A Baby Boomer Dreams of Arabian Horses - The Legacy Continues

Part 1 of the Baby Boomer Series

The first news about our coming foal crop was that there was going to be one less foal than we expected. Kurra Min Sadi (the Gamaar bred mare from Oregon) had lost her foal over the winter. For some unknown reason the last few times the mare had been bred away from home, she had never produced a live foal. Now with this new disappointment, her owner had decided not to try again. There would be no Scandalous Legacy foal out of this mare. I was disappointed to say the least.

However, we still had two foals due on our farm and I awaited their arrival with a mixed sense of fear and excitement. The fear was the result of what I call the "what in the heck have I gotten myself into" syndrome.(I've experienced it a number of times over the years.)
Just as I had never experienced a maiden stallion learning how to breed, I had never dealt with a maiden mare and her first foaling. While the adventures of the maiden stallion may have been an interesting read in A Baby Boomer Dreams of Arabian Horses - The Maiden Season it sure was not fun. Somewhere inside I was dreading the possibilities of the maiden mare foaling, especially since this particular maiden mare happened to be none of than Krugorrs Heiress.

Although I joked regularly that this mare was the wife I had purchased for Scandalous Legacy before he was ever born, her history suggested I shouldn't take anything for granted. This Arabian horse had not been raised with other horses and anything could happen. How she would react with a foal was anybody's guess and how she would react with people around her with a foal could also be a concern.

Not more than two weeks before the mare was due, I went out to the barn one evening do a final check only to find the mare with over half of her eye lid dangling. At first glance the way her eye ball was exposed I thought her eye was dangling as well.

On closer examination, I realized that it was just the eye lid that was torn. I was relieved that the injury was not as serious as I'd thought but at the same time appalled by the way it looked. The tear went clear through the eyelid. It ran two-thirds of the way across the eye and nearly to the top of the eyelid.

I called the vet. While I waited for him to arrive I went over that stall with a fine tooth comb trying to find what could have caused this injury. My barn is not the brightest in the world and it was difficult to see. I used my hands feeling the walls trying to find anything at all that could be the culprit. I never did find a thing., not even later in the light of day.

When the vet arrived I don't think he was too pleased to see that Heiress was the mare that needed work. Even though she had been good for breeding, he had seen enough of Heiress in action to be concerned about working on the horse. But Heiress proved that she could be a good citizen. She stood quietly for the sedative and quietly for the stitching. I remember he remarked as he left about how far she'd come.

After that instance, I was a little less worried about foaling with Heiress. In the back of my mind, I had always wondered what would happen if she needed help and wouldn't allow it. I can't even imagine what it would be like to have a mare in distress and not be able to assist.

To be continued........

Thhe Legacy Continues - Part 2

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