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A Labor of Love
A few years ago we purchased a filly by the name of Pearl. We felt that her
refinement and overall conformation would be an asset to our breeding program
and we bred her in 2009 to our stallion, First Knights Dream Come True. She was
instantly a farm favorite of all visitors. We were sure the cross between her
and Dream promised to be exceptional and we eagerly awaited our 2010 foal.
In March we began monitoring
Pearl's progress. On the evening of the 14th Shannon commented that Pearl could
go. While she had only extracted one drop of fluid from her udder, the fluid
was thick and sticky, good indications that she was getting closer to sharing
her foal with us.
In the wee hours of March 15th
Pearl went into labor. Being a maiden mare we knew that the fit would be tight
and prayed for no complications. The foal was in position and with some gentle
guidance a beautiful colt arrived. We were as hands off as possible, but
knowing Pearl we knew that she had no problem with us being there. I'm not sure
why we changed our protocol, but we toweled the foal much less than our other
foals and waited to see what Pearl thought.
Perhaps in our gut we knew or
expected a problem. We are used to the mare turning around and looking to see
what they had done and then hear that wonderful sound of the first nicker from
mom to baby. This would not be the case for Pearl and her colt. Pearl focused
forward the entire time she laid there and she was continually pinning her
ears. When she finally turned to look at her son she instantly pinned her ears
again. While this was alarming, we had experienced it before and knew that it
would normally pass with nursing and time together.
The first and subsequent feedings
could not be done without assistance. Pearl was becoming more and more
aggressive toward her son and we could not leave them alone in the stall. She
was also becoming a danger to us and herself when we she was held for nursing.
Pearls final nursing with her son took place in the presence of our vet. It
took four of us to hold her still and protect her son. Our vet promptly advised
removal of the foal for the safety of all concerned. We now had a bottle baby.
This was not the future we wanted for Pearl or her son, but we knew that it was
the right decision
While we were committed to the
care of this colt, we knew that bottle raising was not the ideal solution for
him or for us. Feeding every 2 hours around the clock is a tough job that we
have done before, but the psychological effects of separation and being alone
are confusing and detrimental to the foal. Our previous bottle baby is a happy,
healthy adult, but was never quite aware that she was a horse. .
We named the colt Journey because
we had a friend at the house that had made a very long Journey from Australia to
visit us, and for a friend who had just reached the end of a very personal
journey Little did we realize how fitting that name was as he began the journey
of a lifetime.
Before we completely gave in to
bottle feeding, we decided to try a really far fetched idea and we took Journey
into the stall with new mom, Ace. Ace immediately whinnied to him and started
licking him. Shannon and I looked at each other in amazement...surely it wasn't
this easy. Could we be so lucky? Ace let him nurse and continued nuzzling
him while her own foal wandered around the stall quietly. Being a maiden mare
herself we were quite tickled with her response, and we were cautiously
optimistic that things would continue in our favor.
This was not meant to be
however. Ace's maternal and protective instincts kicked in once her own colt,
Gambit realized there was a playmate in the stall. Gambit started running and
playing and Ace became afraid for his safety and started herding him away from
this newcomer. She was never mean to Journey, but in her attempts to keep the
two boys separated she accidentally knocked Journey over and we knew that our
streak of luck had ended.
We conceded to bottle feeding and
began preparation of a safe and comfo rtable
stall in our garage. We milked Pearl and mixed it with the formula for
Journey. He took to the bottle quickly and we were grateful to see him thrive
physically. However, mentally you could tell he was lonely. He associated
human legs with "mom" and followed us everywhere. He slept at the entrance to
his stall because he couldn't follow us out. Shannon put a couple of stuffed
animals in with him and he bonded with a large stuffed lion. He was content in
his new home, but was obviously lacking in social development.
Our only hope and saving grace
would be if Tonja foaled within one week of his birth. She had raised an orphan
foal before and we were hopeful that she would oblige us for Journey's sake. We
eagerly awaited Tonja's foaling and the hope that Journey would have a surrogate
mom.
On the morning of March 17 Tonja
went into labor. We ran to the barn but this time our foaling procedures
included a guest...Journey. He ran outside the stall while we assisted Tonja
with her delivery. Tonja is 17 and a pro at foaling. She adores her babies and
is an exceptional mother. We laughingly say she has "chocolate milk" because
it's not unusual to see all the foals nursing from her.
Tonja delivered a beautiful silver
bay colt we later named Traveler. Everything was textbook except what we were
about to do next. We waited patiently while she passed the placenta. Once it
was passed we cut the cams for privacy and Journey
 entered
the stall. He was promptly covered head to toe with the placenta and his face
and nose were rubbed with the amniotic fluids from Traveller. We then watched
and waited with baited breath to see how she responded.
Tonja smelled Journey, then
smelled Traveler, then smelled Journey and started licking him to clean him. We
exhaled slightly, but from our experience with Ace we knew we were not out of
the woods. We continued to watch quietly, always in reach of Journey to snatch
him from harm's way. Unfortunately Journey had no idea what this thing was that
was licking him and started pinning his ears at Tonja and tried to come to us
for his bottle. It took a few attempts to get him to nurse, so we are extremely
grateful that we didn't have to wait a week to try this as I fear his human
interaction would have been too much for him to revert to being a normal foal
again.
Tonja continued to bond with both
of her boys, but occasionally became confused and would favor one over the
other. She eventually settled in and we left the stall so Journey could learn
to be a horse again.
It was heartbreaking to watch him stand at the gate looking
at us like we had deserted him. He eagerly went to Tonja for milk, but came
back to us for companionship. We walked away and prayed that all would be well.
During the night we noticed that
Tonja's son, Traveler was not as active as Journey. Many viewers reported that
Journey was hogging the milk and Traveler was being pushed away. We had seen
them both nursing a good bit so we felt assured that Traveler had received his
needed colostrums but we chose to run an IGG test to be certain. He passed with
flying colors, but the nagging fear that something was wrong continued. Our vet
checked him that same day and said that he was raspy but seemed alert enough and
we needed to keep an eye on him, monitoring temperatures, etc.
The next morning Traveler had
issues with runny eyes. Upon examination we discovered that his eyelids were
rolling under and his eyelashes were irritating his eyes. Left alone he would
form ulcers and have vision damage. Surgery to tack up his eyelids was
regretfully necessary. In addition to this he had developed a respiratory issue
close to pneumonia. The poor little guy was struggling to survive and had an
older brother to torment him. We began to wonder if our good fortune had turned
sour.
Traveler was sedated and his eye
lids tacked. He was also given antibiotics, probios and a respiratory
medication to help him breathe easier. That night I was worried sick as
Traveler laid quietly and Journey zoomed around the stall. Sometime in the
night the antibiotics and respiratory meds kicked in and Traveler started to
thrive. He is not as active as his 2 day older brother, but he's active enough
to show he is healing.
On March 20 the boys had their
first photo shoot. The photos don't do them justice. Their personalities are
like night and day, and their mother is truly a saint who has earned her place
in our barn for the remainder of her life.
What started as a Journey of loneliness turned into a Labor of
Love.
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