Not Always Daisies and Roses

 


It's not always daisies and roses. Not in horses and not in life. Our first foal technically came February 15th. It was a highly anticipated foal with World Champion Quarter Horse parents. This baby was also an embryo transfer into one of our Thoroughbred mares, Fanny. What should have been a wonderful morning started with sadness. At 5:45 AM, Fanny delivered a stillborn foal. The foal never moved and never breathed. The birth seemed normal, but instead of a cute baby, we had a small foal born somewhat stiff. The feathers on its feet, which exist to protect the mom from lacerations, remained intact. These usually fall off as the foal fusses around and gets its bearings in the world in preparation to stand. Instead, the feathers remained untouched, unruffled.

The placenta followed not too long after the foal. The umbilical cord was wrapped around one of the horns. It had tight twists along its extensive length, indicating that the foal had vascular compromise. The umbilical cord, when untwisted, showed signs of hemorrhage. The cord had a highly abnormal length, as well. It was about fifty inches in length when the normal Thoroughbred cord is about 30 inches. The little foal suffered from bad luck.

Most foals are born with few issues, but sometimes we can't win against luck. Even though we take all of the precautions that we can, we always search for answers to try to do better in the future. There wasn't much to take away from this foal, other than a reminder that sometimes things can't be fixed or prevented. The worst part when the foals die is watching the mares. Fanny protected her dead foal like any good mom. She pawed at it, encouraging it to move and stand, not understanding that would never happen. We leave the dead foals with the moms for most of the day, as they seem to need the time to understand that their foal isn't alive. It makes it a little easier for them when we eventually do remove the foal. The mares will still call for the foal, but they seem less frantic if they get to spend time with the foal first. Now, a few days after the removal of the foal, Fanny doesn't call for the foal anymore, and she has resumed her life.

Death is part of horses. This isn't our first, nor will it be our last. We take this as another opportunity to learn for the sake of future horses. Not everything can be prevented, but we can try, keeping in mind that sometimes luck is simply not on our side.

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