The Ups and Downs of Raising a Foal

Nature continuously amazes me each year. This year we have a new foal that is very big and was bucking at 2 hours of age. The Dam, or mother, is a 17.3 hand young mare whose first foal, 2004, is a full Trakehner from our farm who recently was noted in the Hunterdon Democrat, February 23, 2006 issue as a therapy horse, Velvet, playing soccer with East Amwell Township students. This gelding is now well over 17hands and has a great disposition and looks very much like his Dam. According to his farrier, he has great potential and is one of the few horses who has a perfect tracking footprint on the ground.

His “sister”, born in March 2006, by the same Dam and Sire, Tempestad or Stormy, will also be a big horse with white socks, a striking white blaze down her well proportioned head and will most likely be chestnut in color.

Her spirit is remarkable, commencing at 2 hours of age, to be quite lively. She began mimicking her Dam, Calina, within hours to eat hay and explore her environment. She already exhibits remarkable talent and a sweeping, floating gait.

So if you think raising young horses is easy, you must be prepared for what will go wrong and when. Velvet, at 2 weeks of age was stricken with septicemia and had to be rushed to MidAtlantic Equine where immediate medical assistance saved his life. This second foal has not had a similar fate and although very large at birth, the mare did not have much any bruising after birth. However, one week after her birth, Calina had significant signs of colic and had to be provided mineral oil and pain meds. She recovered quickly. The foal was there to remind her that she was eager to nurse regularly and like a child demanded immediate attention……..either by running around bucking when Calina is resting on the ground, or stepping all over her Dam.

The important message here is that you need to be in-tune with your horse’s signs of disposition so that you can respond quickly to situations as they arise. As with most forms of communication, fine tuning your skills at listening and observation, whether with children, friends, or colleagues, is critical, and this applies to horsemanship as well. Enjoy the arrival of spring.

–Ann del Campo-

4/2006