What a couple of days we've had!! Scratchy, the orphan foal, is doing very well. He is eating/drinking his formula like a little trooper, and we still put him on London ( the nurse mare) 5-6 times a day. We call it 'releasing the beast' when we open the door for him to go to her to nurse- he dives right in and goes at it- he knows already that he has a limited amount of time to get his fill from her. She has her own foal- and she still is not totally on-board with this whole ideas of adding a second foal to her care. He has been on Zantac, Pepto and Pro Bios, and as of last night he started passing some solid manure instead of the scours that we had been fighting. Each day that goes by feels like a mini-victory to us. I'm planning on adding some hydrated alfalfa pellets to his diet, along with the fol lac pellets.

Other good news, Rose's mare Carbi FINALLY foaled- and all is very well. She was horribly overdue- to the point that the vets were pretty sure that she would have a stillborn foal. She was producing absolutely no bag/udder- that and the amount of time she was overdue were both signs of a problem that some mares can get ( from ingesting a plant with a certain type of fungus on it) that can cause them to have an overly thickened placenta that prevents a normal birth and causes still born foals. We had been very worried about her- and it's been a couple of long. frustrating weeks waiting for her to foal. The vets said to just wait, inducing really was not an option- so wait we did. Yesterday morning I got the call at about 6 a.m. that the mare was foaling. I never showered and dressed so quickly in my life. She is over an hour south of here- but after all the waiting and stress I just had to go to help with any needed follow up. I arrived to a barn full of very excited people- half of which were in the mares stall with her. Carbi was a bit stressed out by this- so I ( hopefully politely as it's not my barn ) kicked them all out. Rose had still been at work in Philly and was on her way, so I got folks to calm down and quiet down while we waited for Rose. With all the people out of her stall, Carbi settled down and started taking interest in the new arrival - and after about 15 minutes he ( gorgeous and refined black colt with a lighting strip down his face) began to nurse. She passed her placenta a few hours later and all has gone very well. So glad this is over- she was so overdue that we were concerned about her own safety- 373 days!!!!!

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