Fanny’s delivery was not exactly textbook. In fact, it was down right odd. She was a full two weeks overdue and waxed the day before - ok, nothing strange about that. She streamed milk the hour or so before foaling, and her water broke as she lay in the foaling position. Then she slooooowed down again. It was as though her contractions were enough to cause her pain but not enough to make her lay down and really push. It reminded us of Lucy, actually - Fanny trembled and got up and down, sweat, you could see contractions, but she didn’t really strain all that hard. Either the contractions were not tremendously intense or she was kind of frozen with the whole process - “if I don’t move this will all turn into a bad dream!” Once we felt two hooves and a nose in proper position, we decided to hold the legs with very gentle tension while she labored so she would not get too exhausted and quit. (We don’t believe in customarily pulling foals, though 30 minutes later you would not have known that!!) We want the mare, especially a first-timer, to understand she can work through the pain and feel better without humans intervening…if she waits for help each time, what happens when we are not there? Plus, if you don’t pull correctly it can damage the mare and cause a lot of harm and more severe pain. So we try to let Mother Nature do her thing and step in only if it can make things a bit easier without taking over. But as the minutes ticked by and she got up and down so often, it seemed she was flagging and we were approaching the 45 minute mark from the water breaking. At 60 minutes it’s critical, so we decided to pull while she pushed. Trouble was, every time I went to do that, she broke away and stood up, and there was longer and longer time between pushes. While we still had a vigorous foal and bright red tongue and kicking legs, Bill and I went in together and timed our pull with her push - but she was standing up! She just would not lay down while we were assisting, so we went ahead and got the baby out, plopping him onto the straw. He was immediately lively, so we were glad to see that evidently he had not been in great distress. So, Fanny can say “stand and deliver” just like her Momma did before her, LOL! The colt whinnied within seconds of being plopped on the straw, and Fanny responded, a very good early sign. We took one extra step after betadine on the umbilicus and an enema for him, and pulled him under Fanny to lay right under her nose. She was still standing stock-still, right where she had foaled him. It was a good 10 minutes before her feet even moved. They had that sweet conversation Pam2 mentioned, it is really so amazing and emotional to hear, and we knew we were in good shape.
The squeals you hear are universal in new moms, and virtually guaranteed with a maiden mare. A squeal and a stamp every time the foal goes into nurse is just what they do, and this diminishes over time. It is nothing peculiar to Fanny. We wish she would not nip him, but she is peeved at the world right now, being very sore, and he is definitely not injured. He is a sassy nurser and that has got to change or he will get licked, and I don’t mean with her tongue! He also has one white hind sock, large star and even a dorsal stripe! What a cool dude. The vet said Fanny did not tear as I had feared, but we were very aware to quickly pull down instead of out - to avoid serious injuries. And since she was standing up that was easy to do! And almost immediately she had that “I’ll protect you, Little Man” mare stance going on, hanging her head over him while he sleeps peacefully. Until the critical delivery was over I was not aware how high-emotion it was until I started to talk and my voice was quavering and then when I went to walk out of the stall my knees were shaking like they were going to buckle, I had been so intensely nervous. The neighbor children and their dad came over to observe the birth, and let me tell you their eyes were ROUND as the drama unfolded. They were so good and quiet, like the 4Ms. They can be guests in our barn any day. There was more blood than normal, and of course they heard Bill and me quickly discussing options - call the vet? Pull? Let Fanny work longer? But all’s well that ends well. We can’t believe how the stars aligned this year with three nearly identical colts. Bill said last night, “If you think I got mixed up and confused the year we had Danny, Manny and Fanny altogether on the farm, you ain’t seen nothing yet with these three!”
Thanks for your company and your concern, Good Buddies - please y’all try to come to the BuddyBash! I heard Elvis is performing