A Baby Boomer Dreams of Arabian Horses - The Legacy Continues - The Second Foal Crop Part 2

Part One of the Baby Boomer Series

Part one of the Second Foal Crop

The second mare due to foal was Lilly or lovingly known as the midget mare. She, too, was a maiden mare. I had put off breeding this Arabian horse the first year to give her more time to grow. She really is a "midget" at about 13.2 hands tall.

Now at eleven months pregnant she looked even smaller. There was no place for that baby to go. It stuck out everywhere. She looked like one of those cartoon blow-up animals that had been over inflated with her four legs sticking oddly out the corners. Sometimes when I saw that baby move, I thought it was going to knock her off her feet.

Lilly was not sneaky mare like Faye. She did have her baby in the middle of the night but she did it with me in the barn. I awoke to her pacing and opened the door just in time to see the mare lay down.

The foal was huge and Lilly had some trouble getting it pushed all the way out. I ended up assisting because it acted like it was going to attempt to get up while still partially inside the mare. I didn't want the mare to sustain any internal damage so I quickly pulled the foal free.

It immediately tried to get up with flailing legs while I was trying to check if for sex. I don't know what it is about those colts and their slick bottoms but I can't ever be sure with just one glance. I have to look at least three times before I accept that it's a boy. This time was no exception! But he didn't much like me looking. The little varmint was kicking at me!

Immediately, I was in love! I don't know what it is about foals with big attitudes but they grab my heart. Doesn't matter, colts or fillies, the bigger the attitude, the harder I fall. I was head over heals over this bay colt.

The horse was the spitting image of his dad including the big bold attitude. With three white socks, star, stripe and snip his markings were nearly identical as well with the exception of that one additional sock in the front.

The likeness was more than just color, markings and attitude, conformationally he mirrored his dad as well. With a deep beautiful hip, smooth coupling, short back, well laid back shoulder, high set on long neck with a fine throat latch topped off with a pretty pretty face, he really was a dead ringer for his dad. I was totally blown away.

Getting him up and guiding him to nurse took the usual "colt" amount of time. He refused help and couldn't figure it out on his own. There was lots of bucking, kicking and biting going on as he tried to do it himself without our intervention. He was just too cute for words!

The only problem at first seemed to be with those mile long legs of his. Once the foal did get to his feet, it was clear to see that he was down on his pasterns. He'd been so folded up inside something had to give and the tendons and ligaments are what do. This was a problem I'd seen more often than not with my long legged foals. Usually within a few days the foals come right up where they belonged. Neither the vet nor I expected this foal to be any different.

Within a few hours it became clear that we had one other problem. The foal was constipated and I mean dangerously constipated. By the following morning he was in the hospital in intensive care. Even with a special cocktail concocted by the vet, things did not break loose.

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

The Second Foal Crop Part 3

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