Diablo's baby is here~

And we still do not know if he is going to make it. I took him to Coogan's Farm to foal, on the recommendation of my vet. A lot of people thought that was not necessary, but today's events proved it was almost prophetic.

Her foaling alarm went off at 2:40 a.m. last night and she had a textbook delivery by 2:55 a.m. His cord did snap early so his umbilicus had to be tied off, but that is no big deal. Judy thought he was lethargic, so after giving him plenty of time to act normal, she got in there and tried to stimulate him. When she manipulated him a little, his head and neck flopped over to the side, like it was broken. No matter what she did, his head fell over. It scared her to death, but not nearly as much as when he started seizing in a wild manner. She said she had never seen anything like that in her life---seizures, yes-this sort of behavior, no. He kicked his legs all crazy all over the place, and still could not control his head. He thrashed and thrashed and banged his head on the ground, and ran like crazy as he laid there. She said it was like he was making snow angels but super fast--straw flying everywhere.

The whole reason they were there is because they can handle virtually any emergency and are way closer to Dr Miles should they need him. They needed him. His emergency service rousted him out of bed, and his thought was that there was nothing they could do for him. Judy could not get me to wake up, so she made the decision that he would be given a feeding tube, and we would see what happened.

So doc came up, tranquilized baby boy, gave him some banamine, some dex for brain swelling, and put in a stomach feeding tube. He left meds to continue tranquing him in the event he started seizing again when it wore off. In his opinion though, there was no chance in hell he was going to survive--he thought he was approaching brain death

I finally heard the phone ring around 10 and hotfooted it down to Coogans, about 45 minutes away. I thought, from her description, that I was going to say goodbye and make the decision to let him go. I was so frustrated. Barry was right behind me in his truck, because he was supposed to go on to the Shawnee to go mountain biking.

When I got there, Judy came out of the barn and looked so serious, I knew it was over. But nope--he was still hanging in there. This was the scene that greeted me. He was under a blanket because he shook so much. That is vet wrap around his neck and nose, to hold his feeding tube in place. There is also some duct tape on his nostril so the tube could be sewn in. They had been milking Diablo and feeding him via the tube every hour since he was born. That is the only reason he was still alive. His little baby eyes were practically swollen shut from all the trauma.

Within minutes, he had rolled his little self up on his chest, and could hold his head up. Judy said he had not been able to do that yet. She was more than a little shocked.

It was feeding time, so that happened. That feeding tube sure makes life easier, and Diablo is a saint. She is such a heavy milker, it just takes seconds to get 8 ounces out of her and into him. He is surely eating better than if he was doing it himself.

After a couple of hours of this, where I laid in the stall with him and rubbed him all over under his blanket, he got stronger and stronger. He started responding more to stimuli, and even talked a little bit. It broke my heart. No one could believe it when he started trying to get up, but try he did. Just like a newborn baby, but he was 9 or 10 hours old.

Finally he DID IT! We helped him a couple of times, but finally he did it on his own! He does not move around a whole lot, but he can sure stand up. He seems confused by his legs, but not like he has neurological issues like we thought--just like a new baby. A little slow maybe, but he is doing it

The vet called while this was happening, and I swear he thought he had the wrong number when I told him baby boy was wobbling around the stall on all fours, just like a regular baby. I think you could have knocked him over with a feather.

I stayed until 2:3o and he was trying to learn to nurse, but had not gotten it down yet. There is a fine line there--you have to keep them fed every hour because they have no reserves, but then they are not as inspired to find the taps because they are not hungry. I was sure he would figure it out.

I had an update at 6:30. He had gotten up with assistance, and once on his own, but still does not nurse on his own. So no improvement there, but he is not going backwards either. I have to keep that in mind instead of being disappointed. It is not a foregone conclusion that he is going to make it yet,. but he has a fighting chance, and he did not have that 12 hours ago.

He would not have had a chance had he been here. It is only because of Dempsey and Judy that he is still with us. If working hard and wanting it is enough, he is going to pull through. Let's hope it is enough.

Something finally broke!

And this time it was not me, although for a while there, I thought it might be.

Of all the things that I needed to break soon, I finally got one. No it was not Barry's job, which was the one I was praying for. We still do not know what is going on with that.

