The highs and lows of the foaling season were encapsulated in a remarkable few days at Kentucky's Machmer Hall this week after an Animal Kingdom colt rejected by his own dam found a new mum in a mare who had suffered her own loss.
Machmer Hall, famed for breeding six-time Grade 1 heroine Tepin and run by husband and wife team Carrie and Craig Brogden, welcomed the son of the Kentucky Derby scorer out of A Taste Of Red on Sunday.
While things initially seemed positive, the mare began to exhibit some worrying signs and after she was found to have been kicking out at the colt when left alone in her stall, the Brogdens knew they had to take action.
"It was really bad and I've never seen a mare get like that very often," said Carrie Brogden. "A lot of the time you can work with young mares and after two or three days they come around to the foal but Craig went to hold him in the stall and she just got worse.
"He called me and said we've got to do something before this foal gets killed."
Heartbroken
Faced with such circumstances, stud farms often have to look to other operations to find a suitable nurse mare but this time around, Craig already had the perfect mare in mind for the job.
Maizelle, a 15-year-old daughter of Seeking The Gold, had only a few days earlier lost a filly foal by Breeders' Cup Sprint hero Runhappy, an event that had left the Brogdens dumbfounded and heartbroken.
"It was a completely normal birth and we still don't really know what happened with the filly," Carrie explained. "She was struggling to breathe, we had oxygen and medication but in 17 years of foaling, it's something that I've never come across.
"Dealing with live animals, you can have the greatest high on Monday and the greatest low on Tuesday. Like most people, when Maizelle's foal died we left it in her stall with her for a fair bit."
In most cases a mare will smell the foal before realising it has passed away and accept the death but such was Maizelle's urge to continue to be a mother, Brogden called a local clinic in Kentucky to offer her as a nurse mare to other farms.
"She kept looking for a baby and that's why Craig prompted me to call the clinic," Carrie said. "With everything going on with A Taste Of Red, Craig said 'I think I'm going to get Maizelle'."
How about you? Are you willing to go negative? What would be the point? This world is filled with negativity from all over the place. So what if a foal is not some human's idea of perfection. The foals are new life, innocent babies, beautiful for that reason alone.bare it all wrote:Along with all the loving discussion of a new foal - and especially a first crop sire - I'd love to see someone just be straight honest about some of them. None of this "Lots of bone" and "Very correct, sending more mares to him next year" stuff... some "foal was as crooked as I've ever seen" or "we definitely won't be breeding to him again - 3 foals and all terrible looking"...
I suppose no one wants to put their neck out there in the negative and look like a fool when that crooked little thing turns into a graded winner or the sire produces ugly runners.
Yet another blingy Shackleford foalSparrow Castle wrote:^^^ Ain't ever gonna happen, lol.
Ramsey Farm @Ramsey_Farm
39m39 minutes ago
We had 4 foals overnight, including this SHACKLEFORD colt out of FLYING KITTEN who is a real stunner. @darbydanfarm
"Northern Farm News Letter"
Hilda's Passion, the mother of american group race winner Yoshida, foaled a charming filly by Duramente. On her first day outside we had freezing weather with almost -20℃, so the mother put the straw on her baby.
That photo is absolutely precious.Sparrow Castle wrote:RP Bloodstock @rpbloodstock
1h1 hour ago
Special delivery! two-time Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Treve has had her second foal, a filly by champion two-year-old Shalaa >>> https://www.racingpost.com/bloodstock/b ... lly/322017
