Monday April 21, 2008

This is our first attempt at blog so please bear with us. This past week has been very hectic beginning with the birth of our new filly Rain on April 11 at 4:50 AM. This was kind of unexpected as we have had her mom Cloud for eleven months and we have no stallions here at the facility. Cloud never showed the typical signs of impending motherhood(i.e. a big belly). She looked a little plump but assumed(however incorrectly)that she ate more than the others taken from a neglect case in May 2007. Chris happened to be in the pasture grooming her and noticed that her "hay belly" had moved back and then checked her teats which were dripping milk. A call to our vet confirmed that she would deliver within twenty-four hours and he was right but it was only twelve hours. The night before the foal was born a group of volunteers from SUNY Geneseo(NY)set up a foal watch party. They brought their beer and hot dogs and a bonfire was started. Around 1:30 AM it started to drizzle and the kids stayed until the drizzle turned to a solid rain at 2:30AM. I had retired to bed around 11:00PM and Chris sent the kids home and went to bed. I awoke at my customary 3:00AM, prepared a cup of hot tea and turned on the computer checking all the latest world and local news. At 3:30AM I went out and checked on how Cloud was doing. She was eating her hay and still calling to her pasture mates. I went back inside and continued working on the computer until 4:30AM when I decided to check on Cloud once more. This time she was lying down and I could see two little feet and a nose sticking. I didn't waste any waking Chris up and telling her the foal was on it's way. She jumped up, ran downstairs and called the president of the student group and told them what was happening. We then ran out to Cloud and the baby hadn't made any progress. Cloud was pushing and pushing but the baby wouldn't or couldn't come out. We called the vet right away and he told us to grab the foal's legs and pull as hard as we could. We did what he told us and the baby still wouldn't come out. I sat on the ground behind Cloud, put both feet on her rump and wrapped a towel around the foal's leg as they were slippery. I pulled as hard as I could and the foal moved a little. I pulled again and the right shoulder came out. I kept pulling and the foal moved more and more until she was finally out. At first I thought the foal was dead. Her head kept lolling around and her tongue was hanging out. We got the sack off her and suddenly one eye opened. She was alive! Quickly we wrapped her in towels and started rubbing her all over. Within about fifteen seconds she tried to stand but those long legs of hers kept getting tangled up and she would fall down. By this time six to eight of the kids arrived again and we asked them in and ask them to surround the baby in a big circle to keep her from falling and bumping into the walls. Within a half hour or so the baby was standing fairly well but very wobbly. Over the next couple of hours the foal or now filly was walking better and kept getting stronger. She still had not nursed and that was becoming a concern for us. Fortunately she did start nursing. The next day she slept a lot but when she was up she would not stop moving. She was full of energy. We found out the next day that the filly was a "medicine hat" and this type of horse is sacred among the American Plains Indians and only chiefs, shamans and the greatest warriors could ride them. The filly, we call Rain has grown about three inches and flies around the paddock when she and her mom, Cloud, are let out of the nursery. Over the past few weeks, the baby has had many visitors so she is very used to people and camera flashes. She was born during a Thunderstorm so nothing seems to bother her hence the name Rain