But Foxy finally foaled. I made her do it. I could not stand it any more. So I tried my fool-proof trick for making horses foal. I left her out in the rain
And voila! This is what I found on my way to work this morning. And I was so worried about not getting my new shirt dirty, that I failed to notice baby smooge on my jeans until after I was already at work. Typical. This is why it is so good that I mostly sit in an office myself and read and write and occasionally take an advice call from some panicked attorney, instead of actually dealing with the public on a regular basis. No one can see the smutz if I am in there by myself.


I do not think he has a white spot on him anywhere

Lanky little red dun colt.
These pics were taken after work. He very much wanted Madison's hand to work like mama does, but he was sorely disappointed. He gnawed and gnawed on her.
Right now, his head is not very pretty, so much so that it is noticeable. But I have faith it will get better--it is still very cucumber-looking like they tend to be when they are first born.
He was fascinated by my mom, he kept walking up to her and then scaring himself and scampering off. That is another thing that is odd about babies--I swear they cannot see very well at first. That causes them to get into funny situations, and also makes it hard to get them in and out of stalls or other gates---they can never find the dang door. Even if they just went through it.
Now see here, his head looks really crazy--like there is a foot between his eyes and his ears. That will looks better soon. I hope. I am sure it will
This is one of his first steps out of a walk--bounce bounce bounce buck
Then slam on the brakes and see what that is like. He was quite pleased with himself at this point...he almost looks bored, doesn't he?

What I do not understand about babies is why they will not stay where I tell them to stay so I can take pictures. There is not much less attractive than a baby pic with a manure pile in the background. But it was the only one of him going this direction and I knew I would share the next pic where the big secret would get out--we have a manure pile. A big one. All horse people do. Ours just gets in the way of good pics
But since I was going to show this pic anyway, what the hell. This was taken this morning just after I discovered him and attempted to move him and mama into a nice warm stall. Rock kept calling him from two fences away, and he kept running back to her. On the way out, he tackled the manure pile. I thought I got a shot of him climbing up it, but I guess this is as close as I got---it could have been better, but since I was juggling mama and my camera in the rain, I will have to be satisfied with this one. Also this pic shows how his head has changed from this morning to this evening--now let's just hope it keeps up until it gets cute!

As usual, I have no idea what his name will be---

In other news, I decided to trust that Barry's work is going to continue, if this contract that was supposed to be signed by now actually gets signed---and since today was the deadline to confirm our vacation, I did it. So that gives us something to look forward to- I hope I have not done wrong and that we can enjoy ourselves without worrying our way through it

Finally, the prince has arrived

Man was I excited about this one getting here! And looking at Aries at 7:30 tonight, in this condition, I knew it would be tonight. Poor girl. I went home, started dinner, fed the dogs and tried to watch the ER Finale. I should have known she would pick now. Once I decided her fidgeting was for real, I shut the computer off, put it in my bag and drove here--I swear, no more than 5 minutes passed. When I got here, he was already born! She was up standing over him and he was totally trapped in the bag, making goofy noises. I broke it open and saw the sweetest little redhead I have seen in a long time. At least a few weeks!
Then Aries laid down with him. She loves being a mom, but we did not get to see her with her first last year--just found that all was well in the morning, so I assumed they got there peacefully.
This one is kind of pissing her off, and I am not sure why. They are working things out though, thank goodness. I spent most of my time in there doing the doctoring, the ProBios, the e.coli endotox, treating the belly button...I passed on the seramune, as this is such a high dollar investment for us that the vet will come probably on Saturday to check antibodies and if they are not just right, the baby will get a plasma transfusion to help him along.
Look at that sweet baby face! I was in there too much and he started following me around, instead of his mama. That made me get out for a while.
But not before I got this different twist on the first mama/baby hug photo. I might work on it when I get time to make it better, but I wanted to share it while I still had it on my mind.

What a relief that he is here, and all appears to be well. When he gets the all-clear from the vet, I will really be able to enjoy him. I cannot wait to call his daddy tomorrow, to let him know he has arrived. You can see him at Buffalo Ranch, under Meradas Blue Sue. My next call will be to her next kissing lover, Sophisticated Catt, who you can see at Brightstone Ranch

She is here!

I will have much more to say later, but I wanted to get these pics up before my nite gets away from me.

