First foal eases pain

Well, we had a little gathering at the creekside last week and laid Natalie to rest.  We are going to scatter a packet of wildflower seeds over the patch of bare ground when it warms up enough.  Then we had the future to look forward to and last night, our first foal arrived!


We all were so excited to have a happy event and so all 3 sides of the stall were full of eager faces.  Good thing Mabel is such a laid back mare.  Poor Kayley had to stand on an upturned bucket to get high enough to lean in over her belly to see.  She is about ready to burst herself and there was some gentle teasing going on about whether she would be the next "mare" to go.  Lucas finally put a stop to that with his stern look and we all focused on the task at hand.

Mabel did very well for a maiden mare, but it was hard work.  Took about an hour of getting up and lying down before she got really serious with the pushing, but when she did, it went pretty fast.  And when that little foal came out a big cheer went up.  Gammy and I were the only ones in the stall and while Gammy sat near Mabel's head and kept her calm, I grabbed a handful of towels and starting rubbing down baby.  As I would get a little patch dry, I was more and more excited about the beautiful color coming through.  She has dried to a stunning shade of chestnut with a beautiful head and perfect conformation.  I know it won't stay that way, but it gives me great hope for her potential.  Then I checked for gender and there was another cheer when I shouted out "Filly!"  And such a sweet little disposition.  Very gentle and playful.  Can't wait to get started training, I know she will take to it like a duck to water.  Even when we had the vet out to do her first check up and get blood drawn for her IGg, she just stood like a trooper and didn't move a muscle.  Mama was a bit nervous to have her baby getting handled so much, but she is such a laid back soul, she eventually went back to eating and ignored the people.  That is what she is best at, eating, lol!  Mabel passed the placenta within an hour or so and vet says they both look great.  So, we have our third generation of Ardennais and she is an improvement on the last two, which is exactly what I planned.  Baby was up and eating within about 20 minutes and they are all comfy in the warm stall as we are having a snowstorm today. 

Gammy said she had been researching names on the internet when her sleep was interrupted by her grief over Natalie and she came up with the perfect thing.  I have decided to use French names, as that is where the breed originates.  Gammy thought it would be nice to include Flyer's name somehow, so she chose Joyau Cache, which means hidden gem in French.  I think it is absolutely perfect and we are calling her Joy, since she has already brought so much of it to the ranch.  A very lovely way to end the sadness we have all felt since the loss of Natalie. 

The other girls are progressing nicely.  I knew that April would get a huge bag and she has.  She is also becoming very relaxed in the rear. So, probably just a few more days and another new baby.  Seiki is also finally starting to develop a bit of a bag, but as she is an older, very experienced mama, I expect her not to show a lot of signs until she suddenly does it all in a rush.  And she never does get much of a bag, although she always has plenty of milk. 




Joy