What are the stages of a horse pregnancy?

Answer 1

I t is the same as a human pragnice but only 2 months longer..

about 11 months

Hey,

The baby horse goes through a lot of stages. First is the early term. The early term lasts for 100 days, starting from conciving. There are not many visual signs to determine if the mare is carrying a foal, but inside, the foal is going through rapid changes. 30 weeks during the pregnancy, the little foal would be about 1 inch long. Surprising enough, it would also have at that time little bumps where the legs would form. 60 days into the pregnancy, the foal would be pretty small still: less then 3 inches long. But now it has the definite shape of a horse. at 100 days, the foal would be just over half a foot long and would have its hair growing already. Then, the early term comes to a close, and the midterm begins.

When the midterm begins, vetrinarians get another pregnancy test done on the mare because it is then that 1/3 of all mares "slip" their pregnancy without anybody noticing.

The midterm lasts from 100 days into the pregnancy to 250 days. At 150 days, the foal surprisingly weighs the scales at 2 pounds and all of the outside of it is fully formed, down to every detail. After the 150th day mark, the foal begins to grow in size. At 180 days it weighs 10 pounds, and at the end of the term, the foal is the size of a lamb and can blink its eyes. By this time, you can clearly see that the mare has put on some weight. And with that, the midterm is finnished, and the late term will start.

After the midterm stoppes at the 250 day mark, the foal will still stedially grow bigger and bigger and bigger. At this point, the lungs begin to develop also. At 300 days, the mare willl have noticable changes. The udder would make a slimy honey coloured goop that would be made into milk two weeks before foaling. Her abdomen will look abnormally bigger, and her vulva will lengthen witthin a week of foaling.

Then finally... the last stage.

After the 315 day mark, the owner/s of the horse should be ready for the welcoming of a new member of the herd. Even though the foal may not come for another month and a half, its great to be ready for anything. Within a week of foaling, the baby "drops" to the lower part of its mother's stomach. Her hind ends will relax within two weeks of birth, as will her vulva.

And then.... a new foal!

Its kind of neat to think about how a foal is grown inside a mare, and how everything on the little colt is just perfect: eyes, hoofs, ears, muzzle, everything. and how everything comes together just perfectly. PTL! :D

hope it helps!

-Brunettekiss