The first 16 hours…
So yesterday, Granite Glen added a sweet bay filly to it’s Cast of Characters.
And despite lots of worrying (mostly by me) in the weeks leading up to this EVENT… the birth itself went beautifully. Mr I watched it was astounded by how fast it happened.
By the time I go there with the camera, Holly had cleaned her little girl up and she was trying to stand…
Are you ready for the heartbreaking, breathtaking, awkward-making, delightfulness that is a foal trying to take it’s first step?
Don’t say I didn’t warn you…
You might have noticed the membrane hanging from Holly during this series – that is her birthing sac, the ‘afterbirth’.
And when we returned from the school’s Christmas Tree event, it was still there.
I began my worrying again, and decided to google ‘retained afterbirth‘. And that didn’t ease my worrying, I can tell you. So I read up some, woke my husband, we found some Ocytocin in the fridge (yes our fridges are a little like vet clinics out here!) and headed off at 1am to find Holly.
We administered the drug (which induces contractions) to help her expel the recalcitrant placenta. We also ‘tied up’ the afterbirth so it was not dragging on the ground and getting contaminated. She was distressed at being restrained with a disoriented newborn in the middle of the night, so we let her go and hoped the Oxytocin would work its magic.
At 6am this morning, the stubborn placenta was still there. A second dose was administered and despite clearly having some contractions, still no result. Our vet recommended a small intravenous dose (never the most fun thing to try), and if that didn’t work, she would attend. Our patient mare reacted almost immediately, with lots of lying down and stretching out.
After an hour we could still see the afterbirth and we made the call to get the expert in. Then, after a few minutes, we looked through the binoculars again. No afterbirth.
We raced down the hill to double-check. It was gone. We hunted the area and found this. (Only click that if you can cope with a bit of vivid placenta – keeping it very real on my Facebook page!)
The following sequence was taken during Holly’s last (successful) contractions. I adore how the foal is nudging her Mum to ‘get up’ not unlike the sequence above where Holly nudged her newborn to get to her feet.
How sweet is that?
Poor Holly – nearly did me in watching her go through several labours to get rid of that placenta. But she managed to do it without tearing or retaining (the placenta appeared complete) which is just wonderful.
And yes, our little filly is quite unusual – she has two very different coloured eyes. One brown and one very pale blue! She appears to see fine from both eyes, is quite nimble already and has little fear of humans (see first pic in this series, as she wove her way between us while we were trying to do the intravenous shot for her Mama).
Hope you enjoyed these two slideshows… have to admit, that on about 4 hours sleep, I am a bit of a zombie today.
Methinks I will stick to babies I can leave with their (furry) mamas – I am officially too old for sleep-deprivation.
🙂
15 Comments
KAddy
Had to laugh at Mr I’s ‘safety boots’ in one of the photos 😀
Bill
A colt getting up is always a grand thing. Thanks, this makes me smile.
Kelly
I was captivated by your sweet little filly in these shots! We’ve never had horses, but we did have donkeys for several years and I love how babies are all legs at this stage!!
Kelly´s last blog post ..They’re growing up…
debby
Have you decided what you’re going to name that little bundle of dancing sweetness? Because I’m suggesting “Delight”. She is.
debby´s last blog post ..Today
Colin Huggins
Great to learn that all is well and the placenta has gone. I was a bit concerned of some type of infection. It appears from your excellent series of photos, the little “Flicka” (my suggestion for a name, sorry Debby) is doing well – strange differently coloured eyes? Can’t recall having heard or seen that before, is this a rarity?
Now for the next foal, the mare’s first – better get plenty of sleep prior to this event, Amanda and Co. Never a dull moment at Granite Glen.
Anne
Too gorgeous and I am glad it all worked out okay in the end. Love the wobbliness and the enthusiasm from your new addition.
Anne´s last blog post ..Titan Arum
Lynda @HomeleaLass
Awwwww the little filly looks full of life! I could look at the slideshows again and again!
I’m glad her arrival went well.
Cheers,
Lynda.
Lynda @HomeleaLass´s last blog post ..Let It Snow – Snowflake Christmas Ornament {free crochet pattern}
FionRK
Isn’t birth a miracle. Any birth. I am so glad your girls are fine. We were lucky enough to be introduced to an hour old filly several years ago, it was delightful! Cheers Fiona
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bushboy
Made me smile….little bb
bushboy´s last blog post ..These are Butterflies
Linda D.
What a cutie! I am so glad all is well with mama.
Not having any experience with the births of horses, are they always so skinny- looking when first born?
nathalia
Beautiful photos as always, and glad it all worked out so well!
nathalia´s last blog post ..HARVEST IS OVER AND I GOT MY WEEKENDS BACK
BB of Oz
Hi Linda – I am by no means an expert but yes, the ones I have seen soon after birth are usually pretty lean. They put on a lot of condition in the first couple of weeks – this one is feeding very regularly! 🙂
Linda D.
Thanks for the reply. I appreciate knowing that all is well with this little one.
Jayne
Thank goodness Holly managed to expel it complete, and her bub is just gorgeous 🙂
Jayne´s last blog post ..Early Merry Christmas
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What you said made a great deal of sense. But, consider this, what if you typed a catchier title?
I am not suggesting your information isn’t good., however suppose you added something that grabbed people’s attention?
I mean The first 16 hours
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