The early morning call came in from a long time client. "Um, I've got a question for you.... When was it that Doc castrated that colt of mine last spring?" He went on to explain that when he went out to feed his horses, he thought he saw a shadow but was quite surprised to see a foal instead. They didn't know that the mare was pregnant and as a matter of fact, they had ridden her just a couple of days ago on a long and difficult trail ride. After he started thinking about the dates, the client realized that the stud colt had actually been "with" the mare before he was castrated. It was one of those calls that makes the whole office smile.
The client wanted to make an appointment to make sure that everything was okay with both the mare & foal as soon as possible. "Would Doc be able to come when we aren't home, my wife and I both have to get to work? Also can he tell if it is a filly or colt?" "Of course, he'll be out there later this morning. We'll just have to rearrange things a little." It was starting out as an interesting day.
When Doc and Char got there, the foal was standing in the stall with his mom looking quite strong. The gelding (aka, Dad) was also in the pen. Everyone looked happy and healthy and the foal was even nursing. New foals are so cute. As they haltered the mare, Char immediately noticed that the mare didn't have a bag. Then a closer look by Doc....... this mare hadn't foaled.
They looked over at the other mare the clients owned & she was acting excited and overly interested in the new foal. This is not unusual, mares often do this with a newborn addition to the group. But Doc also noticed how wide the the fence posts were, so they went over and took a closer look. Yep, this other mare was the foal's true mother and she wanted her baby back! After gently reuniting the foal and his true mom and making thorough examinations of both, the smiles came back. Everyone was going to be fine. The other mare was a little disappointed but Dad seemed a bit relieved. The owners were also pleased, if they were going to have a foal to raise – they wanted a colt.
If you have a mare and you know that she's pregnant, there are several things that you should do to prepare. One of which is to make sure that the enclosure won't allow a little one to easily slip through the fence and become separated from its mother. To learn more about how to prepare you can go to......
No comments:
Post a Comment