We have another Filly! Her name is AMETHYST MJW. Ariel foaled a lovely filly last night (March 10th, 2009) at 12:40. She went exactly a year (365 days gestation!). Maiden mares are always so hard since they don’t know what is going on. Had she been a proven broodmare she probably would have delivered at 9:30, so it was a stressful night as she had steam rolling off of her, and kept rubbing her behind on the stall. That isn’t fun to watch when you may have to go in and physically take the mare away from the side of the stalls and deliver standing up. However, Ariel finally went down at 12:30 pm and delivered at 12:40. We are extremely happy with this gal, very fine bone, great pasterns, one of the longest necks on a foal I have ever seen, nice short back.
Ariel is a great mom, which we were worried about since she never really liked other foals around. We had a hard time with her as she didn’t want to get up and stay up, as she had a lot of cramping. We gave her banamine and still couldn’t keep her up. The foal was already up and walking around Ariel. So, before we called the Vet out we gave her a flake of hay, and in true Haflinger fashion, she stayed up to eat! She was still uncomfortable, and was kicking at her belly and biting her sides, but we were able to get the foal nursing around 3:00 am. Ariel finally settled in and everyone was back in the house by 3:45 am. Certainly not textbook, I knew they wouldn’t all be as easy as Luna’s!
Amy has found a wonderful new home!