(Sir Solomon) Facing her Fears

[Cortney Smit]

Cortney wheeled the barrow down the centre of the barn aisle as she headed outside and toward the muck heap. "Brr." She said, her teeth chattering as she left the warmth of the barn and stepped out into the cold winter air - wishing she was wearing the warm jacket and jersey she had stripped off just after she had started skipping out the stalls.

Even though she had no dreams of riding a horse again, or even wanting to get emotionally attached to one, she knew that she needed to start somewhere and that had been becoming the student barn hand of the broodmare barn. She had asked to work in here as it was the least busy barn, and she wouldn't always be surrounded by other students who were walking up and down the barn getting ready to go riding or bringing their mount back after a ride. She closed her eyes as she held the barrow up, emptying it at the muck heap. Shaking her head, she hurried back inside.

The normally peaceful barn was beginning to become less peaceful as a number of the mare's were getting ready to foal. She paused at the door of an amber champagne TWH. She looked in on the mare who had recently lost her foal, there was a tug of empathy there, as she knew what it was like to lose someone close to you, someone who was indeed a part of you. Shaking her head, she hurried on.

After skipping the stalls on the other side of the barn and emptying the barrow again, she swept the aisle to make sure that it was clean and tidy - though not quite white-glove inspection ready. She was putting the broom away when a sound from one of the stalls caught her attention. Pushing the equipment cupboard door closed and waiting for it to click - as she couldn't risk the door not closing properly and then having someone walk into the door or have a mare catching herself on it if she was led passed.

Hurrying down to the stall where she heard the noise, she looked in on the Thoroughbred mare who was circling the stall, stopping every now and then to kick at her stomach. The girl's eyebrows shot up! Since she had stared working in the barn, she had done loads of research on pregnant mares and she knew that colic in a mare was not good, and this mare, Charmander, was giving every clinical sign of colic. "Sir Solomon!" She yelled as she raced toward the barn manager's stall. She knew that she was breaking the two biggest rules; shouting and running, but this was a matter of life and death, especially if the first sound she had heard had been the mare thrashing on the ground. "Sir Solomon! There's something wrong with Char!"

[Sir Peter Solomon]

Peter was working on a paperwork form on Knight, preparing the things that he could for the stallion's first foal of the year, and only foal. He couldn't wait to see what kind of the foal the stallion would produce, especially with the dapple grey mare that the academy owned already. Charmander was a beautiful horse, even though Peter didn't much care for the bloody shoulder marking in general. However, he didn't doubt that their foal would be wonderful, either way.

He heard running footsteps in the aisle and stood, preparing to send anyone who dared disturb the mares away from the barn for a week or two, but then he heard his name being yelled. He hurried to the door, poking his head out just in time to see his newest barn hand run towards him. He held up his hands, "Alright, alright." He beckoned her, "Come on, what did you see?" He walked towards the mare's stall, expecting the girl to walk back with him. He could see the mare kicking at her stomach, and stood quietly for a moment. He could hear the mare groaning, and the starving look that showed her ribs was present. He turned to Cortney and smiled softly, "Thank you for coming to get me, but there's nothing wrong." He turned to her, "Could you go get one of the foaling kits from the tack room? It won't be more than half an hour or so now." The foaling kits held everything necessary, from wraps for the tail to spray bottles of iodine. The mares' stalls were all large enough to be foaling stalls in their own right, and since the stall had only recently been cleaned, Peter felt that he would be alright not moving the mare, especially since she seemed to close already. He eyed the water and haynet, but since bother were still filled, there was nothing to work on there.

[Cortney Smit]

As soon as she saw the man, the Freshman skidded to a halt as she saw him raise his hands. She was thankful to the fact that even though she had given up riding, she kept up with her physical training. "Char's showing extreme signs of colic, Sir Solomon." She rushed the words out as she quickly fell into step behind the man. "I probably should have gone in with her and made sure she stayed on her feet but felt that it was better if I..." Her words stopped suddenly as the barn manager's words suddenly registered and the girl's eyebrows flew up. "She's having her baby? Be right back." Her eyes sparkled as she hurried off to the tack room, scrubbed her hands clean with antibacterial soap and then after grabbing a foaling-kit she hurried back to the Thoroughbred's stall.

