Bluewater Minis
Well-Known Member
I was planning to post photos and announce the birth of our latest addition, a chestnut pinto colt by AMHR National Champion NFC Peppys Playmate, but the day did not turn out like we thought. "Manny" was a lovely dark chestnut pinto colt with a funky 1/2 blaze on the lower portion of his face and pawprints on his right side. His birth was quick and uncomplicated, and he arrived at 12:59am on 8/5/08. He had some initial difficulty nursing because his dam was rather excited about having him near her since he is her first foal to nurse. We did notice that he seemed more mellow than our other foals and tired easily. The vet advised us by phone to keep an eye on him for dehydration, etc. and to supplement his feedings with a bottle. We had him on colostrum for the first 24 hours, then a mix of his dam's milk and a milk replacer. We got up with him throughout last night for feedings and he grew progressively stronger. As of 8:30 this morning, he was doing FANTASTIC and gobbled down 4+ oz from his bottle in one feeding. But by 12:30 today, it was like he was a different foal! (Yes, he had care in the meantime). I frantically called the vet, and sadly he wasn't able to see "Manny" in time. Manny passed away at 3:35 this afternoon. The vet now thinks he may have been a dummy foal. I wish I had demanded that they see him yesterday morning (instead of settling for a phone consultation) as maybe with intervention he could have been saved. We were going to load his dam and him to make a 1.5 hour drive to take him to an equine hospital for ICU care, and he just sighed and was gone. Rest in peace, my little one.
Photos here at 9 hours old, and they don't show his lovely pawprints on his off side.
Photos here at 9 hours old, and they don't show his lovely pawprints on his off side.
