it a paso? any idea on colour?
Otherwise, I'll go safe and guess bay colt on the 10th.

As for baby predicting... Don't know if this is recycled info for you, but here's what I check... usually pretty accurate.

Before foaling:

-sunken muscles top of croup on either side
- tail is easier to lift, less clamping
- belly visibly drops
- milk vein appears (bulging "rope-like" line runs along bottom of her sides... very visible).

Best foaling predictor for me.... The Milk Check:

My daily check, once a bag appears includes extracting some milk from the udder. let me know if you don't know how and I'll describe. if it is very hard to extract, leave a couple days and come back). Once I get to step 2 or 3 I check two or more times a day.
Stage 1 milk - clear, watery
Step 2 milk - starting to take on a yellow tinge
Step 3 milk - definitely amber, and somewhat sticky
Step 4 milk - less sticky and starting to look cloudy white
Step 5 milk - looks like skim milk
Step 6 milk - finished product, looks like homo or 2%

I have had one mare foal before milk turned white, and then milk magically was step 6 by end of labour. other than that, they have all gone thru these steps (or at least up to 5) before getting busy. There are milk testing kits out there you can buy, but a visual likely works just as well. Only had 2 mares drip milk before foaling. Only had one with visible wax beads on the teats before foaling. I have only had about a dozen foals, so no expert either.
Good luck!

[CarolU]

Thanks Camilla, I'm going to print that out and hang it by the door.

Right now we have a full but not tight bag, no milk vein, soft tail head but not slack, slack tail, and foal has not dropped.

I have no idea who or what the daddy is. We'll see if we can guess when the foal arrives...

Now EVERYONE, repeat after me, "BUCKSKIN FILLY"

[Camilla]

Hey Carol,
I'm thinking buckskin fill for you... thinking it hard. Can you repeat for us late-comers how you ended up with this gal?

Also, I checked my book to see if I had the steps correct, as I was going from memory... they have a little different, try this instead...

Udder Fluid Progression:

1. Clear and watery, to
2. thin but cloudy, to
3. yellow-tinged and increasing in viscosity, like floor wax, to
4. definitely amber-coloured and syrupy-thick, to
5. skim milk, to
6. Opaque white milk.


* They recommend keeping a close watch from step 4 onwards. Do know for sure that when you've got step 6, it's not even safe to take a pee break if ya wanna watch, haha!

[Bonnie M]

I knew something was going to happen soon with my two mares because of the different things that happened with them.

For my mare Zena, as you can see from the photos I posted previously, she got a lot of swelling on her belly in front of her udder. Then she started a "power walk". I was checking on her every half hour, and every time I went out she was in a different place in her paddock. She usually isn't all over the place like that.

Then my other mare, Alegria, her vulva stretched enormously the day she gave birth. It was really noticeable. That was the only sign she gave me.

Missed both births, Zena decided to give birth in between the half hour checks, and I wasn't that positive with Alegria, so didn't bother checking on her and found her in the am with her new colt.

Both were maiden mares and both went without a hitch.

Good luck with Bella.

[PasoVicki]

Repeating after Carol : "buckskin filly . . . buckskin filly . . . . "

[Brigitte]

Carol, you should put the same thing Moniece had as her signature, but replace palomino with buckskin.
That obviously helped Moniece :D

[Dianne]

:lol: Buckskin FILLY Buckskin FILLY Buckskin FILLY!
hows that? :D

[Pasofinoguy]

May 13th and it will be a Dun. And like i said before a filly.

[CarolU]

Adam is quickly becoming my favorite person! :lol: Dianne, Camilla, Brigette, Vicki are right up there too! LOL

Camillla, DebbieS posted a plea here last June to help this Peruvain Paso that had ended up in a truckload of Quarter Horses with a cowboy who had no idea what to do with her. He was ready to send her to the auction and the canners. Her papers were with her and she's a purebred.

I contaced Debbie and made an offer with the cowboy. Debbie was coming to Mile High in Denver and she picked up Bella and brought her to me there. I brought her home and contacted her original breeder who is still listed on her papers. Found she was born and raised in Fuita, Colorado, was given to a couple in Montana for their daughter 3 years ago. The daughter developed cancer and that forced the sale of all their horses to pay for treatments. Bella went to auction last March. Her whearabouts between March and when the cowboy in South Dakota got her unknown. He bought her in an auction in Colorado.

