Penn State Vet School Foal Cam-My Special Girl

serenassong · Mon Mar 31, 2014 8:02 am

Della wrote:
swale1984 wrote:Just checked in before going to bed, and found mom and foal doing circles in the stall and mom giving baby boy a few kisses. Here's hoping both have a great night.

Side note, does anyone know what the 2 discs on MSG's back are for ?

I think the white discs were to attach electrodes to monitor fetal heart rate, and perhaps other vitals prior to the foal's birth

Yes, that is what there are for. She would be wired up each night- and had a small bag that was attached to her mane with the wire going to the discs.

Ridan_Remembered · Mon Mar 31, 2014 10:15 am

Got to leave for work, but wanted to post that baby looks a lot better this morning. Mom is eating some nice hay and he's resting right now. Next thing on the agenda, I hope, is to let them both out into a paddock for awhile today.

bare it all · Mon Mar 31, 2014 10:32 am

I suggest all of you sign up for marestare.
Wonderfully enlightening for how large animals are brought into the world

Miss Woodford · Mon Mar 31, 2014 11:44 am

bare it all wrote:I suggest all of you sign up for marestare.
Wonderfully enlightening for how large animals are brought into the world

I suggest not. Most Marestare breeders are horrible. . They like to put on a show for their fellow "aunties", which means interfering with the foaling and staying on camera as much as possible.

I watched a woman on there yank on a foal by the neck, breaking it and killing the foal instantly. Few people there have any clue what they are doing, they just pray for the ~Angel Foals~ and ~Angel Mares~. Also, most of them are BYB krazy kolor breeders and/or they breed HYPP-positive halter horses.

serenassong · Mon Mar 31, 2014 12:57 pm

Miss Woodford wrote:
bare it all wrote:I suggest all of you sign up for marestare.
Wonderfully enlightening for how large animals are brought into the world
I suggest not. Most Marestare breeders are horrible. . They like to put on a show for their fellow "aunties", which means interfering with the foaling and staying on camera as much as possible.

I watched a woman on there yank on a foal by the neck, breaking it and killing the foal instantly. Few people there have any clue what they are doing, they just pray for the ~Angel Foals~ and ~Angel Mares~. Also, most of them are BYB krazy kolor breeders and/or they breed HYPP-positive halter horses.

I've heard horrible stories about some of the breeders on that as well.

BaroqueAgain1 · Mon Mar 31, 2014 2:54 pm

I don't know if it's fair to paint all the breeders on Marestare as incompetent...I've seen both admirable and, well, not so admirable...foaling procedures. It's true that a breeder who signs up for Marestare is more likely to be a small stable, without a large staff to watch a pregnant mare all day and all night. Marestare does provide a safety net. Say what you will about the "aunties,' if their vigilance has saved one foal, the service...and participation in it...is worth it.
I've noticed over the years that a high percentage of the "angels" have occurred with Minis. I don't want to get on a rant...the itty bitty horses are adorable....but Nature has a way of bringing consequences when you mess with a large animal's physiology to the point that it has constant difficulties reproducing.

lurkey mclurker · Tue Apr 01, 2014 8:17 pm

The little guy has four fractured ribs from being squeezed in the birth canal, according to the most recent update. So he and mom will be in the NICU a bit longer. There are new pics at the link.

They are also having a naming contest... I voted for New Bolton Pioneer (barn name Boone).

http://www.vet.upenn.edu/foalcam

BaroqueAgain1 · Tue Apr 01, 2014 8:27 pm

Could he have been a bit too large for his mom to deliver easily? I see that the sire is Quarter/Cleveland Bay...Cleveland Bays are considered light draft horses, I believe, and are fairly good-sized. The colt may have taken after that side of his family. Hope he heals well.

Ridan_Remembered · Tue Apr 01, 2014 10:20 pm

BaroqueAgain1 wrote:Could he have been a bit too large for his mom to deliver easily? I see that the sire is Quarter/Cleveland Bay...Cleveland Bays are considered light draft horses, I believe, and are fairly good-sized. The colt may have taken after that side of his family. Hope he heals well.

Seems to explain a lot.

lurkey mclurker · Tue Apr 01, 2014 11:41 pm

BaroqueAgain1 wrote:Could he have been a bit too large for his mom to deliver easily? I see that the sire is Quarter/Cleveland Bay...Cleveland Bays are considered light draft horses, I believe, and are fairly good-sized. The colt may have taken after that side of his family. Hope he heals well.

One of the posts following the birth did mention that he was a large foal in a smallish birth canal, so that's why they went with the lubrication & traction assistance in delivery. I have heard before of foals sometimes having broken rib/s as a complication of foaling (one of the Barbaro brothers cracked a few ribs, IIRC, and Headley Bell at the time said it wasn't unusual given his size) - fortunately it wasn't his shoulder or something worse, for both of them. Lucky they were where they were!

I love his little wee star that's visible now he's all dry. But they seem to think he will grey out, pooh.

Ridan_Remembered · Wed Apr 02, 2014 12:10 am

lurkey mclurker wrote:I love his little wee star that's visible now he's all dry. But they seem to think he will grey out, pooh.

I'm surprised they think he's going to be gray because he looks like such a solid bay as we can see from this photo taken today, unless what I'm taking for shine from the camera flash are gray hairs.

Poor little guy. It's obvious he wants out of that stall to buck and play. He tries to buck and play inside there, but it's rapidly becoming a too small space for them both. Right now as I'm watching the livecam, he's bucking around, lol. Sweet foal. I hope they can go out to a paddock on Monday like the latest Facebook post says. He sure is a good looking foal.

