A Baby Boomer Dreams of Arabian Horses - The Third Foal Crop Part 2

Part One of the Baby Boomer Series

The Third Foal Crop Part 1

When my friend, Chris, asked me if this new colt was a chestnut, my wheels began to turn. I had never seen a newborn chestnut foal before. I had never experienced the lack of pigment they are born with. I had heard about the pink skin around the eyes, muzzle and inside the ears but knowing and seeing are just NOT the same things. Yes, this colt was chestnut. I knew immediately that she was right.

Actually, it was amazing to me how quickly this colt began picking up pigment. Even within a few hours he didn't look nearly so anemic. Looking him over closely, more out of curiousity about the chestnut than interest for the foal, I realized that this also was a very special colt. He was absolutely huge, very athletic and had a very exotic head. His large eyes stood out very prominately away from his head and the area under the eyse scooped out deeply making them appear all the more dramatic. His muzzle was about the size of a fine bone china English tea cup.

But even with that, I found it hard to get excited about this colt. My heart was still lost somewhere greiving over the loss of Image. I didn't have much time to get focused on him anyway. Before I could blink I had another mare ready to foal.

This time it was Aana that was grabbing my attention. She was the only maiden mare I had to foal out that year. With her being an older maiden, I knew I had to be extra cautious. There could be issues with her body being older that might cause a difficult delivery or she could even get frightened not understanding what was happening to her. Because she didn't have a lot of trust with me, helping her could be a challenge. Then her lack of herd experience could affect her acceptance of a foal. There was a lot to be concerned about.

On April 5, 2007 Aana gave birth to an average sized bay colt. As closely as I watched this mare, she still managed to have this foal without me in attendance. Her instincts to be alone were much stronger than my determination to catch her foaling. I made a trip to the restroom and she popped out the foal while I was gone.

When I got back to the barn, the mare jumped up because of my presence. I looked in the stall to find the foal laying in the corner just beginning to stir. The mare was off in an opposing corner looking at me. She was definitely more concerned with what I might be up to than she was the foal.

The colt was strong and healthy. He looked like a nice horse. He had very little white on him, an almost faint star and sparse white markings on two feet. Conformationally the colt looked like he had a better shoulder than his mother. His neck was set on high, but he had what I think is a typical Bey Shah type throatlatch. The foal also had big pretty eyes, dishy face, a little tiny muzzle and very cute tight tippy ears.

We went through all of the usual motions, drying off the foal, blanketing him, cleaning out the wet straw, putting down fresh dry bedding,. helping it rise and nurse.

The mare wanted to keep turning to see what the colt was doing. To teach him to nurse, we had to halter the mare to keep her standing still. She was good about letting us guide the colt towards her udder. She tolerated all the repositioning it took. But Aana really didn't get it. She watched me working with the colt but never did bond with him.

While the mare didn't reject her foal, she really didn't accept him either. She allowed him to nurse but she didn't nurture him at all.
If something scared the colt, he would pratically climb the walls trying to escape. Aana didn't talk to him or nuzzle him to tell him that it was safe. He was bouncing off the walls at the slightest noise or movement. The poor little guy had no idea what the world was about and his mother was no help at all. Neither was I.

I don't know if my distraction over Image was the cause or my lack of experience but I didn't realize that she was neglecting him emotionally until days later. I watched to see that she was allowing him to nurse and that all seemed to be going fine. I kept track of his weight gain and pooping and peeing but it never occurred to me that there was an issue with his psychological needs.

Through all of this, I was working for a halter trainer, Eric Krichten, at a farm a few miles away. I was gone during the days grooming and conditioning horses and working on show entries and such. Trying to keep track of mares getting ready to foal and newborns needs were a lot to juggle. Add into that getting Legs ready to show in stallion halter at the end of the month. I had a lot on my plate.

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

The Third Foal Crop Part 3

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