With our first foal of the 2018 Foaling Season due any time now, you can’t help but reflect on last year’s foaling season. If we had to pick last year’s most memorable moment, the morning of February 21, 2017 is the clear winner. It was the start of a long, sleepless journey which ended in pure joy.
In 2017, we had two maiden mares due to foal. Both are the sweetest mares, who were champions on the racetrack, (one earning over one million dollars and the other over $200,000), and best friends on the farm. Everyone was excited to see their first foals!
The first one foaled on February 21, 2017 at 8:00 a.m. It was a large, dark brown, healthy colt with not a hair of white. The only problem the colt was facing was its conformation. All his pasterns were down, and his knees were back, causing him to have a hard time standing up. Every hour, day and night we would have to help him up, get him to nurse for as long as he could remain standing, and then bottle feed him the rest. By the end of the second day, he was still struggling to get up and stand on his own, but he was a fighter! At this point, he already adapted to the schedule of us coming in to help him, so he would wait for us and not try on his own. Our gut told us that the best thing for him would be to lengthen the time between feedings. On February 23, we decided that we should feed him until 1:00 a.m. and then come back at 6:00 a.m.
He had to really try and do it on his own.
February 24, 2018 at 6:00 a.m., we came into the barn and heard a little whinny. Our first thought was that he was calling out to us for help, which had become his habit when hearing us enter the barn. We walked over to the stall and saw him walking around the stall, happily whinnying as if to say, "Look! I did it on my own!" Our hearts skipped a beat! We were so happy and proud of him! He was standing!
He is a yearling now; very big (and growing by the day) and as correct as can be. It’s amazing what time and nature can do! Plus, he has the biggest, goofiest personality! When you meet him, you can't help but fall in love! The day he was born we gave him a nickname and to this day it couldn’t be more fitting: Samson.
With his big personality and fighting spirit, he is going to make an amazing racehorse! Soon it will be time for him head off to start his career with his owner.
We are all looking forward to seeing him become a champion on the racetrack!
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