2939 Mare Cam 2

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Great spirits have always encountered opposition from mediocre minds.
-- Albert Einstein --

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Earlier today I mentioned the Mare Cam (http://www.marestare.com/fcam.php?alias=pacificpintos). I had it up most of the evening, and I decided that the first mare to foal would be the white one, "Cloud 9", in window #2. She wasn't the furthest along, but she was acting funny. She was restless. She was flicking her tail a lot, and licking at her sides, and rubbing her rear against the walls. She was hungry and had her face in the food bin a lot, but was just throwing the food around, not eating.

At about 8:50 I brought up another window and answered some email. At 9:30 I went back to the mares, and found that stall #2 had gone to full screen. There was a foal in stall #2! It must have just been born. It looked like a little whippet dog lying there - all legs and ears. Mommy was sniffing and licking it.

A woman entered the stall and toweled the foal off, dried it with a hair dryer, put (probably) iodine on the cord stub, put food in the bin for Momma, and spread more straw. The mare is a good mother. This may not be her first. She licked, sniffed, nudged the foal every few seconds. She was hungry and dove into the food bin, but after every bite, she looked at and touched noses with the foal while she chewed.

A half hour or so later, the woman came back in and held up a sign to the camera: "FILLY". The little one was trying to stand, got her feet under her by about 9:45. Momma moved to present her udders, nudged the baby to the right spot, and the little one found a nipple. The woman gave a thumbs-up to the camera.

It's now 10:53, and the little filly has her feet more square under her, but is still wobbly walking. It looks like all that straw may be catching on her feet. She's nursing every few minutes.

Cloud 9 is a good momma.

Note - I knew these were miniature horses, and I was aware that of the four on the cameras, Cloud 9 seemed to be the smallest, but I didn't realize how small until the woman entered the stall. Cloud 9 doesn't come up to the woman's waist.

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Later: It's now midnight, and two hours since the filly found a nipple, and I swear she's already doubled in bulk! She's gone from whippet to pit bull shaped in two hours! Getting a little broad in the beam there.
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