This is Cash's baby girl born around 4:30 this morning. At first I was sure she was sorrel, but now that she is all dry, it is clear she is red dun after all. I was kind of hoping for a regular dun, but I cannot criticize how cute she is. She is so dainty and girly. And feisty has she can be.

I will have more pics tonight when I get a chance to settle in and edit some.

What I really want for my birthday

is for Cash to quit jacking me around and have this damn baby. This is what she looked like a week ago today, as she watched Xan foal--which of course, really pissed Xan off. Cash did not move from this area for more than 12 hours as she watched through the cracks in the wall.

My friend Jackie, who is pregnant, says it is not that Cash was that interested so that she could not tear herself away--it is that she was paralyzed in fear, because she finally realized just HOW those babies get here.

She might have something there, as Cash is at day 346, and I am kinda wanting to sleep in my own bed.

Barry is headed to Crested Butte with the boys early in the morning, and will be gone until Monday nite. I am really hoping Cash delivers today so that I will have his help if we need it.

Plus, it would be nice to get a birthday baby.

One snuck in!

Surprise! I brought Hotrod in last nite around midnite, since she had looked a little weird during the day. I watched her off and on while I read a book by Jodi Picoult that has me half hysterical. That woman can write a book--this is "Handle with Care". That book kept me up til 3 am and I made myself go to bed because I had to get my hairs did at 11:30 a.m. Nothing was shaking in the camera stall.
Lorna woke me up around 9 am and told me there was a baby! She was not kidding either, and the baby was all dried up, had gone to the bathroom, the afterbirth was delivered--she must have come shortly after my last check for all that to have happened.

Barry came over around 11 am so we could do the medical stuff, and we took a couple of shots. I love this picture, I just wish I had not cut his head off
This baby girl does not have all of Hotrod's white trim, which is a first. I like white trim. I know she will be gorgeous though, as all of Hotrod and Sly's babies are stunning. This one just won't be as flashy, which is okay, a lot of people like solid red.
I don't know what her name is going to be either. Maybe Pebbles, to go with Bam Bam since they look a lot alike, but who knows.
For some reason, her little mouth cracks me up. Tomorrow, if I have some help, I will turn her out with the other new babies, and get some more photos.

Cash is on tap to foal next--I hope she does it soon. I am pretty excited about that one, I sure hope I do not sleep through it!

Stay tuned, things are getting interesting around here!

Melody's weird adventure in foaling

This is the strangest foaling I have ever attended. I saw on the foalcam that she was laying near the front of the stall--I could only see part of her, but I thought she was laying flat and then laying on her side, repeatedly. That sent me flying to the farm to check on her. When I got there, feet were sticking out by the front door--delivery had just started.

But Mel was doing nothing. She almost seemed in a daze. She acknowledged me when I arrived, but just laid there. If feet were not sticking out, I would have sworn she was not in labor at all.

I watched a few minutes, called Barry to come over to help, and then decided she was not going to do this on her own. I had to put the camera down to help pull the baby.

Pulling babies is no easy task and you can screw it up in a heartbeat. Their muscles are so freakishly strong that you have to just grab hold of a joint and hold him tight as the contraction recedes, so that baby does not get sucked back in. You cannot really pull one out- not against the muscles of a mare.

This deal was complicated by the fact that she was not really having contractions. Melody did not look exhausted, or panicked--just like she was a little out of it. It scared me. I have pulled babies with Barry's help, and it takes some muscle. Once we were both in the floor with our feet on the mare's butt to brace ourselves--that is how much strength it takes. At first, I thought I screwed up, evening up the baby's legs--it occurred to me that doing that probably put her shoulders even, which would then lodge her in Melody. So I re-positioned her and within a minute or so, I had a baby in my lap. Mel must have been pushing some, or we would still be there, but you could not tell it by me.

About that time, Barry showed up.

All that explains why my pics start where they do, even though I was there for the whole thing. Once again, the foalcam has saved us.

