It was a dark and stormy night....

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Field-of-Dreams

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The lightning flashed, the thunder crashed. There I was, watching this redheaded mare on the monitor. Nothing moving.... I dozed.... 12:30AM, I wake up. The mare is still, but something caught my attention. Hmm... she wasn't eating endlessly. She can really shovel the food down. I know, I've seen her eat. She starts stall walking.... tail flipping, head tossing, yawning. Yup, time to sit up and really watch her! Splottie poops.... time to wake Jane up off the couch. Talk about electrifing someone. "Yeah?" she says.... I ask if she's awake yet.... she stares at me. I say "splottie poops" and she is awake, NOW. We both watch the monitor. Mare gets a cramp, almost sits down. When she finally lies down we go out.

It's REALLY lightninging out. Great. I have to walk past a giant antenna in the field. Large metal stick. Can we say "lightning rod?" Fortunately, we make it past no problems.

She's down, gets up when she hears us. I wait till she lies down, then go into the stall. She gets up, and walks over to me. This is NOT a demonstrative mare. She presses her head against my legs. I stroke her. She is SOAKING wet. Beads of sweat are rolling down her FACE. I tell her we are here for her and will help her. She goes back down, straining. Nothing appears. I'm getting concerned, I haven't seen her water break. Then, what's that? RED BAG!!! It had a tiny leak in it- I broke it immediately with my fingers and the water gushed out. I felt for feet- none. She gets up, lies down. I look again. There's the white! I grab feet- little white legs. There's a nose- it's dark! Push, honey. There we go- almost done! OK- it's out!! Wait, you idiot, break the amnion!! It's tough... baby takes a breathe... whew, made it. Mama rests.... I peek under the tail- it's a period. We gotta boy!!

Mama passes the placenta about half an hour later, so we're OK. Baby is up in 45 minutes, pooped, eating fine! I can GO TO BED!!

Please welcome Field of Dreams Storm Watch!

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Congratulations on your little beauty!
 
He's gorgeous. Great story!

MA
 
[SIZE=14pt]Boy hes pretty, we are having the stormy night here now... camera is broken so guess where I will be sitting tonight again????[/SIZE]

Yup. Not in bed thats for sure.

Lyn
 
CONGRADULATIONS :aktion033: :aktion033: :aktion033:

I was holding my breath, while I was reading, thank goodness he took a breath.

:saludando:
 
Very pretty colt! Can sure relate to the dark and stormy night.....we've had our share lately too, doing some foal watch with no power it gets very dark.

Jan
 
Now Lucy ya'all gotta come back up north and do some of my foalings for me!!!! I could use the help and I PROMISE the high tensile lines are not any where near the barn!!

Adorable boy there!

krisp
 
Congratulations! That was a great description of how fast it goes- even with problems. FYI for those reading- you can break the amnion and pull the feet out so when the nose comes (assuming all is in position) you do not have to risk it inhaling its amniotic fluid the second its lungs expand. If it is a red bag- it is even more important that you break the amnion first- your foal is already oxygen deprived. As soon as the water breaks, we will wait a short period like you did if the mare is actively pushing. If the water hasn't broke- we let mother nature do her job (it is normal for them to get up and down, roll some before breaking their water). When we begin to see a foot, we go right in, break open the sack - check for other leg and nose and help it along. As soon as the head and neck are out we are milking the trouat and face to drain out as much amnion as possible, before the foal takes its first breath. If there is nothing showing and the water has broke - then we begin to assess the position of the foal then. The sooner it is out the better.

I just thought this may be helpful for those you have not delivered any foals yet. Foals are not strong enough to get themselves out of the amnion....And red bag foals are even less lifeless at birth- many need oxygen immediately to keep from being a "dummy baby". I say all of this, and yet I am not the one who foals out majority of the mares. Mom has 150 mares this year to deliver (she is 2/3s done!). We see many red bags- that is common in the minis verses other breds. Their placenta separates early and that is one reason so many are found "dead in the sac". You must be there to prevent it- as you experienced!

Congrats again- what a great name too for such a stormy night!

Robin-LKF
 
What a great story! Congrats on a lovely little guy
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What a beautiful boy. Congratulations.

Hubby laughs at me, but I take 2 flashlights when I go out at night. If you have ever had one go out on you, you take no chances cause it gets really dark out there on a stormy night.
 
What a wonderful story! Congratulations on avery handsome colt! :aktion033:
 
Congratulations on your new colt. Love those pintos
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: He looks like a carbon copy of mom (pattern)COOL
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