So with Squirmy’s front legs being over like that, will they ever fix themselves or will he now have that for life? Also, his bum sort of looks tucked under. And I hate to ask this but do some places cull, what they feel are, imperfect foals? Has anyone seen him laying down yet? I was up quite late last night and I never saw him lay down. How is he doing with nursing?
Wow, Mandy is really, really agitated. Walking in circles, shaking her head up and down kind of agitated.
FloatyGimpy - Some breeds are notorious for culling babies they don’t think will sell, or don’t think will reflect well on their breeding program. They send them off to the meat auctions without their papers so no one can trace them back to them, or (more humanely) euthanize them. Either way, it doesn’t give the foals a chance to make an average riding horse - it’s all or nothing as far as these breeders are concerned. See this thread in the Chronicle of the Horse forums.
As for this baby being over at the knees (nees? I can’t believe I typed nees!), it may well correct itself. I haven’t gotten that good a look at him, and I’m certainly no expert.
StG
I think Mandy is down, but it’s out of camera range. Grrrr.
It looks like put some plywood in that corner so she can’t go over there now.
No no no!! How dare she deliver while I’m at work!
I hope Squirmy’s ok. StG, I’m not even going to read your link - it will just upset me. I’ll take Squirmy if they don’t want him!!
Yay! For some reason the links are working today at work - there goes my productivity. Luckily my boss is an animal lover and immediately fell in love with Squirmy.
The vet is in to see Squirmy. China’s stall is full of poop.
The vet’s gone now. I hope everything was ok. Squirmy certainly gets around for such a young 'un!
Mandy’s stall is empty of her; the woman is in picking it while on her cellphone. The blue bucket’s gone, too.
China’s out of her stall, but we know her human likes to give her playtime out with her friend Blossom.
Squirmy looks a little dopey and clumsy. I wonder whether the vet gave him a dose of oxytetracycline tp straighten out those tendons. Now he’s nursing. Virona seems a lot calmer today.
Oh! Mandy’s back! Tail still braided.
ETA: I wonder when they’re going to take the wrap off Virona’s tail?
Wow, it would appear that Squirmy, upon getting the hang of this nursing thing, has become a fanatic about it.
I think we should e-mail Centaur Farm and tell them their new foal’s name.
I wish I could view it at work. Sigh.
StG
Whoa, that was weird. Squirmy, with some difficulty, got his long bent legs to fold properly so he could lie down – and Virona immediately pawed his back till he got up again.
Snap! I was just going to say we should email and tell them that we’ve already named Squirmy and they needn’t bother coming up with their own name.
Mandy is very antsy and pacing with her tail up. I hope she doesn’t deliver before I get home otherwise I’ll be stuck here at work watching her. And God knows we wouldn’t want that!
Is it possible she’s in hyper protective mode? Maybe she knows that he has some difficulty getting up and down and if he lays down the predators will get him?
What did the vet do while he was there? I wish they’d post updates.
StG
I’m a little worried about how Mandy’s human is going to react when the foal starts to come. I’ve been reading the forum for Unbridled here, and this is the first time she’s had a mare in foal. Mandy may be experienced, with 13 previous foals, but the human is not. I hope she doesn’t over- or under-react.
She also said that Mandy is waxing and leaking milk today, so it should be soon.
Mandy’s pawing and kicking at her belly; a couple of minutes ago she suddenly scooted almost in a crouch.
Hey! I turned my back for a moment on Mandy – and now she’s gone! Either she’s down in the unseen corner or someone took her out! :mad:
Nope – she’s back in sight. Whew! She better have that baby where I can see it!
When I saw him he was just listening with his stethoscope but I came in late. I didn’t see him going over Squirmy’s legs or anything.
Mandy is right up next to the camera and you can see lots of baby action going on in her belly. I love the higher definition, color camera!
Awwwwwwwwwwwwww…
A young girl’s been in with Mandy, brushing her, then stroking her eyes and hugging and kissing her face.
Now she’s back combing Mandy’s mane and forelock. Mandy’s loving it.
And they just went through this routine again. Odd.