To: Dealer who wrote (11583 ) 4/7/2000 9:23:00 AM From: dangergirl Read Replies (6) | Respond to of 35685
OT--Good morning Dealer and fellow porchies. I want you all to meet Bonnie,my 25 yo Tenn Walking Horse mare. She is due to foal anytime now. Last year I had two 24 yo mares due to foal right around April 10th. Bonnie and Copy. Bonnie foaled first ( a little early). Even though she was watched very closely (I have a camera in the barn and a monitor in my bedroom), Bonnie`s foal was born and failed to make it out of the sac. I had had a rough day and slept thru it. Bonnie did not take the lost of her foal well,nor did I. It is very heartbreaking to lose a foal at term. Bonnie ran the fence line and neighed for the other mares` foals. It was sad to watch. Copy finally foaled about two weeks later. She didn`t do well after the delivery,convulsed and died that night. We think she had a ruptured uterus. It was midnight on a Friday night. I went out in the back field and brought Bonnie in,hoping whe would adopt the orphaned foal. (It is very difficult to raise a foal by hand. They have to be fed every hour or two around the clock at first) I fed the filly some colostrum that I had stored. I then covered the filly with Bonnie`s feces,urine and milk(thank God she still had some). When I put the filly in with Bonnie, She immediately accepted the filly and let her nurse. (I don`t know where she thought I had hidden her baby for two weeks, but she was convinced it was hers.) It took some special medication to get Bonnie`s milk production back, but it came back in full force, and she raised the filly with no problems. I have a special place in my heart for Bonnie and want all you porchies to keep your fingers and toes crossed for her this year. Now-- back to trading. Good luck to all of you today. I`ll keep you posted on Bonnie`s progress. Later Danger