Part 2 - Ruth.

The next loss, was a mare, the following week. She unfortunatly sustained a severe injury during foaling that she was loosing life to slow internal hemoraging that cold not be stopped and she was euthinased. Her little girl was fine. We called her Ruth ( her big brother we call Bruce, that where we got her name from, Bruth - with a lisp).

My main roll when that happened was dealing with an orphan foal.

Ruth was a trooper. Passed her IgG, guzzling her bottles of formula, doing all normal foal things.

Now to find a foster mare....

Fresh is best.

A mare that has lost her foal in the past 2-3 days, gives us a good window, where she still has plenty of milk and with the right drugs and managements, fostering often ends up a sucess.

We couldn't find one, but we did have the mummma that lost her colt the previous week. will that work?

We brought her in next to Ruth. The mare was drying up, so part of my duties was to milk her and stimulate lacation again.

They could see each other. Ruth in one box, Potential Mum next door.

On night 2, I tested the waters with Ruth and Potential Mum. I bottle fed Ruth out the front of Potential Mums box, Mum was like - where are you taking the baby?

Here. Want to smell her?

Yes! I like this foal.

Good, but You can't have her yet. I'll mix your milk into the formula and you can keep smelling and licking her, out the front of the box. I just don't want you changing your mind and trying to hurt her.

But I won't....

I believe you, but I'm still waiting for Dr Vet to help foster you.

OK, but please keep bringing her over to me. I'm falling in love with her. She will be my baby.

A mothers love.

It was a sucess in forstering!

Dr Vets' prcedure was collecting fome fluid from Potential Mum ( small uterine flush) to wash over Ruth. Add some lovely hormone drugs like protoglandin, a touch of sedation to make sure any negative reaction is slower and safer for everyone, then when Mumma sweaty and it was time for Ruth to have a feed....

Ruth did know where to feed from . Some foster foals who don't get a chance to learn how to feed from the udder are a pain to teach while going through the fostering process.

Ruth knew where the milk bar was.

Potential Mumma became Mum.

For the next 48 hours, we planned to kept them apart, but in the same box and and feeding was supervised.

Honstly, by 24 hours Mum had accepted Ruth as her own. The secon day, under close watch they were together. Ruth was still getting a bottle over the next 12-24 hours to take some of the pressure and demand off mum until she was back up to full lactation capacity. Then Ruth didnt want her bottle anymore.

The spent some alone time in a yard befoere being set free in the mob to make sure things ewre still going great.

Winner, winner!

So from a tragic start of two mares and foals, we combined the tragety into a loving outcome.

UPDATE: Mum was upset at weaning time, like all good mums who worry about their kids. Ruth was fine, she knows people are good and life is ok. Mum is expecting her next foal in late october 2025.