Nightmare

Pull up at the farm right at 6:30am and see that Autumn's colt is in distress. Wouldn't you know the bottle was taken home yesterday to sterilize so it was back home then as fast as possible back to the farm. Autumn was milked and the colt drank a good 8 ounces, then a half hour later another 4 ounces. All I could think was he must not have nursed all night. Both Diane and I watched him nurse but this time I wasn't leaving the stall and sure enough, he started going down hill quickly. Steven arrived and helped me move him into the air conditioned office while we waited for the vets to arrive. Dr. Pallen immediately put him on IV's. He had a good heart beat and lungs were clear, his eyes were reacting normal to light. Dr. Hoerr also agreed he was very dehydrated and also was probably a dummy foal and needed DMSO. Fluids were rushed into the colt with DMSO added, the smell brought back lots of memories of when Lily had EPM. With Dummy Foal Syndrome the colt would need round the clock care so Mike and Diane were called to talk over our options. We made arrangements to head to UofI. Sarah brought the truck out, Rebekah and Anni were called to help keep the colt quiet until the truck and trailer could be hooked up and ready. The colt was put into the back seat of the truck while Autumn was loaded into the trailer. Mark was called and he agreed to give up his night at Bach fest to make the trip with me. He gets in the truck and starts retching, I had gotten so used to the DMSO smell I forgot it was new to him. We had to drive the entire way to the University with the windows open, Mark riding backward in the front seat to try to keep the colt from hurting himself. This is what is TRUE LOVE, give up a night of classical music for an awful trip dealing with a smelly colt that is thrashing and losing fluids that need to be continually cleaned up. We are traveling at 70 miles an hour and thinking the trip is taking forever when the driver's side trailer tire blows and the trailer is shimmying all over the interstate with trucks following right on my tail. Once we were safely stopped (the trucks honking at us) we pulled out the jack and thank goodness had a good spare on the trailer. All along the colt is thrashing we are concerned he may hurt himself. There is a feather bed under him and around his legs but we left his face clear to help with the breathing. FINALLY around 9:45pm we arrive at the University, unload Autumn, put the colt on a gurney and take him right into the emergency room where... he is pronounced dead, yes DEAD. Mark was dumbfounded, he had been checking him all along the 2 and a half hour trip and was sure he was breathing when we pulled into the hospital. We decided against the autopsy, just didn't want to spend any more money and loaded Autumn into the front of the trailer and put the dead colt in the back. By this time we were exhausted so brought Autumn to Bridlewood. Mike will bury the colt tomorrow at the farm. Mike and Diane are picking up the Reinhards at O'Hare and won't be home until 3:00am.
With heart breaking days like today I'm thinking perhaps I'm too old for the breeding business. In all 8 years we have been standing Raven and dealing with close to 100 newborns we have never seen or had to deal with Dummy Foal Syndrome. It is caused by not enough oxygen to the brain during the birth, the foal is born, looks and acts fine but 24 to 72 hours after birth the brain starts to swell. The foal no longer can get up by itself, loses it's ability to nurse, the tongue starts to hang out, and the lower lip droops. It is an awful thing to watch the progression from a healthy foal to a critical foal.