Cara's Notebook - Fée's Journey

[Cara-Jean Kitchi]

Fée Rêve

Name:	Fée Rêve
Age:	One month
Height:	EH:14.2hh
Sex:	Filly
Breed:	Mustang
Colour:	Bay
Markings	None
Brand:	None

[Cara-Jean Kitchi]

Day One
≥♥≤
The Birth

I had arrived at the equine clinic with Miranda early enough that the two of us could bring in the horses who slept in the barn. We were both puzzled that Rikke, the Mustang mare that the two of us have nursed back to health over the past few months, was not out in her yard. We found her standing in her stall, a little irritable, but not seeming ill so that she had to remain in.

Leaving the mare, we continued with the barn chores and went into our stall (where we would be spending the night), to talk. I was taking a stab in the dark, and grasping wildly at straws in the pitch black, but I suggested that the mare might be pregnant, and Miranda and I took it from there as though she was. When we mixed her mash for dinner, I added a pregnant mare mixture of herbs to the feed.

It wasn't much longer before we realised how close to actual foaling she was and after I had wrapped her tail, we got a bigger stall ready and moved her. It wasn't much longer before her water broke and Miranda and I watched the birth of a perfect bay filly (which we found out later). What I thought was the afterbirth seemed to follow the foal almost instantly - which is really nothing to worry about - but it was the white membrane that became visible, followed by a pair of black feet, that began to set alarm bells off in my head. At this stage, Rikke was tired and there was no way that she was going to be able to push another foal out.

Miranda and I jumped to action and after washing our hands, we entered the stall. I moved the bay - her name is Fée Rêve (Fairy Dreamer), or just Fée (Fairy) - but that is to come... I picked the little foal up and moved her to the side of the stall so that she was out of harm's way. I then went to Rikke's head and comforted her, and every time she had a contraction, Miranda pulled the little black feet until the foal was free. Miranda did a great job with the baby - her name is Tanya - and before long the baby was breathing.

Fée struggled to her feet, followed by Rikke, and the mare walked over to her first foal and once she had herded the bay toward her sister, she inspected the tiny black. Mir and I then left the mother and her twin daughters to get to know each other.

I'm not sure how much time passed, but we went back to check on them and with the mare at the back of the stall and the foals alone, it wasn't hard to see that they hadn't fed. We entered the stall and with me holding the mare's head, Mir got the two fillies to drink that first precious colostrum, and they feed well.

Rikkie expelled the afterbirth and I checked both of them and bagged them for Dr Carr to check later. We the left the mare and foals alone, Rikke had walked away from her daughters as soon as I had released her and the fillies sank into the straw for a sleep - it was now that Mir and I named them. And this is also when Dr Carr appeared - I couldn't believe that it was morning already!

After we had put blankets on the babies, to stop them from catching a chill due to the lack of motherly care. We, Miranda and I, are going to take over the care of the foals. Both from milking Rikke and also from supplementing their feeds with milk-replacement formula.