Ylse Pregnant

Poor Ylse, she had no idea when she so willingly hopped in the trailer what was ahead for her. While waiting for Dr. Hoerr the camera was pulled out for some trial shots. This camera must have a scratch on the lens, there is always a blurry spot in the middle. Trying different angles to get some of the picture wasn't as easy as I thought it would be, below is her profile as she is in the stocks looking over at Dr. Hoerr's horses.

Looking up at her eye and seeing such a great reflection of Dr. Hoerr coming that shot had to be taken.

Dr. Hoerr pulled out his ultrasound machine and took all of 1 minute to find the embryo.

That measures out to be a 19 day old Friesian embryo. Hopefully late July 2013 another Raven baby will be born. Because she is safely in foal the next step was a caslick operation, one of the most barbaric things I've ever seen done to a mare. Below he is applying a local anesthetic.

The next step is to take a surgeon's knife and actually cut open the skin on either side.

And finally the 2 sides are sewn together.

The stitches used will absorb but she will need to be opened back up before delivery.