Things I Never Expected to See

One of the projects I'm currently working on is a guest chapter for the A Dream universe. It's first-person perspective from Rainbow Dash's POV, taking her through the duration of her pregnancy.

So, of course, I had to do research. The obvious research materials were A Dream itself, as well as Science, Steam, and Beer and The Pointless Adventures of Guinness -- Guinness, a human-turned-pegasus, is the father of Rainbow's foal. He was introduced to the Dreams continuity with SS&B, and TPAoG is Guinness's own adventure.

As I'm dealing with pregnancy, though, I decided to do some research on the process with regard to horses in the Real World™.

Let me just say, horse placenta is disgusting (not that human placenta isn't), and giving a horse a sonogram requires getting way more personal with the poor mare than I'd be comfortable doing myself. Ultrasound can only penetrate a couple of inches, you see; in humans, this means we can scan over the belly. In horses, the distance between the uterus and the outer edge of the barrel is too far, so you've got to come around from the other side.

And no, the horse's back is still too far away. Try again. Hint: Equine sonograms require the use of plastic gloves. Up to your elbow.

.
.
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So yeah, I just finished watching a video with a man sticking his arm all the way up a pregnant horse's ass. That was not something I was expecting to see when I woke up this morning.
(I don't intend to link to any of the images I've looked at in the past couple days, or to the video I just finished. Do your own Google searches, you wackos.)

Now, time to work this into a scene for my story.

Comments

[Midnight Spark]

I didn't need that image back.. I had to watch my uncle do that a couple years ago.

[FanOfMostEverything]

Ponies are smaller than horses. Are you sure the rectal approach will be needed?

Oh, what am I saying? Nothing's going to convince you not to do this now that you've discovered you can.

[Super_Big_Mac]

I feel hungry, suddenly.

[Lithl]

953497
From one of my Author's Notes in My Little Exalt:

In the Real World™ (and Creation), the definition of a pony is a breed of horse which (when fully grown) measures 14.2 hands high or less at the withers. In my canon, MLP ponies are around 10hh. ... Also, 9.5hh is the maximum height for a miniature horse, which makes something 10hh a little pony!

In other words:
< 9.5hh: Miniature horse
9.5-14.2hh: Pony
> 14.2hh: Horse

A hand, as a unit of measurement for a horse's height, is equal to 4 inches, so My Little Ponies are therefore ~40" (3' 4") at the shoulder. Medical ultrasounds are performed in the 1-18 MHz range, with 1 Mhz penetrating about 1.5" through muscle and 6" though fat. Higher frequencies produce more accurate images, but don't penetrate as deeply. The uterus is roughly halfway between a horse's back and belly. If we assume the barrel take up approximately half of the horse's measured height, that makes it about 5" away from the belly. On the other hand, the colon and intestines lie right above the uterus.

On top of that, horses in general (in the Real World™) have little fat compared to most humans in the world today, as the horses are, frankly, constantly exercising (although exceptions and obese horses exist, especially ones that are simply pets). Most humans... aren't. Then there's RD, who is actually an athlete on top of that.

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> Nothing's going to convince you not to do this now that you've discovered you can.
Also that.