It's always a good idea to see what services your vet will perform on a farm call and if they require payment when services are rendered or if they will bill you with a deposit. 

A lesson I recently learned when scheduling Cookie's vet visit albeit a little late. I was glad when the vet called me when he was on his way back to town. While I would have saved some on a farm call, I found out he required full payment after services were rendered. I also learned that he said he almost always uses a sedative when palpating a mare and that costs more. So, I rescheduled for the following week because I didn't have quite enough to cover it all. 

I also have made a decision to not have her palpated. I think nearly $200 for the farm call, the palpation and sedative is a bit much and that money can go towards something else she might need like precious pedicures. I don't have a trailer or means to haul her and the few folks I know around here would charge just as much to haul her to the vet as it would be the farm call. 

So, provided things work out the way I believe they will (and hope they will) come Monday morning, Cookie will be receiving her Vaccines. I don't think it's quite fair the vet will charge a farm call when he has to drive right by my house in order to go back to the office, but that's ok. Maybe he'll cut it in half. lol  

I do know I'll be shopping around for another vet in the event of an emergency because I need someone who will work with me in regards to the bill. 

In doing some research.. by asking a few friends and my sister about fat horses vs pregnant mares, I have found that mares in general just get grouchy from time to time and they can even give off signals of coming into heat when pregnant. So neither of those are real good signs of pregnancy. Unless the colt is doing summersaults, which is possible, a mare's belly doesn't really change shape much during the day, although it is possible. I have no real way of knowing when she would have been bred, so it's a guessing game as to when she would deliver unless I get an ultrasound for her. That is certainly not something I can afford. 

So for at least the next several months... I'll be watching, taking pics and waiting to see if there will be a fuzzy bundle of joy coming. I do know that when it comes time to give birth, her belly will be as big as a house her udder will fill, her teats will wax and it won't be long after that when there will be a baby on the ground. Lord willing it will all go smoothly and without any hitches or glitches. 

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