This message is from: "Julie Will" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Hello everyone out in Fjord Land. I have been absent from the list since our trip to South Africa in the middle of February, but now am caught up enough to have time once again to read the list and participate. I am very thankfully IN REMISSION at this time, and feeling strong and energetic! I am so thankful for the countless good wishes and prayers that have come my way. Just being able to feed our horses and shovel manure is a treat for me....never thought I would appreciate it so much!
Our first foal arrived on April 6th, a beautiful RED DUN colt, sired by Flxtren, out of our 20 year old Braggen mare. It was a normal birth, around midnight, and at last check at 3 am, mare and foal were doing fine...eating, nursing, cleaned, etc. Imagine our shock at the 6 am check to find Braggen quite dead, and the little guy nursing on her now cool udder! She apparently had a uterine artery bleed. I immediately got on the phone to all the horse people and vets in the area, and within in a couple of hours had located a Quarter Horse mare at Cornell vet school who had lost her month old foal to injury the night before. She was still in the vet hospital, waiting for the owners to pick her up, so we loaded up our little guy and by 10 am had him nursing the mare. However, she was not thrilled about the turn of events, and required a mild sedation and a twitch to keep her standing quietly. We left the colt and mare in a divided stall with vet students managing the feedings every hour, around the clock. (This was on Saturday) By Monday, the mare was still not happy, but had progressed to accepting the nursing as long as someone was feeding her carrots and keeping her hindquarter backed into a wall. We decided to buy the mare and try our luck at home, since we couldn't leave the colt there for months! (Fortunately the mare's owner had not had her long, and was not attached, plus was in need of cash for the huge Cornell vet bill on the foal that had died.) Well, to make a long story short, FINALLY, after 7 days at home with supervised nursing around the clock, the mare has accepted her foster son, and today they are at liberty together in our arena. We are immeasurably relieved and thrilled that little Red (OH Wynn) will have a chance to grow up normally. Other news of interest is that we are adding on to our facility and Tim Jedra (who some of you saw riding Flxtren at the Fingerlakes Show last year) will be running a training and lesson business out of our barns. He is an excellent horseman and teacher, and there will be a few stalls open for outside Fjords to come in for training under saddle starting in July. Email me privately if interested in more information. Spring is creeping into NY, with the grass looking greener every day, and the peepers singing to each other at night. Happy Easter...Happy Spring!!! Julie Will Old Hickory Farm Weedsport, New York