Here she is almost completely born. My favorite part of this photo is something I did not notice at the time---you can see her dun stripe through the bag. Also, there were several hippomanes with this one--that is the brown blob of goo laying on the bag. Those form from extra minerals etc in there that baby does not need or use. They freak me out, but are totally normal. I cannot stop myself from making them jiggle--they have a similar texture as an organ.
In this shot, she has her head out of the bag--I think she did that one on her own. Her feet are still in Melody, which is significant to the story later on. After passing all that, I am sure Mel did not even feel those baby feet in there.
Looks how tubular her little head is. They all look like that at first--like big red cucumbers.
I have never gotten to see this before--I was just in the right place--within seconds of snapping this shot, the cord broke. It was cool to see it happen--you can see how much tension is on it. Normally the cord will break when the mare stands up. You want her to spend as much time as possible down so that everything that needs to pass through does so. Mel took it to extremes though, as she did not get up for nearly an hour.
This photo will probably make Jenna sick, she is weird about blood etc. I thought it was fascinating though to be able to see the filly still connected in such a way.

For the first time ever, the baby got up before the mama did. She was trying to get up here--and her feet were still in Melody. It occurred to me that such a thing might hurt, so I went and got them out. Mel wuffled me when I did it--I do not know if that was a thank you or a disapproval.

Baby girl managed to hustle her way over to the far wall-- after she almost got out of the stall altogether in her attempts to get up. Barry had to turn her around and point her at me. The new baby bottle system worked better for the Seramune, but still not as well as it should. We gave her the e.coli endotox, the seramune, dipped her umbilical stump in chlorhexadine, and left her be for a minute. Baby was shivering, so Barry put this blanket over her. Cracked me right up. Melody was STILL not up. I had one eye on baby and one on Mel the whole time. Mel seemed to not even notice what was going on at all--occasionally she would nicker, and she had snuggle baby some, but normally she is totally on top of things. She is an amazing mother.

The blanket must have pissed her off though, as she seemed distressed by it. I put a halter on her and asked her to get up--she had already passed the entire placenta and afterbirth when she was lying down. That is another weird thing I do not ever remember seeing--usually there are a few pieces.

Once I got Mel up, she seemed to snap to it and got right into her role. Thank goodness, I was wondering what was happening in her to make her act so weird, but there was not excessive blood or anything to suggest she had an injury that would have put her into shock. Shocky is probably the most descriptive word I can come up with for her demeanor--just odd.


Little wiggle is a prodigy. She was up and at 'em really quick. She even passed all the meconium within minutes of being up--unlike baby boy who took almost 11 hours to do it.

This is her first fairly steady stand. Once she was up, she spun round and round in circles. It was cute. She had no control over her legs--it was like she had a rudder stuck or something.Getting that first drink is so funny to watch (unless it is 3 am and you have been at it for hours--in which case, there is nothing funny about it). She missed the tap completely here--look at Mel trying to drive her to the right spot.
I was starting to wonder about that prodigy business here--she licked or sucked on every area of the mama but where she needed to be. That is normal, and always makes me laugh. No taps in the front, baby.
By this time, she has figured out where they are, but is not going about the normal way of getting to them. She is going to be one of those, I guess. Eventually she worked it out, and all was well. She had several tries though where she ended up with a nipple in the nose or the eye --everywhere but where it belonged. Once she got sprayed in her face with milk, and it startled her so much she flew backwards and bounced off the wall--which set Barry off laughing, and that startled her all over again. She had such a look of disgust on her face.
This morning, we took the babies outside for their first play time.
Look at that face. She is a beauty.

This series of shots is her attempt to lay down. The first few days, babies struggle a lot with working the front and back legs in opposite directions to get to the ground--they try real hard, but it takes a while to get the hang of it. Quite often they just flop down, and skip most of the mechanics.



She finally made it!
Then she got up and did it again. Silly baby.



She had a busy 12 hours with getting born and going outside. She bounced off a fence post pretty good and knocked herself silly this morning, but she recovered quickly and went bounding off in a hurry. I need to get video of new baby running, it is pretty funny.

Melody is totally back to normal today. Thank goodness. I have no idea what that was about. It was anxiety inducing for sure, for me if not her, but she is back on her game and being the great mother she usually is.

She did good with this one--I already have a crush on this little girl.

She needs a name though. I do not do people names for animals, and we might be doing a B theme for names this year--not sure though, so if you think of something else good, throw it out there and we will see if it sticks. Names are like that for me--I know it when I hear it.

Bring on the suggestions