April 28,
2011 started out being just another day on the farm. I had no idea
the surprise I had waiting for me that morning. I loaded the Kubota
RTV with grain, like every morning, and headed out to check on the
mares that were close to foaling. Upon my arrival to the pasture I
noticed a mare standing in the field alone and parked out.
Immediately her stance told me something was off. As I drove out
into the field to investigate, I discovered she was trying to foal.
She had the head and front legs to the knee out already. Sadly, the
foal was dead. I put her inside a small barn that is on the
property, and drove back out to check the other mares. The day
wasn't going so well, but it was going to get worse.
Another mare came
from the edge of the woods, and I could see she had foaled too.
There was no baby at her side. The fear that her foal was dead soon
became a reality. A beautiful cream champagne colt was lifeless in
the grass. Still, I knew there was yet another mare missing. I found
her and a new colt in the edge of the woods a little further down,
They were on a hillside and it had rained. This made it very
difficult for the colt to stand up. This foal was ok. I helped him
stand and walked them to the barn. On my way I had seen where the
mare had given birth. It appeared to me that there were two
afterbirths side by side. All I could think about was getting this
mare to the barn and taking care of the other one with the stuck
foal.
After what seemed like an eternity, I
finally made it to the barn with the mare and live colt. It was
quite a walk, and the baby was tired too. Once I got them inside and
safe from the others he plopped down to rest. I turned my attention
towards the other mare. It was very difficult, but my co-worker and
I were able to dislodge the foal so she could push her out. That
mare was such a trooper!! The poor thing was given out. She made a
full recovery, and is doing fine.
Now it's time to
get the foal that was dead along with any afterbirth. We were
driving across the pasture when I see another mare that has a "heave
line*". Oh my goodness, I had missed her upon my earlier inspection
of the group! That makes four mares that had foaled. Where was her
baby? Then it occurred to me, there were two piles of afterbirth
next to each other, not one that was scattered around like I
originally thought. I had already lost two babies that morning, now
a third??!! If you have ever raised horses, you know how much time
and money goes into them. The disgust and disappointment building up
inside of me was almost unbearable.
We pull the Kubota
around to where I had seen the afterbirth, and are afraid that
coyotes may have gotten the foal. I began picking up the mess when
Erin shouted that she had found it. What!! Alive?? Yes, he was
alive!!! The little fellow had rolled all the way down the hill and
into a ravine. I'm talking about an 8 foot drop off!! There was
water in it and he was wet. He was somewhat hiding under the bank
and some tree roots. We climbed down to look him over, and he fought
us as hard as he could. He didn't plan on getting "eaten" today.
After a few minutes he calmed down and realized we weren't there to
hurt him. How in the heck are we going to get this colt out of here?
We searched for a spot that wasn't so steep. No luck, it was all
steep, way too steep to walk him out. So, we made a harness out of
horse sized halters, lead ropes, and an old coat. I had more trouble
getting up the bank than anyone else, the foal included! My
daughter, aka the cameraman, was laughing at me. Oh well, I would
have laughed too.
Finally, we get
him harnessed and pulled out of there. I wish we had kept shooting
to show what we had to walk him up after we fished him out of the
ditch. It was a steep, long walk with an exhausted foal. We loaded
him into the back of the Kubota and drove him to the barn. He was so
give out, he never struggled. We went back to get mama. But which
one? No mare was with the colt and I had two mares that had foaled
with no foal at their side. I picked the mare with the most milk and
put her in the stall with him. She didn't have enough, so we had to
bottle feed him colostrum. Domperidone brought the mare's milk in,
but that took a day or two. So, he had to be bottle fed until then.
I nicknamed him "Tuff". I think it fits him. If he hadn't the will
to live like he did, then I'm sure he wouldn't have made it. He's
one Tuff colt! Take a look at Tuff's rescue!
Tuff is doing great, and growing like
a weed. He's weaned and ready for his new home. Tuff is a friendly
colt and likes attention. He will make an excellent trail partner. Tuff should be 15 to
15.2 Hands tall when he matures. I will post updated pictures of him
soon.
May 2011
*When a mare foals she will have a
prominent line in her abdomen from where the muscles worked hard to
deliver the baby. I call it a heave-line, but that's probably not
the "technical" term for it.
