Posted in On The Farm
|
The anticipation for us started about 3 weeks to a month before March 13th. We had noticed that one of our Belgian mares, seemed to be gaining a lot of weight. Then we noticed she was bagging up, so all the signs were there for her being pregnant. Of course not knowing any exact date that she'd been exposed to a Stud made things harder to figure things out. They say the last 3 months is when you can really know if a mare is with foal. Since we hadn't been told by the people my parents bought her and Peach from, that she had been around a stud we were shocked. Yes she had been around our Stud, but there were never any signs and he's much smaller then she, so we just figured it was too difficult for him to do anything.....lol. My parents had bought Katie and Peach July 12th. So obviously if she was this big on March 12th
It would not be our stud that got her pregnant. Well on Tuesday March, 13th of this year, she started showing signs of being in labor. My parents had planned on going away for a couple days to visit friends in South Dakota. So they were off and I went out to check on Katie. I had my husband check her to make sure it wasn't my imagination. And then I proceeded to call my parents to let them know. They came home instead of going on their trip. Dad tried to get ahold of a vet. Of course no one would come out to check her so we knew if it was indeed labor. Wednesday came and went, and no foal. This was then 24 hours after she started showing signs of being in labor. Thursday we were watiing thinking this would be the day. Well by 4pm Katie was down on the floor of the lean where she had been spending time. My mom tried getting her up. Couldn't. She went to get dad, then to get us. By the time I got out there it was too late. She wasn't breathing and wasn't moving at all. All I could do was crouch beside her and drap my arm over her beautifully large belly. No movements from the belly either. We had lost her and the foal. It was the saddest moment of many losses, to lose a beautiful, large animal like Katie was a horrible experience. She and Peach were like members of the family. They worked hard and also took us on wagon rides. They loved working, doing the job they were made to do, just made them glow it seemed. I had shared photos of them after we got them. Course I can't find one as easily right now. Its been 2 weeks today since we lost her. Dad found another Belgian so we had a *team* again. The new Mare is 11 yrs old, will be 12 and is sweet just as Katie was. New mare's name is Betty. She certanitly doesn't replace Katie, but is just another addition to our large animal family. We are hoping to find a travling vet for rural areas, so we don't lose any other animals again. Also my father talked to the guy that they had bought Katie from and he swears up and down she was NOT around a stallion. So you tell me how that one happened?? Also the guy that was Betty's origional owner said that Draft horses have trouble foaling AND its possible her foal was BREECH. And of course we didn't have a clue about this.
|
Comments
|
|
|
|
|
Posted by
|
|
|
|
|
Posted by 