BaroqueAgain1 · Wed Apr 02, 2014 12:42 am

If he has cracked ribs, they may want to keep him on stall rest. Even if he's not doing much resting (from the sounds of it, he's trying to play), it's still probably better than giving him enough room to really cut loose. Cutting loose could cause him to re-injure barely healed ribs. Poor little guy...too bad the docs can't explain that to him.

Della · Wed Apr 02, 2014 8:36 am

Somewhere on the New Bolton foal cam web site it says he and the mare will stay in the NICU for 2-3 more days, then go to the farm portion of New Bolton, but they will be inside there for about 10 days before turn-out as they want to be sure the ribs are fully healed.

Della · Wed Apr 02, 2014 8:36 am

Somewhere on the New Bolton foal cam web site it says he and the mare will stay in the NICU for 2-3 more days, then go to the farm portion of New Bolton, but they will be inside there for about 10 days before turn-out as they want to be sure the ribs are fully healed.

Stormin Wife · Wed Apr 02, 2014 8:53 am

Broken ribs are not that uncommon in newborn foals but they can be serious and have fatal consequences. It is likely he will need to stay on stall rest for four weeks to allow them to heal. Fractured ribs can have sharp edges and that is where the danger lies, an active foal that gets to running outside can fall or run into his dam or the fence and cause the rib to lacerate an artery or puncture a lung or the the heart - all fatal.
It is tough to see them so happy and frisky in the stall, knowing that they will be stuck there for many weeks but it is in their best interest.

Ridan_Remembered · Wed Apr 02, 2014 9:36 am

Stormin Wife wrote:Broken ribs are not that uncommon in newborn foals but they can be serious and have fatal consequences. It is likely he will need to stay on stall rest for four weeks to allow them to heal. Fractured ribs can have sharp edges and that is where the danger lies, an active foal that gets to running outside can fall or run into his dam or the fence and cause the rib to lacerate an artery or puncture a lung or the the heart - all fatal.
It is tough to see them so happy and frisky in the stall, knowing that they will be stuck there for many weeks but it is in their best interest.

Are they at least walked around the shed row or something to get a little exercise?

Kelly Kip · Wed Apr 02, 2014 10:25 am

Ridan_Remembered wrote:
Stormin Wife wrote:Broken ribs are not that uncommon in newborn foals but they can be serious and have fatal consequences. It is likely he will need to stay on stall rest for four weeks to allow them to heal. Fractured ribs can have sharp edges and that is where the danger lies, an active foal that gets to running outside can fall or run into his dam or the fence and cause the rib to lacerate an artery or puncture a lung or the the heart - all fatal.
It is tough to see them so happy and frisky in the stall, knowing that they will be stuck there for many weeks but it is in their best interest.
Are they at least walked around the shed row or something to get a little exercise?

No. Stall rest means just that...no excess exercise.

BornToWin · Wed Apr 02, 2014 2:18 pm

Cleveland Bay is a middle-weight horse fromt he district of Cleveland in the North Riding of Yorkshire, England. It has a strong infusion of Thoroughbred blood, according to Stanley Jepsen's "The Coach Horse."

"The average Cleveland Bay is about 16 hands high and will weigh from 1,400 to 1,500 pounds... The Cleveland Bay is often claimed to be the only purebred general purpose horse without a trace of Heavy or Cold horse blood (so no draft though they were strong and used for farm work because they were also fast). "

"They make first-class heavyweight hunters, and crossed with quality mares the stallions sire excellent jumpers which are often seen in the show ring."

Originally from Eastern sires (Arabs, Barbs, etc.) mated with mares belonging to the Cleveland (Yorkshire) area. "It is the considerable proportion of TB blood --which gives the animal its beautiful anatomical configuration."

Another interesting bit is "...Northeast Yorkshire was, from very early days, famed for its racing "galloways." It is strongly suspected that these were closely related to the original "Cleveland"... It is interesting to note the very important part North Yorkshire played in the origin and foundation of the racehorse and TB as we know them today through the racing 'galloways' or 'gallowers' of Yorkshire origin. Every TB int he world is descended from 78 original mares and three imported Eastern stallions, and of these 78 original mares, over 70 were Yorkshire racing galloways located in North Yorkshire."

Interesting, yes? p.47-48

Oh, and the chapter also notes that Prince Philip drove a team of Cleveland Bays in the Royal Windsor Horse Show (the book was published in 1977).

So the colt (and I voted to name him Pioneer) should be a fine sporthorse. He is so cute, but aren't they all:)))?

serenassong · Wed Apr 02, 2014 3:32 pm

Well, the cam is down, and apparently the staff came into the stall hugging the colt and MSG and waved good-bye. Didn't catch the actual birth, but did watch the replay- that was a bit rough- even though I knew that it would be ok. Thank God they were there to help her.

May he continue to grow and be healthy, hugs to My Special Girl and thanks to the staff at Penn.

Ridan_Remembered · Thu Apr 03, 2014 1:09 am

I don't want to let this thread go without paying some tribute to My Special Girl, the Thoroughbred mare who carried and gave birth to this lovely colt. Even though the egg that produced the colt was not her own, she's doing a great job mothering him.

My Special Girl was born in 2003. She raced seven times and had one win, 0 place and 0 show, and she earned $12,120. Although her pedigree is not a fashionable one, she has some elite sires and dams from her 3rd generation back.

My Special Girl was by a stallion named Stark Ridge, who was a son of Lyphards Ridge (Northern Dancer male line) out of Improving by Graustark. Stark Ridge was a minor stakes winner who stood at stud in Arkansas.

My Special Girl's dam was Swinging Girl, who was by Swing Til Dawn out of Specially for U by Special Assignment. Swinging Girl had once been owned by Nelson Bunker Hunt, but was sold when his stock was dispersed in 1988.

My Special Girl - a winner on the track, a winner helping to educate young veterinarians, and a winner raising her first foal at the age of 11.