She carefully placed the container on the ground and opened the lid taking out the hand sanitiser - as it didn't take a genius to work out that that would be the first thing the barn manager would need. "I'm sorry I ran in the barn." She said. "And I'm sorry for yelling. I Wikied pregnant mares and I read that colic isn't even worse in pregnant mares." She pressed her lips together and shrugged. "When I saw her kicking at her stomach, all I could think of was when my mare had colic."

[Sir Peter Solomon]

As he walked, Peter listened to the girl's words, nodding slightly. Only as he came to the mare's stall and had observed her for a few minutes did he realize that the girl hadn't quite been correct in her prognosis. He could see her shock as he started issuing orders completely out of line with a colicking horse, and watched his young barn hand hurry off to get the foaling kit he had asked for.

After she had returned, Peter nodded his thanks as she took out the sanitizer. He took it from her and squeezed a little into his hands, before rubbing it over his hands. He bent and picked up the tail wraps and let himself carefully into the stall as Cortney started to apologize, "Don't apologize, Cortney. You did everything right." He concentrated on wrapping up the mare's tail, then walked back around to the stall gate, "Mares that are going into labor sometimes show the same symptoms as a mare that's going into colic." He traced a finger along the mare's visible ribs, "Do you see how she looks really thin, here, that we can see her ribs? That's usually referred to as the starving dog look. It means that the foal's moved away from the barrel area, which makes the mare look deflated." He smiled, "That's the first giveaway that she was getting close to foaling." He bent and held a hand under the mare's utter, letting a bit of the white liquid stream onto his hand, which he held up for Cortney to see, "And this is the other giveaway. A mare can start dripping milk from two days before giving birth, but it only starts streaming constantly fifteen to thirty minutes before the birth." He let himself out of the stall, "I'm going to go wash my hands, could you keep an eye on our soon-to-be mother?"

[Cortney Smit]

Cortney nodded as the man dismissed her apology. She knew she'd done all the right things, but her yelling and running could have upset the other mares though.

She watched with interest as the man wrapped the mare's tail and then reached under the mare's udder. She nodded as he spoke to her, explaining about the process mares went through before foaling. Although she didn't have any plans on joining the reproduction class, she was very interested in what the man said and was keen to learn as much as she could - which would all come in handy since she was in here, cleaning the stalls twice a day.

She nodded her head as the barn manager asked her to keep an eye on the mare while he went and washed his hands. She looked over the stall door, watching the mare in the stall. Now that she knew what was happening to the mare, her keen eye could pick up the ripple as a contraction ran through the mare. "Its ok, Char. I'm still here. " She said softly, letting the mare know she wasn't alone. "Sir Solomon just went to wash his hands. Just hang in there and wait till he gets back... oh." She could see something white, it could have been a balloon for the looks of it, under the mare's tail. She swallowed hard as she glanced over her shoulder, but she didn't shout out before turning back to the mare. "You're ok pretty girl."

[Sir Peter Solomon]

Peter finished scrubbing his hands and took one of the paper towels, drying them thoroughly before tossing away the towel. He pushed back through the door and walked down towards the mare's stall again. He could see Cortney talking to her, and smiled as he watched the pair of them. As he stopped by the mare's stall, he could hear the girl's last words. He glanced into the stall, seeing the white amniotic membrane that had started appearing. He smiled at Cortney, "Is it your first time watching a mare foaling?" He assumed it was, but if she said it, he would have more reason to keep on teaching her as they went, which was good, since it would be practice for the other mares, and his actual students.

He set his eyes back on the mare, and smiled as he saw two little hooves emerging as the mare circled, "Here it comes." He watched the mare, knowing that the foal would be out, for better or worse, in the next twenty minutes. He hoped that everything would go right, since it was his first 'real' birth at the school, and the mare was carrying his stallion's foal.

[Cortney Smit]

Cortney nodded her head at the man's words. "This would be my first." She replied in a near whisper, as though she was worried that her voice was disrupt the mare. Her eyes didn't leave the mare though as she watched everything as it happened.

The thing that looked like a white balloon, turned out to be the sack that surrounded and protected the foal. Keeping the tiny baby's heart beating and lungs working until the sack broke open and the foal took it's first real breath. She thought it was amazing that until a creature was in the open, although their lungs worked, they didn't actually breathe until the umbilical cord broke. And it was at that point that all you could do was pray that the baby's own nervous system would take over.

