I Don’t Know Nothin’ About Birthin’ no Babies!
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One bitterly cold, windy, snowy April morning, my father called me. “I have an emergency.” I was about to tell him to hang up and call 911, when he elaborated. “Sundown had her foal out in the pasture.” I was relieved we didn't need an ambulance, but this particular emergency would have challenges of its own. My sister and mother, who owned the mare were two hours away. What was I going to do?
As I drove I assured myself that horse babies are born outside all the time. However, foals born outside are not supposed to be born on a day that looked more like January than April. There is supposed green grass and daisy, sunshine, butterflies, and bunnies dancing in a ring. I wasn't sure what I would find when I got there. However, I have a vivid imagination. All imagined scenarios ended with a dead or damaged foal or mother.
I sprang out of my truck to hear a family friend screaming from the pasture, "Hurry, HELP!" Sure something horrific was happening, I pelted breathlessly to where a friend struggling to hold up a very wobbly foal, beside a very agitated mare. The foal was still wet. Eight other very excited equine rubberneckers crowded around. The mare lashed out at them while she nervously hovered over her newborn.
My husband, curious about the emergency, drove up and took over holding up the foal, who kept collapsing into the mud and slush. We quickly made the decision to load the foal into a large wheel barrow and cart it into the barn. I held the mare while the others procured and loaded the foal into the wheel barrow.
It was a frantic, slow procession to the barn. I led the mare, who licked her foal's head and ears. Someone else fended off the determinedly curious herd. It took forever to get to the barn. The foal wanted out of the barrow. The mare kept trying to swing out at the other horses. The ground was slippery, slushy and rough.
It seemed like hours before we tipped the babe gently into a clean stall. He appeared unhurt, strong, and whole. The next challenge was getting his first meal. With the first nursing, foals get immunity and energy building colostrum. It’s essential they get it as soon after birth.
We estimated the baby was ninety minutes old when we got to the box stall. We all tried guiding his little nose to the right spot. On his own, he searched his mama's chest, shoulder, belly, to find her udder, lose track of it, then search again. For two hours, we desperately tried to get his face in the right space. We made a couple of frantic calls to the vet’s office. Their only advice; boy babies take longer than girls.
At one point, I felt like screaming like Butterfly McQueen, “I don’t know nothin’ about birthin’ no babies!” Finally, we got the foal to latch on properly. "I can hear him swallow, can you hear him swallow?" someone shouted.
It only took a few seconds for the mare to let down enough milk to fill the foal's stomach. He lay down in the straw and promptly went to sleep. The reluctant post-partum team dispersed. I stayed to make sure the foal got up for a second feed. I figured he'd needed to be up in about forty-five minutes. He exceeded my estimation by ten minutes and nursed like an expert. Shortly after, my mother and sister arrived. They were pleased at how everything was handled, and of course with the foal, a little bay colt, with four white feet and four straight legs. “No problem," problem”, I said, “but you’re not allowed to leave home again.” |
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Dark Star
Oddly enough, this isn't surprising. They are right when they said it, Colts are usually really slow to do everything. I have seen fillies that are nursing and running around on sure legs at an hour old, while colts are the ones who end up stuck in stall corners for an hour since they can't figure out how to back up (That one ended with me physically picking him up to turn him around. 'Raven James', as he's named now, did it 3 more times that night haha *Named since he was born on the superbowl sunday, the Ravens won so that was his name. haha)
I have also seen mares get nasty when they foal. We had one who was dumber than a box of rocks, took her 5 times of laying down before she wasn't in a corner, then she delivered a huge bay colt (biggest one of the year and out of a maiden mare), Then she got up and tried to kick the snot out of us whenever we got near them, cornered my partner in crime and I had to beat her off with a pitchfork. She ended up hobbled and twitched before the ni
Oddly enough, this isn't surprising. They are right when they said it, Colts are usually really slow to do everything. I have seen fillies that are nursing and running around on sure legs at an hour old, while colts are the ones who end up stuck in stall corners for an hour since they can't figure out how to back up (That one ended with me physically picking him up to turn him around. 'Raven James', as he's named now, did it 3 more times that night haha *Named since he was born on the superbowl sunday, the Ravens won so that was his name. haha)
I have also seen mares get nasty when they foal. We had one who was dumber than a box of rocks, took her 5 times of laying down before she wasn't in a corner, then she delivered a huge bay colt (biggest one of the year and out of a maiden mare), Then she got up and tried to kick the snot out of us whenever we got near them, cornered my partner in crime and I had to beat her off with a pitchfork. She ended up hobbled and twitched before the night was over so we could get her foal up and nursing.
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Jul 8, 2013
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