I went to the equine clinic with a friend yesterday because she needed
a lameness check on her horse and 2 interesting things came up
We were talking on the ride over about how all the people we know in
the Southeast that have had foals or are expecting foals have had
their mares go over their due date by at least 20 - 30 days and their
foals weren't any bigger than what you find in a normal gestation. I
know there is some leeway in foal births but to see it happen this
consistently is unusual. We were conjecturing about why that would be.
We asked the vet if he had noticed the foals being late this year and
he said yes, without exception. His theory is that due to different
and inferior hay being used due to the drought that it was affecting
birthing. He also said something that I had heard before but
forgotten - the foal determines the day and the mare determines the
hour.
Also, while we were there some people came in from a large TN Walking
horse farm with 4 mares with 3-4 week old foals at their side (they
were being checked for rebreeding) One of the foals was solid white
with blue eyes - not gray or cremello but white, white without a speck
of color on it anywhere. The mother looked like a liver roan and the
sire was solid black (according to them) I have never paid much
attention to color but I have always read that there is no such thing
as a white horse - they may look white but they are gray or cremello
but I am telling you this foal was white. It was not albino, either.
How does that happen. Those guys were all excited and thought that
foal was really something special but I wouldn't want it - I would be
neutering that puppy in a heartbeat but they'll probably create a stir
in the show ring and everyone will want one.
--
Laree in NC
Doppa & Mura
Simon, Sadie and Sam (the "S" gang)
"Yet when all the books have been read and reread, it boils down to
the horse, his human companion, and what goes on between them." -
William Farley
