The little guy is thriving. The vet was here to check on him and Cookie, and everything is great. Temp, heart beat, color, lungs, conformation all look excellent. She drew blood and the IGG came back at a score of 800, as good as it gets. Cookie looks very good as well, healthy, good milk supply, and has really bounced back with very little swelling or apparent discomfort.  She really is amazing.  The vet looked over the placenta and all was intact, which is great. There is always a concern when the mare doesn’t pass it all that she could get an infection. It’s really fascinating to see all the blood vessels and the shape of it; you can see where the foal was attached for eleven months and you can tell a lot about the reproductive health of the mare by examining the sac.

The little guy is already trying to “eat” hay just like mom Cookie. It’s funny - he will look at her nibbling and put his little head down as far as it will go, then root around moving his mouth a little. Then his head comes back up to look over at her again, and he has two or three long pieces of straw/hay stuck to his muzzle! Cute.

Bill thinks he sees the letters “I” and “C” below the little blanket on his putt (more like the bottom of his hip) and Cindy T sees a broken heart. So we’re throwing our hat into the ring with ”ZMI IC Heartbreaker!” (Susan says ZMI IC Hot)  Also love the name Boxers or Briefs!  As a reminder, please post all name suggestions on the official board so we don’t miss anyone.  We’ll pick out top names in a day or two and then a poll will pick the winner.

It’s funny - last year when Phoebe was born she was most obviously a filly.  Everything about her said “girlie”.  This little fella is all boy and looks that way.  He is the tallest of any of Cookie’s foals; other foals have been able to sneak under her belly for a few days after being born.  His legs are great with lots of substance.  But whose head is that??  It’s very cute and really fits him, but it doesn’t look like Zippy and it doesn’t look like Cookie.  Maybe it’s an exact blend.  He is bay and has such an interesting blanket.  I already am looking forward to seeing him under saddle:)  

We believe the most important bond for the health of the foal is the bond between mother and foal. So, we don’t mess around a lot with either one of them for several days after foaling. We’ve never had a mare abandon or abuse her baby and we think it’s because we just let them be for a bit.  There’s plenty of time to handle the foal, and Mom will welcome the break after a few weeks.  Tomorrow we will move them out to the arena or outside for 20 minutes or so to let them get fresh air and stretch their legs.  At that time the stall will be refreshed.  In two or three more days we will strip the stall out totally and go back to shavings until Frosty is ready to change places with Cookie.

Thanks again to DebWI for the update last night and for keeping Cookie company in her hour of need.        

Some of you may have heard this story already, but just in case… Erika went to bring in the horses last Friday evening and Phoebe Girl had torn a sizable cut in her back leg (yes, the day of her first Birthday!!)  The vet was called immediately and showed up with a high school intern 30 seconds later (no kidding!) because they just happened to be traveling back to the vet clinic on Highway P going past our farm at the time.  Is that lucky or what?!?  Then a few minutes later another vet showed up to take the high school intern home by a certain time.  Then the intern made a call and decided she could stay to observe, so we had a regular birthday party in the foaling stall for Phoebe.  (She wants to know where all her presents are, hhhmmpph.) Long story short, Phoebe is recovering very well from the ordeal of suturing and bandaging and being sedated. She is a very brave girl and hasn’t seemed to even be in any real discomfort at all. The would was pretty gaped-open, and in a tricky place just above her fetlock on the outside left hind cannon.  But it didn’t bleed all that much until she was inside the barn and we were cleaning it up; despite looking thoroughly for a nail or rough spot or loose board that may have snagged her, we cannot find one.  The following day we did another even more intensive search to see if we can eliminate the hazard, but found nothing.  She was alone in her paddock next to Hailey when it happened, and they get along very well.  So again it’s one of those “horse things” that are hard to explain.  Phoebe’s new owner Peggy drove up the next day to lend moral support and lots of TLC, and that was excellent.  Peggy is an ER nurse so the vet call was very interesting to her and she understood what was going on.  It’s all good, and we are certainly lucky that muscles and tendons were not damaged in Phoebe’s injury.  She’s a lucky girl!