This message is from: "Jon A. Ofjord" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Just after I got to work this morning, I got the call "It's a girl!". I knew the voice on the other end of the line was Beth Beymer of Starfire Farm. For almost a year now, we had been anxiously awaiting the birth of this foal and I was glad to hear that the filly was healthy, and of course, beautiful. Our mare, Vesla Mai, the mother of this little filly, has been out at Beth and Sandy's for over a year.
Last year we had contacted Starfire Farm and booked a breeding to Beth's stallion BDF Obelisk, along with a few months training by Beth on our mare. During the summer things were progressing well for Vesla. Beth would e-mail us with weekly progress reports regarding her training, and we were thrilled to learn she had settled right away, and was in foal to Obie. Being a maiden mare and all, this was to be her first foal.
I was able to get away from my job during July to go down and visit Vesla and get some more horsemanship pointers from Beth. I was delighted to see the progress she had made with Vesla.
I went home dreaming of riding her on my 60th birthday, coming up at the end of September. As it turned out, we weren't able to get her shipped home in time for my birthday. I did have a trail ride and feed for my friends however, and it was a great way to spend my 60th year.
On October 1st, I got a call from Beth. All I can remember of the message was "Vesla doing O.K. She's recovering from colic surgery at Colorado State University" We were stunned with the news. I looked up everything I could on colic surgeries, and the statistics didn't look good. They were 50/50 at best. She had torsion colic. Within a couple of days, we were given the bad news that she had sloughed the mucosa of her intestine. This in turn, caused a toxic shock to her system causing laminitis. More devastating news! We were hoping Vesla could make it through all this with minimal problems, but the laminitis did cause her coffin bones to rotate. She wouldn't be able to come home because of her condition. After a ten day stay at CSU, Beth and Sandy were able to take her back to Starfire Farm. There, they set up a stall for her, and padded it deep with shavings. They had to make sure they kept her weight down, as we all know, that's hard to do with a Fjord, but they managed it. She had to be on stall rest until her feet got better.
A couple week later we got the news.....Vesla was still pregnant! We could hardly believe it! Going through surgery and all. With Beth and Sandy's diligent care, Vesla was slowly healing. Her feet still hurt her some, but they assured us she IS getting better and better. When I talked with the veterinarian taking care of her, he told me they(Beth and Sandy) were doing more than most people could or would do to make this horse comfortable. This meant more work for Beth. Changing the pads on her feet, keeping the stall cleaned, getting the shavings, getting her feet trimmed. She told me she was going to be in this for the long haul. Taking the time to care for this horse, that wasn't even theirs, plus taking care of all their own horses at Starfire is an enormous amount of work.
Getting the news today that Vesla had given birth to a healthy, bouncing baby girl was the best news we could have received. Vesla will still be out at Starfire Farm for a few more months, until she can stand the trip home (northern Minnesota). We have decided to name the baby "Bethany Star". Bethany is a combination of "Beth" and "Sandy", and "Star" for Starfire Farm, the place she was born....and because, in time, we hope she will be one.
Without the help and kindness of these two wonderful women, this would not have been possible.
Thank you Beth and Sandy for helping all of us through this. Jon & Mary Ofjord North Coast Fjords Grand Marais, MN 55604
