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You could try an human pregnancy test, run out there after she has urinated and rub the tester stick in the 'mud' .

@GallifreyanAngel she’s within 3 weeks of 340 days.

@Haltanny he is still nursing so I have to keep an eye on both to make sure that he’s not getting the colostrum. I will also consider getting some colostrum and possibly seperate her if we do figure out for sure. Thank you a bunch.

When I did breed my horses my foals were weaned between 4 and 6 months. You definitely need to wean that colt. If it was me I would try to take him off property. Has he been gelded yet? He is sucking the colostrum from mom. So get him weaned now because the longer you wait the more stressful it will become on both of them. When exactly was that colt born in 2017.

She won't wean him now if she hasn't yet. She needs to be preg checked. To wean him...if you can't get him away from her...get a pasture muzzle. It'll let him eat grass and drink water but not nurse. And if he gets huffy about it, shell knock him into next week for headbutting her. It's what we use.

@squeakerblue that’s what I was worried about... Even if she isn’t pregnant I don’t want the colt to be glued to her side for the rest of his life. Or standing at the gate screaming and pacing whenever I take her further than the barn. But I haven’t thought about using the muzzle. I could bring that up with my mom.

The colt needs to be weaned. Like yesterday. ESPECIALLY if she's almost due.
And if she didn't take there's a good chance she got bred by her colt since hes over a year old now. Youd need to have the vet out to see if she's actually bred.
And if you dont know her exact dates and she foals while the colt is still with her he could seriously injure or even kill the foal.
Besides the fact that the newborn foal NEEDS colostrum and that milk. That mare cannot feed both of them and the foal will be the one to suffer. You need to get this across to your mother how absolutely serious it is. They need to be separated. Asap.

@SherbertAcres that’s what I’m worried about :((

I love the grazing muzzle idea! And yes. Separate them! Honestly at this point. Best way to separate would be to ship the colt or mare off property. If the mare is yours... Do u have a close by friend that can take her for a month or so? (15 mins or so so the trailer ride isnt stressful on your mare). It would be best of the colt and mare cant hear each other as they can feed off of each others anxiety. Unfortunately Cold turkey is best.

If she is in foal and she foals with that colt still at her side, muzzle or not, he will push the new baby around and that will stress out the mare and new foal and yearling because someone else is feeding off mummy.

Colostrum from your mare is the foundation for the new foals immune system. So no Colostrum equals very poor immune system. In my experience horses who dont receive colostrum end up as adults with health issues. They are more prone to colic and founder when they come into contact with foreign bacteria/viruses, fungi. Two of my friends have lost a couple of horses because of this. Their horses didnt receive colostrum, and both of their vets said because of this this is why they got sick from the pathogen, which resulted in colic, then founder, then sadly death. Not saying that this will happen for sure, but it happens more often than not.

Its the hard facts hun. Im sorry there is a bit of conflict with your mom.

Best of luck!

@DivineDreams we were going to send the colt to a friends but her barn wasn’t finished. I had talked to my mom earlier today and asked if we could have the vet out soon but there wasn’t a clear response.

You can gradually wean them in fields next to each other, basically you just slowly increase their time apart, it's actually scientifically proven to be one if the least stressful weaning methods, they can still keep each other company and the mare is less likely to get mastitis.

@Wildland Acres you are right the foal needs to come off of the mare so the mare can produce and have colostrum for the foal, that is the only way for the foal to be given an immunity to the bugs that are in their environment, with out the colostrum you are going to be fighting a loosing battle with massive vet bills and IGg transfusions etc.

Can you divide their field in half or make a small lot to put the yearling. I have had to wean two foals 3 times from their dams.

also the closer she gets to what you think is her expected due date, the mares teats will get waxy....Ive had a mare keep on her from the previous year and not kick them off even after the new foal is born, however this was a rare thing and was part of neglect case and we believe the reason she had not was she didn't have the energy to do so.....If your mom wont wean the foal, you need to do it, for the mares sake. :)