Tail Wrapped, Monitor On!

Friday is really miserable today. We sat with her a while and tried to make her feel better. She was resting, with one hind leg cocked and the baby gave a hard kick. The movement nearly knocked her over. She had to move quickly to get both hind legs under her for balance. She is not a happy camper!

No pictures today. Any photos of the foaling monitor are clearly X-rated, so we decided to skip those.

She is off to the foaling barn!

 





The vet moved Friday to the foaling barn today! Her milk bag is huge and she is a off of her food (even the grain). She has  a touch of sweat on her shoulders.  It was over 80 degrees today, so that may explain sweating and her loss of appetite.     

The vet is going to check her tonight and put in a monitor that will alarm (and page him) if the baby moves into the birth canal. She is pretty sneaky and I am fairly sure she will try to have the baby unattended (Good luck with that!)

Watched!

You can see from the pictures below that the baby had "dropped". This means the baby is now in the birth canal and Friday no longer looks like she swallowed a big beach ball when you look at her from the front. They also call this "slab sided". This is another sign that she is close to foaling.

Grace checking on our girl

Lots of milk!

Missing Harley Maybe?

Pregnancy Update

No change. She is adjusting to the Mare Hotel at the vets.

Update

It has been a busy Saturday. Today was the mock disaster that our students complete as their final activity in their disaster class lab. The mock disaster is a simulated earthquake exercise that involves 30 students (rescuers) and about 50 victims. It is an exercise that takes about 2 hours to set up and about 1 hour to complete. Mainly, it requires quite a bit of up and down stairs for me and I am generally worn out when it is over. After the mock disaster was completed, I was looking forward to a nice afternoon with a good book and a couch. I just had to go to the barn and check on Friday to see if she was doing okay.

Audrey and  I went to the barn to check on our sweet girl. We took Friday out of her stall to brush her and give her a daily pampering session. When I checked her, I was surprised to see that sometime in the last 24 hours she had decided to fill up her udder! I was shocked! She was making steady progress all week, but nothing too dramatic,  so I thought it would be a week or two before I saw a full udder. I checked with the trainer at the barn (who has been watching her with me) and she was shocked too. This was a definite issue and we decided to call the vet.

I called the vet and he recommended that we bring her in today. Audrey and I hitched up the trailer and got Friday ready to go. Friday was great about all the activity and loaded right into the trailer without a bit of problem. Audrey and I took her to the vet and she seemed to be adjusting to her new stall without problem. I was actually relieved to have her at the veterinarians. The vet and his staff can keep a close eye on her and make sure that if she decides to have this foal soon, there will be lots of help at the ready.

We could still be several weeks away from a birth, but a mare can have a foal anywhere from 305-405 days. Friday is at 319 days. Better safe than sorry!

On My Harley

Harley is doing excellent in his training. He has learned to collect himself (not race around like a crazy man) and to lead with the correct leg (most of the time). Here is a quick video Audrey took of Harley. He will slow to a trot with just a slight adjustment in the saddle (no pulling on the reins). I love this horse!

Link to Harley in Training

Friday is doing great today. She is getting a lot more milk. I was thinking of taking her to the veterinarian at the end of the month. I don't think we will make it........

We Are Getting Closer

As of today, Friday has been pregnant 313 days (the average gestation is 335 days for horses). Today I gave her the pre-birth required vaccinations and worming medicine. These help protect the foal. 

Friday was so dirty the other day that if you touched her, the dust would rise in clouds. Even though she is big and clumsy, she drops and rolls every chance she gets. It was warm outside yesterday so I took the time to give her a nice warm bath and let her dry in the sun. I braided her tail and trimmed her bridle path at the top of her head. It was a real spa day. She deserves one!

Getting some sun in the paddock

The side view

She is in good spirits, but is tired most of the time. In a few more weeks, I will take her to the veterinarian's place to have the foal. It won't be a long drive, just a mile or two. Harley will miss her terribly and we are already making plans on how to help him cope (someone suggested sedation). He is making some new friends at the barn, so maybe that will help.

Baby on Board

I have been slow in updating the blog this year. We moved to a new barn closer to our house and it required a lot of work and reorganizing and readjusting. The horses like the new barn just fine. Friday is in a stall now and is turned out in a paddock once a day. I try to get out several times a week as well and make her exercise. She is getting huge now and not very interested in moving around. She gives me that desperate, wild-eyed look when I put her on the hot walker or take her for a stroll. 

The baby is due May 8th. I am going to take her to the veterinarian's place to foal (he has cameras, alarms etc) so hopefully things will go well. Now I just need to time it just right. I am going to take her when around May 1st. Harley will be heartbroken!

Harley likes the new barn. His stall is right next to his bff Friday and that is just fine with him. She still puts her ears back every time he gets close, but I think she is starting to weaken a little bit. She is interested in where he is going and is glad to have him back. She just wouldn't ever let  him know that.