Dontworrybeappy
Well-Known Member
Alice wasn't really due to foal (bred to Appy) until August 20th, but she'd
started looking really close a week or two ago, so we'd put her on camera.
The last two or three days she's been obviously uncomfortable and very
uncharacteristically grumpy, so Monday I started keeping the monitor on in
my bedroom all night.
Tonight she began really looking like she was getting ready to foal, and
suddenly she just lay down and the whole package slid out, placenta and all.
It took me maybe 30 seconds to get to the stall, but there wasn't anything I
could do. I think the baby must have died a day or two ago - there was no
blood in the umbilical cord and no color in the baby's gums. I did try
artificial respiration, but it was far too late for that.
Of course, Murphy's darn law being what it is, this was a filly. At least
she didn't have any spots, if she'd been a loud appaloosa I don't think I
could have handled it. She was silver bay, so Appy's still 100% in his
record of siring silvers. She had big pretty eyes and long legs, though.
Very good size, I think if she'd been born alive that she would have been
mature enough to make it. In 25 years of breeding horses, this is my first
stillborn foal, and only the 2nd foal we've had that didn't live to
adulthood. Hopefully it'll be another 25 years before it happens again.
Alice is the mare who had the really tangled up foal that I had to untangle
last year - so I do feel relieved that this foal came out easily (in a
matter of seconds, it seemed) and that the foal was in correct position.
Alice has had 3 or 4 other healthy foals, so hopefully this was just some
glitch and won't happen again.
Poor Alice is still frantic, although I tried to leave the foal in long
enough for her to know it wasn't alive - and I think I'll try and stay out
of the barn tomorrow until she calms down. It's too hard to watch her like
that. I moved her out of the foaling stall to where she could more easily
see the other horses, so hopefully that will help.
I will have the vet flush her out just in case there was an infection or
inflammation, and if she says it's OK, we may breed Alice back on her foal
heat, since Appy will be home for a day or two right about at that time.
Otherwise we'll wait until October to try.
So, this just sucks... she would have been the first of Appy's foals that we
could have shown off here in California. I'm very sad. I was really looking
forward to meeting this baby!
started looking really close a week or two ago, so we'd put her on camera.
The last two or three days she's been obviously uncomfortable and very
uncharacteristically grumpy, so Monday I started keeping the monitor on in
my bedroom all night.
Tonight she began really looking like she was getting ready to foal, and
suddenly she just lay down and the whole package slid out, placenta and all.
It took me maybe 30 seconds to get to the stall, but there wasn't anything I
could do. I think the baby must have died a day or two ago - there was no
blood in the umbilical cord and no color in the baby's gums. I did try
artificial respiration, but it was far too late for that.
Of course, Murphy's darn law being what it is, this was a filly. At least
she didn't have any spots, if she'd been a loud appaloosa I don't think I
could have handled it. She was silver bay, so Appy's still 100% in his
record of siring silvers. She had big pretty eyes and long legs, though.
Very good size, I think if she'd been born alive that she would have been
mature enough to make it. In 25 years of breeding horses, this is my first
stillborn foal, and only the 2nd foal we've had that didn't live to
adulthood. Hopefully it'll be another 25 years before it happens again.
Alice is the mare who had the really tangled up foal that I had to untangle
last year - so I do feel relieved that this foal came out easily (in a
matter of seconds, it seemed) and that the foal was in correct position.
Alice has had 3 or 4 other healthy foals, so hopefully this was just some
glitch and won't happen again.
Poor Alice is still frantic, although I tried to leave the foal in long
enough for her to know it wasn't alive - and I think I'll try and stay out
of the barn tomorrow until she calms down. It's too hard to watch her like
that. I moved her out of the foaling stall to where she could more easily
see the other horses, so hopefully that will help.
I will have the vet flush her out just in case there was an infection or
inflammation, and if she says it's OK, we may breed Alice back on her foal
heat, since Appy will be home for a day or two right about at that time.
Otherwise we'll wait until October to try.
So, this just sucks... she would have been the first of Appy's foals that we
could have shown off here in California. I'm very sad. I was really looking
forward to meeting this baby!
