Sad News

Sandy, Lady's owner called today to tell me that Lady delivered a beautiful black filly while they are gone on a overnight fishing trip. They got home to find the filly walking around the pasture by herself. They brought Lady over but she would not allow her to nurse. They called the vet right away but when the vet got to the farm, the filly was very weak. The vet thought that she was probably a day old. The vet sedated Lady to milk her and put it in the filly but she was just too weak and didn't make it. They are saddened by the loss of her but want to try again. Their other mare was trying to mother the poor little thing as her own mother had rejected her so they may send down the other mare instead of Lady. It is rare for a mare to reject her foal but it sometimes happens with first time births. To prepare for this we use the mare predictor kit on our maiden mares and try to attend the birth and bring the foal up to the mare's nose to introduce them to each other right after the birth. If the mare starts licking off the foal they will bond and all should be well. It is also important to watch a maiden mare closely the first time the foal tries to nurse to make sure she will accept the foal nuzzling the udder.
Our Easter dinner was good, not perfect, the cheese sauce on the vegetables was a little too chewy but all the rest of the food was without fault. The kids played games while mom, Mark and I visited in the living room until it was time to take Nancy home to Morton. Now the food is put away, dishes are done, and the kids are all gone so the house is again quiet.