A Baby Boomer Dreams of Arabian Horses - The Legacy Continues - Part 7

Part 1 of the Legacy Continues

Once I placed the foal at the Arabian horse's feet, I toweled off the newborn. The effort was more automatic than enthusiastic. Usually I can hardly wait to get my hands on new foals but I was just too caught up in worrying about the mare to even be paying much mind to this foal.

The whole time I was drying, I was watching the mare. A couple of times my towel got tangled around the poor foal and I got plenty of attitude to let me know I was amiss. Even that wasn't enough to get my undivided attention, my heart was in my throat waiting to see if the other shoe was doing to drop.

It seemed like forever before the Arabian mare rolled up onto her sternum to look at her foal. I had no idea how much time had actually elapsed. I was so intent on studying the mare to see any signs of distress other than sheer fatigue. Other than a number of deep sighs, the mare seemed to be doing ok. She was definitely very weak but ok.

I had already called the vet at the first signs of trouble. But, as usual, I was flying alone until the mare sat upright. About that time the vet showed up. He glanced at the mare and didn't seem too concerned so my tension level subsided a bit.

His next question was about the sex of the foal. I hadn't a clue. I hadn't even thought about such things as sex. A quick once over to be sure the foal wasn't in distress and the mare had received most of my attention. A quick lift of the tail, girl parts for sure.

Now as my attention turned to the foal, my heart skipped a beat. As much as I had fallen in love with Vee at first sight, I tumbled head over heels for this filly and unfortunately dropped poor Vee like a hot potato! There was no doubt in my mind, that this filly was mine.

The vet began working at getting the filly to her feet. Like the others before her, she struggled to get control of her long spidery legs. Just like her sister, she didn't take kindly to help. That darn filly snaked her neck and dove at me with her ears flattened and her teeth bared. She was barely an hour old!

As we worked to get the filly to her feet, I realized that the horse was deformed. All of her parts were there. The proportions were right but she was really bent. The filly was absolutely huge. There had not been enough room for her inside the mare so she had been all squished together. This was my first experience with a windswept (wind swept) foal.

The filly had been so squished inside the mare, you could actually see the impression of her head in her left flank. As the foal got to her feet it was easier to see the extent of the damage. Her body was bent. She caved in at the left hip and her back legs were a mess. Her stifle pointed in, her hock out and her toe in on her back leg. What she lacked in straightness she made up for in attitude. I was definitely enamored of this filly.

The filly on the other hand didn't think much of me. She was pretty darn sure that I was getting in her way. How she could kick at me when she barely could stand is still beyond me but she did. Unfortunately her first few hours of life were spent in a power struggle with me. I finally knocked her to the ground and sat on her to prove my point. From that moment on we have been best buddies.

Solidare laid down for over two hours before she made any attempt at all to get up. With the vet right there, I didn't panic but it was a really long two hours. When the mare finally did rise it was only to let the filly nurse. As soon as that was accomplished the mare immediately dropped back to the ground.

Once that was done the vet prepared to leave. He told me not to worry about the windswept filly, she would straighten out on her own. I did what he said, but it turned out not to be true. If you ever find yourself with a windswept foal, you need a good equine chiropractor as soon as possible.

Believe it or not, this filly too ended up with an inadequate IgG score of under 400 just like Vee. So both of my foals that spring had to have transfusions to bring their IgG scores up to par. The second foal responded to the transfusion as well as the first.

I actually wrote about what happened to this filly in an earlier post, New Thinking about Club Feet in Arabian Horses.

For those who are wondering this filly is Scandalous Dare. (and yes, Kim, you guess right!)

To be continued.........

The Legacy Continues Part 8

Rachel and I are participating in a clinic this weekend with trainer Jesse Saldana from California. Tomorrow's post will be about the clinic, then I'll get back to this series.



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