Happy To Be Alive

Yesterday after church, I had arranged to go visit some friends of mine who had just increased their herd by one with the arrival Saturday of a new little stud colt. I had to go see him, since I used to own the mare.............but I forgot to take my camera with me. However, I knew I would be back again. Besides, they had already sent me a "birth" day photo.

We walked out to the pasture and I oohed & awed and let the little guy smell my hair. Then we left and went to see last year's baby. Stood in the round pen with two yearlings for about 15 minutes when we noticed a nearby mare (they had 3 mares due to foal....they were all 2-4 weeks overdue) when we noticed the most overdue one gush a bunch of water and then lie down. Yup, her water broke and it was "baby-arriving time". Oh boy. In all of the years of having and breeding horses, this was only the second actual birth I had witnessed. And I didn't have my camera.

The little gal arrived at 11:05am. We got some of the afterbirth away from her nose and then just let nature take its course. Momma was really tired and just laid there for a long time, which was good because that meant she got most of all the nutrients and blood passed through the umbilical cord on to the baby. But it was strange to see a baby with her head and front legs out of the sac and the rest of her still wrapped in a "blanket". It was a nice warm spring morning (mid 70's) but still about 30 degrees colder from where she had just been residing inside her mommy's tummy.

We stayed in an adjacent pasture and were there to offer moral support. The mare laid down to give birth right along a fence, which is made up of 3 strands of hot wire (electric) fencing. The first thing we did was shut off the electricity, as we knew the baby would probably either bounce off it while trying to get up, or roll under it during the first attempts at standing. And sure enough, roll under is what she did. But mom wasn't too worried, so we just pushed her back over and let her try again.

It is so amazing to me as to how strong that instinct is to get up and eat. Mom really didn't do much in the licking department while the baby was still lying down, but once she got on her feet as was searching for nourishment, mom started licking her and rubbing her and bonding. Then baby laid back down and decided that it would have been a good idea if mom would have had a spigot or two right above her feet. It seems like it took forever, but within an hour the newest arrival was making the cutest little sucking noises.

Note to self.............bring camera next time. In fact, always have camera with me.


This is a photo taken by the owners yesterday afternoon. You can still see her shoulder blades standing out. And look at those legs! Horses are born with legs nearly as long as they will be in adulthood.


It was a "perfect" Mother's Day for me.