New foal: Freedom!

A new world for Freedom

posted in Blog, FSHR Horses, Mares & Foals, Rescue Tales | Monday, May 9th, 2011

Liberty noses her new foal, Freedom

After many sleepless nights of waiting and worrying, I checked in on the pregnant Liberty one more time on Wednesday night (5/4) before bed, and felt a strange peace. I knew I could leave her to the Lord and that he would protect her.

The next morning I awoke early and dashed out to the pen where I’d left her. As with so many mornings before since she’d waxed, I asked her, “Liberty, are you alone again?”

One more step and I saw him standing beside her. Another horse. A large, gangly black colt with an adorable white snip on his nose. The first thought in my head was “wow” and I called the house and said “come out here! Everybody come out!”

The little guy wobbled about a little bit, and the first thing he did was strain, successfully, to pass meconium. He was still weak, all legs long and knobby-jointed, with a huge head. Thoroughbred? I thought. When he laid down, he bent his oversized limbs carefully, with a wince, as he anticipated the unceremonious crash to the ground that awaited him.

I spent almost all day with Freedom, watching every move

OOOOOh! It was SO MUCH work just to get up and lie back down, never mind blunder around looking for the teat and get those little drinks! I took a couple of short videos of his efforts which are put together and posted on YouTube.

Daniel checks out Freedom

Everyone came out and made exclamations of wonder. What a blessed miracle, a new foal! I discovered the joy of feeling his still damp, soft fur, and cradling him as he slept deeply, with no reason not to relax in my presence. He was still trembling and shaking from the trauma of entry into the cold world and the exhaustion of the simple actions of movement. This trembling went on for about an hour until he’d lain in the sun long enough to get really warm.

Amy and Donna showed up that morning, and others came to visit later. Liberty loved the attention and so did the little guy.

Whew! I stood up all by myself!

An hour of close observation showed us his routine: Awaken from a deep sleep, find his tangle of feet, totter to mama, fumble for her teat and enjoy loud, boisterous liquid nourishment, and then either proceed to the very exhausting work of pushing out meconium and urine, or else just totter back to the shelter and fold up those long legs for the long drop into dreamland.

Freedom is a deep sleeper, like a human baby

The early morning light wasn’t the best for taking pictures that reveal detail, so Daniel decided to lift his head so that the snip would clearly show.

Showing off the snip

That deep sleep was also an ideal opportunity to dip the umbilical cord into a little cup of iodine solution and get his first temperature, which was I believe 100.7.

Freedom's good checkup

Of course, a blessed new foal is just another cause for me to lose sleep and worry, so we took mother and baby to the vet for a neonatal examination. The trailer ride was another very tiring adventure for the newcomer.

Sprawled out for a rest

Because Liberty had waxed much earlier and we had noticed some colostrum dripping from her udder for a few days before the birth, we had an IgG test done on Freedom’s blood to make sure he had received enough maternal antibodies (at 12 hours old) to have adequate protection from disease. If foals don’t receive the important colostrum (FPT=Failure of Passive Transfer) they are susceptible to all kinds of deadly diseases, such as septicemia, which can kill very quickly. Freedom checked out, and all his vitals were sound, and hopes are high. Liberty, too, checked out healthy!

Foal milk poop

After returning home, we looked for more poop from the foal. So far, an enema seemed unnecessary..

sacked out

And later, the mom and baby relaxed, celebrating their hectic day with a wonderful snooze! Late that night, when I made my rounds, Conor came along, and let me check on the pair with his Night Vision goggles that he got for his birthday! The horses were green, each lying upright on their sternum bedside one another. If only the night-vision glasses had been a camera too!

All in all, it was a wonderful, busy happy day! Welcome baby, and as a Facebook friend said, “Let Freedom ring!”