So.....Bella's 'love child' was created during her gypsy days.

[DebbieS]

So.....Bella's 'love child' was created during her gypsy days.

Oh, Bella's such a little hussy!! Okay, if you must have a buckskin filly, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you, just because you're such a nice person for helping out a poor pregnant homeless girl in her time of need. Can you believe you got 2 horses for $700??

[Mellifluous]

Ok, I will go for a nice golden dun colt - sorry, can't change my opinion on the gender. We will hope that she met a nice, handsome Kiger mustang in her travels.

Of course,
I think it would be awesome if you got some long ears out of this...

This is a cute mule baby story.
http://www.newpromisefarms.com/pages/non_nav/CIRROCCO.htm

[PasoVicki]

I'm still chanting "Carol is getting a buckskin filly . . . buckskin filly . . . . " However, I do recall that you mentioned you'd like a gaited mule. I know next to nothing about mules, but I have a feeling "buckskin filly mule" isn't within the realm of possibility.
Vicki

[Mellifluous]

I'm still chanting "Carol is getting a buckskin filly . . . buckskin filly . . . . " However, I do recall that you mentioned you'd like a gaited mule. I know next to nothing about mules, but I have a feeling "buckskin filly mule" isn't within the realm of possibility.
Vicki

He Vicki- read the story I just posted above your post. It is soooo cute!

[DebbieS]

I loved that story, Mel!! They have lots of nice horses listed for sale on their site, also. But I'm not looking or anything ;-)

[JennLM]

Oh that had me giggling out loud!

[CarolU]

Now THANKS Mel, that is one CUTE story!!! I can relate to several parts of it. And that baby is way too cute.

My best friend Judi and I have had a running joke about if this little one will bray. Gatied mules re worth a LOT...and I already have 3 buyers if it's a gaited mule. Gaited grade ???'s are not nearly so valuable.

This one is Bellas "Nino del Amor"...we'll have to guess who caught her fancy during her travels.

[Carol Nelson]

Chances are it's a QH...or BLM mustang...and I'm voting for the black bay myself...can't you go out and trip her or something...darn, we want to see that baby!!! ;-)

[Brigitte]

Chances are it's a QH...or BLM mustang...and I'm voting for the black bay myself...can't you go out and trip her or something...darn, we want to see that baby!!! ;-)

Who knows, maybe it's half paso fino :lol:

[Barbwire]

That was a cute story. I checked out the rest of the site and almost fainted when I saw this picture. The colt is a yearling. What the heck are the parents thinking? (grumble, grumble)

http://www.newpromisefarms.com/pages/Sales/outbarn/breeze.jpg

[Brigitte]

:shock:

[PasoVicki]

I have it! The reason that Bella is so BIG and that she has looked like she's ready to deliver for so LONG is that she's having strong, healthy twins. See, she's been even more promiscuous than Carol realized. She couldn't make up her mind on which guy she wanted more, so she's having both a black gaited mule and a buckskin quarter-cross filly.
Vicki

[lisa l aka marci]

:shock: :eek: :shock: :shock: :shock:

[Brigitte]

I have it! The reason that Bella is so BIG and that she has looked like she's ready to deliver for so LONG is that she's having strong, healthy twins. See, she's been even more promiscuous than Carol realized. She couldn't make up her mind on which guy she wanted more, so she's having both a black gaited mule and a buckskin quarter-cross filly.
Vicki

Yes! That's it !

[CarolU]

I have it! The reason that Bella is so BIG and that she has looked like she's ready to deliver for so LONG is that she's having strong, healthy twins. See, she's been even more promiscuous than Carol realized. She couldn't make up her mind on which guy she wanted more, so she's having both a black gaited mule and a buckskin quarter-cross filly.
Vicki

Vicki is my new very bestest friend ever.... :D

[Dianne]

:lol: All I can say is..she better hurry the heck up! I cant stand the waiting!!!