SE Despree, a Desperado V daughter, had a hard time with her first foaling two years ago – the long-legged filly had one foreleg pointed backwards and needed veterinary assistance to be born. We think there’s a chance that Spree suffered some internal damage during that procedure because when she foaled last Wednesday night, even though she produced a healthy colt, there were complications - the result of which was an orphan foal.
The neighbors had recently weaned a yearling colt and that mare, Jesse, still had milk. Spree’s bay colt got a ride up to Jesse in the back seat of a pickup truck even as Spree was taking her last breaths. The foster mother mare, fortunately, accepted the foal right away. Unfortunately, while Jesse had milk, she didn't have much of it, so the foal, now a week old, still looks like a 2-day-old, all ribs & hip bones.
We brought the mare and colt down to my ranch this morning and both have settled in nicely, Jesse (much to the neighbor’s surprise) not phased at all by the llama that was in the next pen. The colt is on Foal-Lac as a supplement to Jesse’s milk, and the mare herself seems to be producing more as the foal nurses. Hopefully the colt, still nameless, will survive and thrive, but we are worried for him in the immediate future.
Over the past week I’ve had lots of time to meditate on life and death, trying to come to grips with the drama here. The only solace I can feel is when I remember to honor the souls of the horses involved. Spree’s soul chose the circumstances of the life she lived and the death she died. It is not for me to question her choices, but to honor that she had a higher purpose in making them. The soul of the colt, too, has made choices that I can honor - or that I can ignore and torture myself with. The choice to honor and accept, or reject and suffer, is my own.
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