Sad, Then Happy

Our poor girl. I received a call about 11pm the other night that Friday had stillborn twins. Mares are not made to have twins and so it did not go well for them. We are just so thankful that we did not lose Friday as well, as this can happen quite easily. We had our tears and we all moved on. I went out to look at the twins. One was very small, too small in fact, and was not mature enough to breathe on her own. The other had a premature separation of the placenta (placenta abruptio) and was also born dead.

Friday looked good physically, but was sad and the barn manager said she was very upset when they took the bodies away. She was eating and quiet when we saw her. I called the vet to let them know what was going on and to get her postpartum check scheduled. I asked if they had heard of any orphan foals. They said that they knew of someone that had an orphan foal they had been feeding since he was born (six days ago).

About an hour later I got a call from the owner of the orphaned foal. He is a local Quarter Horse breeder who had a mare die when the colt was born. The foal was born breech (backwards) and had a lot of trouble. They were not having a lot of success trying to feed him. We knew it was a longshot, but we agreed to meet at the barn and see if Friday would take the foal.

Audrey, Grace, and I went to the barn to get Friday ready. I washed her udder and gave her a nice grooming and treats. I took a towel and got the scent of one of her dead foals on it. When the orphan foal arrived, it was quite an event. There were our barn people and their barn people. Lots of activity.

I held Friday in the corner of her stall so I could intervene if she showed any hostility to the new foal. She heard them bringing in the foal and she went crazy. They put the towel over the foal and carried him in. She nickered and whined and wanted to get right to him. I think she thought that we had finally brought one of her babies back to her. She licked him and kissed him. I was able to let her have her head since she was not acting threatening. The groom that brought in the foal helped him to start nursing and Friday let the orphan colt nurse! A big step.

The colt (boy foal) was weak and stressed, but we decided it was going well and he would stay with Friday. She kissed him and loved on him and became very protective. Our biggest hurdle was that was being bottle fed and did not know how to nurse. I talked to the colt's owner. He was still pretty heartbroken about his mare and the fact that he might lose this colt too. The orphan colt comes from a long line of talented racehorses and his arrival was much anticipated.

Grandma Judy and Dee came and got Audrey and Grace to spend the night with Grandma and Grandpa. To make sure that things went well I stayed with Friday and the orphan colt (we call him Wyatt). At first, we had to stand him up and drag him over to Friday and try and get him to nurse. When he stands up he looks Bambi on ice. Friday was so patient and such a trooper. She never gave up. By 10pm we I had him starting to nurse a bit on his own. I went home for a couple hours of sleep and Brooke, one of the trainers, got up at 1:30 am to help him nurse again. I came in again at 05:00 am. Wyatt was already looking stronger. I helped him stand and pushed him toward Friday and he nursed. Yipee!

By 10:00 am he was standing on his own and nursing. In between nursing he was sleeping. The storm was raging on and he started to shiver, so I put a blanket on him. He had a good day after that. Friday is a fantastic mom, and kisses and licks Wyatt constantly (see video). He is a fighter and we are hoping he will do well. Looks good so far.

Wyatt with his blanket on.

Thanks to everyone for your heartfelt condolensces. It has been a difficult time for us. I am exhausted and hoping to get some good sleep tonight. We will check on Friday and Wyatt in the morning and see how things are going.