Foal tonight maybe on Foal Cam

[redhen]

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That was one expensive roll in the hay...

 

[Jamie_Dog_Trainer]

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That was one expensive roll in the hay...

 

[kbarrett]

Hey Halo- your friend with the foal cam, the name sounds sooo familiar. I got onto her website and I believe she used to be based out of Penn National, maybe 8-10yrs ago. If it's the same lady she used to be stabled beside a trainer I groomed for, he had a full barn and 7 stalls in the next barn where she was stabled. I didn't know her real well, my eight stalls were in the other barn but she was friendly when I was over for PM feedings. Nice lady, treated her horses well.

I didn't get to see the mare foal last night but I did skim the comments. I've seen a wide variety of opinions on foaling over the years that ranged from backyard breeders to one of the largest TB breeding farms in my state. For maybe the first dozen or so I witnessed it was always a wait and watch attitude unless a noticiable problem arose. These foals were all out of my aunts' horses, all experienced broodmares. I kind of got a culture shock when I came back to horses after a 2 year hiatias to have my son. Very large farm, 84 mares due to foal (my 1st year there) which had to be rotated in and out of 10 foaling stalls based on calculated due dates and of course keeping close watch on "signs". Every foaling stall had a camera and the largest had a huge window to a viewing room/ office. Every birth was attended to by a minimum of 2 people and every birth was assisted. That was the shock part to me....every birth was assisted, when the mare pushed we pulled. It was a practiced routine in which we were very quiet, each waiting in a corner till the mare was down and then we were there to do our jobs. Foaling kits were outside of each stall as well as a placenta bucket. Detailed notes were kept on each mare from her signs 1 month leading up to the foaling through how quickly she bonded with her foal. If a mare had any history of slow to bond or early signs of rejection one of us would stay till the foal nursed, typically we exited to the viewing room. I spent the first foaling season learning "their" way of doing things, honestly I was a bit overwhelmed at the sheer amount of foalings that first week. I had worked on other farms which happend to have broodmares and foaling season up till that point was 4-5 foals over a 2-3 month period. In the off season I had the chance to question the owner of the facility on how his practices had come about. He expalined to me that in his youth he had worked for a vet who specialized in repro and had a reputation for being "the place" to send your mare if she had history with difficult births. It boiled down to working with the mare and making her job easier and leaving less time for problems to develop. He also made mention of the roughly million bucks worth of stud fees involved. I do know this, many many people sent mares to us to foal out because of the staff, facilities and high success rate. I believe in letting nature take it's course but having an experienced hand on hand is much better.

If you're shocked reading how many of us were in the foaling stalls you should have been in the breeding shed

 

[halo]

Kbarrett, good memory. Yes, she was at Penn back then. Seems a long time ago, huh.

You just described the farm where Im working. We are foaling out approx 30 mares this year, and breeding more than that. I send my mares over there to foal, since Im such a weenie about seeing my sweet angels in such stress. Actually, I go thru more stress than they do, I fret and worry so much that Im not allowed in the barn until its all over with. You'd think Id get used to it, but I think it just gets worse.

By the end of breeding and foaling season and sales season, by around June, Im ready for shock treatment. Very hectic, 7 days a week on call until then. Is it any wonder I have chickies for stress relief??

 

[kbarrett]

I actually found being a groom more stressfull......I had my favorites at the farm but on the track they're your complete responsibility and you develop stong bonds. Racedays were hard, I was fine in the paddock but as soon as I'd hand off one of my babies to the pony girl to warm up for a race I was a nervous wreck! That's not even touching the scene I would make when one of my babies was claimed

There is nothing worse than walking back to the barn with an empty halter, luckily for me all but once were occasions due to claiming.

 

[lockedhearts]

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People who have never seen a complicated foaling have no idea how quickly things can go wrong. 2 years ago I had a mare, water broke, she laid down pushed, got up laid down pushed, I was in that stall as I knew something was wrong, both feet over the head , yellled for hubby on the walkie he came out, held one leg while I repositioned the other, then held that one while I got the second fixed, at that point we never let go of the front legs and continued pressure to help the mare. It does not matter how much or how little the Stud Fee is, you have waited almost a year and in a split second could lose the mare and foal. I lost a mare and foal because the vet would not come when I called and it was not something I could fix, even with my 30 years of experience. Watching foaling on the cams is exciting but some people just have no idea what all is involved and that sometimes you can't leave them alone and let nature take its course.
I am glad all is well and hope that the foal grows up to do great things!

 

[lockedhearts]

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I am the same way Halo. I only have one this year, but next year should have 5. I watch them like hawks and have books with notes on all the mares. 3 mares I have had before so know what to expect, 2 that will be bred soon, I have no idea so will just have to wing it. I can usually tell by the way mine are carrying if it's a colt or filly, I would rather know every detail than miss something and have a tragedy.

 

[KinderKorner]

I am really sorry if I offended anyone. I may come off rude, but I'm really not that bad. I shouldn't of said Stupid People. But I was excited, and I actually say stupid alot. It's not like in a mean way. It's more, 'don't be stupid' like don't do silly things.

I knew they were professionals, and everything turned out right and it was fine. I was just getting worked up about all the un neccessary people. I know when my first doe was kidding, my father and his friend were in the stall having a nice loud chat, and upsetting my girl. I sooed them out faster than a mad cow. And if it was me pushing out a baby, I wouldn't want a big audience either.

Again sorry for coming off in the wrong way. Glad everything went okay.

It's a beautiful colt, And momma seems to be doing fine.

I'm sure I don't do everything right either, and I won't say that I do. I just tend to worry more about the animals then the people. And all I saw was 8 people in a stall, 6 of which were standing there gawking, and the mare pacing and nearly squishing her new baby because she couldn't reach him well.

Anyway, thanks for the link. I enjoyed watching! Even though I complained. Sorry again, I'm really not that bad of a person.

As a side note: Me and a friend stayed up all night in 15f weather out in the barn freezing last night, because I had a doe looking like she was going to go. She was having small contractions, gooy, stretching. Well she never kidded. She was probably doing that on purpose, and is out in the barn laughing right now.