New Colts born!

Todd and Shelley Lindsey have been helping us with the farm and grazing their horses on our farm as well as Susan and David's farm. While we were gone last week, Todd brought in the New colt born in March at their place, Monday. Monday is the day the horse was born and his name...really.
They also brought over Skippy, another pregnant mare. We've been watching her for the past couple of days, hoping the colt would be born soon. Molli woke me about 5 this morning asking to go out. She ran like a shot out across the road on the other side of the Chicken Coop. She came back a bit later but was anxious to go out. As it was still dark, I decided to wait a bit to go out and let the Chickens out.
About 6:15 she and the Mallary's dogs were all barking, so I went to check out what was up. Looking across the field, I noticed another brown area and hoped it was the new colt. Turns out it was. Monday (1 month old colt) and Molli (dog) were both around the newborn and Skippy was standing guard.
I decided to go see what they were actually barking at and walked over to make sure things were okay. The new colt was not getting up. Last year, at the beginning of July, Commanche was born on our property too and he was up and walking on his wobbly legs pretty much right away. This newborn was not getting up. After watching the colt try to get up a few times, I moved in to pet and soothe Skippy and reached to help the colt who still had some afterbirth around. (Mollie was able to get in close and was licking everything!) Skippy let me get in and try to help the colt up, but it didn't work. When we called Todd, he suggested they might lay around for a couple of hours. Okay, we watched a bit. Still, the legs seemed to be all caddy whompus and mixed together. By the time Todd got there, he suggested that the front legs were not straight and the ligaments were shortened. While I held back Skippy, he tried to lift the colt to get her to drink (by now I had not seen any feeding thought the colt was making signs that he would suckle ANYTHING, even Molli!)

A couple of calls around found that the Big Animal Vet, Dr. Cardwell, was in Houston, Texas and there were no emergency services nearby. Wyatt and Shelley went to get the horse trailer and a bottle. Another neighbor, (Ben?) came with a halter.

I actually got to milk the mare to get the colostrum and milk to feed. Colostrum is a special milk produced by mammals. It is usually a yellow to orange in color and thick and sticky. In this case, there was a yellow color. It is low in fat, and high in carbohydrates, protein, and antibodies to help keep a newborn healthy. Colostrum is extremely easy to digest, and is therefore the perfect first food. It is low in volume (measurable in teaspoons rather than ounces), but high in concentrated nutrition for the newborn. Colostrum has a laxative effect on the baby, helping to pass early stools. In humans, I know that this aids in the excretion of excess bilirubin and helps prevent jaundice. I'm actually not sure if horses can be jaundice? (okay, so http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=436 suggests that it is rare, with less than 1% of foals but possible). At any rate, early feeding is important to give energy and build the immune system.

Wyatt did bring a bottle (cattle bottle I think) but Ben brought a syringe that I used to fill and feed the foal. Way cool! I've never been the first to feed a horse and being that close was really interesting. This colt had a single tooth coming out of the gums on the bottom. He also had a very pink tongue that almost sucked in the syringe too. Wyatt gave milking a try and between the two of us we got about 1/2 pint. It was interesting to see the colt (who by the time we got something in him had been struggling for 2 hours) roll his eyes in his head like he was on a sugar high!

We ended up giving about 1/2 pint of milk and colostrum into him and Skippy was a bit calmer (having become really nervous with so many people coming around as Todd and Shelley and Wyatt showed up).

The colt and mom were put into the horse trailer to be taken to El Paso for Vet care. This was the closest Vet that was available (1.5 hours away). When they left, Skippy was in the back of the trailer, Wyatt and the colt in the front.

Shortened tendons mean that the front legs of the horse can't straighten. As best I can describe, the colt appeared to be standing on the hoof tips on the front legs. I wasn't able to find any information on the net on ligiment or tendons that were short in newborns, but did find information that tendon damage is common later in life. http://www.horsetalk.co.nz/health/tendondamage-144.shtml
I also found out that "Congenital flexural deformities can be caused by several different factors. Malpositioning within the mare’s uterus can lead to contracted tendons. Ingestion of toxins during pregnancy can also cause malformations of the tendons. Genetic factors can contribute to deformities of the tendons. Congenital flexural deformities have also been associated with an unbalanced iodine intake in the mare." http://www.vetpro.co.nz/Vet%20Talk_Equine/tendon_injuries.htm
Treatment? Well, the tendons may need to be cut to allow the horse to stand. The tendons can be sewn back together (like attaching ropes) and the colt should be okay. I'll wait to see.


I didn't get any pictures as I left the house without a camera or phone. Pictures were taken and I hope they send them soon. I'll post them when they come.