She drew in a breath as she said a silent prayer as she continued to watch the mare and the foal slide out a little more with each contraction. Then it all happened at once and the foal dropped to the ground. The girl's eyebrows flew up as she looked askance toward the barn manager. She needed him to tell her that everything was alright.

[Sir Peter Solomon]

Peter smiled at the girl, "Don't worry, nine times out of ten, everything goes perfectly without any help." He turned back to the mare, however, just because of that chance that this mare wouldn't be the one who got it done without any human help. However, as the mare continued pushing, the foal finally slipped out, and Peter let out a breath that he hadn't realized that he was holding. He smiled grimly as he looked in on the little foal, seeing Charmander turn her head towards the foal then get to her feet, nuzzling at the foal. Peter turned and smiled at the girl, seeing the look on her face, "It looks like they're doing just fine." He stepped back from the stall, seeing the foal inside already trying to figure out its spaghetti-like legs, "If you want to watch, I'd suggest stepping back a little bit more. This is the time when the pair is bonding, so we don't want to step in, especially since everything seems to have gone so well." He smiled, "In about an hour, more or less, our little foal should be up and suckling, so if you'd like, I'll put you on watch to make sure that happens." He smiled at the young girl. While he could easily watch the mare himself, students needed to learn what to watch for, and although Cortney wasn't his student, per se, she seemed willing enough to learn from him.

[Cortney Smit]

Cortney watched as the mare began the process of scenting the mare. She wished that she had done some proper research on the birthing of foals when she had first decided to ask if she could work in this barn, as right now she would love to know why the mare was doing what she was doing. Dutifully she took a couple of steps back and watched from a distance at the man's words.

She grinned from ear to ear as she was asked to stand watch, to make sure that the foal did indeed rise to his or her feet in an hour. "I would be honoured." She said. "Thank you." She glanced back at the mare. "Um... doesn't she have a student that should be here though?" She ducked her head a little, knowing that her question was rather forward. "I just remember you saying that the mares are assigned to the students in your class."

Once the barn manager walked away, she took a tiny step closer to the stall and watched as the mare licked the foal from muzzle to tail. It seemed that Charmander was inspecting every inch of her baby. She had a million questions that she wanted to ask anyone who would listen. How long would the foal remain with the mare? When could Charmander begin working again? What would happen if the foal didn't stand up unassisted? What if the foal didn't feed? What... She shook her head to banish the unanswered questions from her mind as she concentrated on the mare and foal once more.

When the mare stepped away from her foal and walked over to nose at the empty haynet and then the water bucket, Cort once again stepped up to the door. She watched closely as the foal's front legs stretched out and then the small horse struggled to get its legs under its body and then tried to stand up. When the spindly legs crumpled and the foal landed on the straw again, the mare walked back over to her baby and gave the foal a gentle nudge. It took another half a dozen more tries, but the foal was finally standing. The girl smiled as the foal carefully turned around on the twig-like legs and then shoved its head under its dam's belly and began suckling.

[Sir Peter Solomon]

Peter saw the smile on the girl's face and knew that the mare, and 'his' little foal, would be in good hands. He nodded his head to the girl, "It may not be included in your official duties, but I was hoping you wouldn't mind terribly much." He smiled at the girl, musing over what he knew about her. He knew that Cortney didn't ride, as he had heard that tidbit of information from various teachers, but she knew her way around horses, that much was apparent. As Cortney asked about Charmander's assigned student, Peter shook his head, "The student that I had assigned to Charmander had to leave the academy a few weeks back, and I didn't have another student join the class since then." He smiled slightly, "I will admit, I was partial to her, since her foal is by my horse." Leaving the girl with that information, Peter made his way back to his office, checking in on the other mares as he walked past them." Once he was settled in his office, Peter started thinking about names for the foal. He was thinking of something along the lines of Knight's name, to register the foal with, but he hadn't decided on one yet.

After about an hour of musing over names while working on some paperwork, Peter stood up and pushed his chair in, then walked out of the office. He walked down to Char's stall, smiling and stopping a few feet from the door. He could see the foal suckling, and nodded approvingly. He looked at Cortney, "In your research, did you find why it's important for the foal to start nursing rather quickly?"