I'm on Foal Watch!

I think you were concerned about the mare being aggressive to the foal? Is that going OK?

Yes i sure was worried about that! She WANTED to paw him. Really really wanted to! So badly that i have a 20 minute video of her with first one then the other front leg crooked up high… Tried to post it and COTH kicked it back. Too long…
I’ll look into youtube…

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Lovely strong foal. Congratulations!

Wow! What a cutie.

Ohhhh! Is Brenna a Bashkir Curly? She’s lovely. I guess I just assumed because in my mind, you are the queen of the the mustangs!

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Congratulations on a healthy foal! Looking forward to foal number 2. She did wait for a cold night…

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YAY!! Looks like a bay to me too. That kind of mousy color usually has the dark points underneath.

:smiling_face_with_three_hearts::partying_face::racehorse:
1Pkg of Cute down, 1 2 go!

I’ll knit black booties for this baby, so you don’t have to wait* :wink:

*assuming I can learn to knit before he’s weaned :hushed:

Has he told you his name yet?

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Two videos that were too long to put directly into COTH:
Brenna delivering her foal

Brenna meets her foal face-to-face
(you can see my blanket and flashlight over there by the wall…that’s where i set up camp for foal watch. And luckily, she pointed delivery right in my direction!)

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Brenna is a grade mare that is curly coated.
I have 15 mustangs. But i also have 10, well, now 11, domestic equines (2 are mules)

I haltered the colt today. He wasn’t amused. Nor was his dam…lol

We also had him vet-checked and blood drawn. His antibodies snap tested low. She’s coming tomorrow early to draw another blood sample and test again. It took him almost 4 hours to nurse. So when they drew blood for that 12-hr test he’d only actually nursed for a total of 6 hours. I’ll be milking Brenna tonight if i can (i have a mare EZ milk machine) and i’ll either bottle him, or save the colostrum for next foal or freeze it and offer a donation should anyone need.

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Thank you for sharing! That was so fascinating to watch. :heart:

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The lifted foreleg looked to my inexperienced eyes more like bafflement than aggression. She is a maiden mare, right? And once she figured out the licking thing, things looked like they were going well.

Hoping for continued good outcomes.

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Looked like she was protecting her hay (which may be straw, but she is pawing at it like it were hay or grass under snow). Then she looks at the foal like “this is mine. You wanna make something out of it?” Kind of a resource guarding thing?

nah. that’s not it.
First of all, she does paw, a LOT. She paws when anxious. AND…even at dressage training, on occasion, when presented a question she doesn’t quite know how to answer, or isn’t quite sure she is capable, she will do this same thing…LIFT a knee waaaaay up.

In this instance, she was completely unsure what she was dealing with. Anxious, and drawn. So, conflicted. And she also knew it was supposed to get up… so, even with a normal mare (lol) there exists an instinct to paw the down thing to Get Up.

Here’s a video that i took after he shrugged off the amniotic sac. She kinda really

got into-him then!
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I agree. My horse does the same. Whenever he is unsure or anxious and wants something. He doesn’t really paw. He holds it up much like Brenna and swirls it.

Loved the videos. Thank you for sharing.

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well, crap. Vet came back to re-test for antibodies. And he did not get what he needs. I have to haul them to MidRivers (1.5 hr each way) and have a plasma transfusion. (because colostrum window is now closed) I think her udder is stuck actually. He’s been on the teats for too long a time with each drink. I think she’s plugged up. Or has mastitis … Her udder is too firm feeling…and has been this whole time. And yesterday she was moving off.

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I should have used my pump immediately. Now i have to haul a mare and a day old foal

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Jingling for Brenna and her foal. Does he have a name?

Don’t 2nd Guess yourself.
Thank a jillion for sharing that vid :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:
Closest I’ll ever get to an IRT(ime) birth!
Started off my Saturday with a smile :blush:

& Now I’ll put down my knitting needles & commence the Safe Haul, Good Outcome Dance :dancer:
Performed with curb chains :chains::chains::chains:

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I WAS thinking of Hazel for short and EPF Hazel-rah for a his full name…BUT…now that i discover he’s weakened, i may have to go with Fiver. Jury’s still out on the name.

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