Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm taking a course called foalwatch at school, where a group of up to four students sits in barn for 3 of each of 6 pm-midnight and midnight-6am shifts keeping an eye on pregnant mares waiting for them to give birth. Well I was on a midnight to 6 shift on Wednsday morning and had the opportunity to witness a foaling!!! It was kind of a tense experience because not only was the mare pregnant for the first time and skittish and temperamental, but...it wasn't even her foal! The foal was an embryo transfer from another mare that was in a stall accross the aisle. We were afraid the surrogate mom would take one look at the foal after she had it and just flip out...lol Well anyway, the graduate student on duty came out when we noticed the mare was ready to give birth and helped the mare by pulling the foal out. He turned out to be a colt An ugly colt...but still cute as can be...lol Anyway, at first he didn't really try to hard to stand up...but eventually figured it out. It's so funny to watch them try to stand up for their first time Of course, once he got up and was trying to nurse, mom decided she wouldn't let him past her head...and when he did get past her head to where he could try to nurse she squealed at him and lifted a back foot to get ready to kick him had he actually attempted to nurse... At any rate, then I had to leave because the shift was over, but I ended up stopping back in last night to check on him (at about 7:30) and he was nursing and happy! He turned out to be a very sweet little colt and walked right up to my friend and I so we could give him a pet! If you ever get a chance to, you have to pet a really young foal...they are SO SOFT!!! They funny little things too since their legs are longer than sin and they just don't have any control over them...lol Anyway...this got really long!...so I'm just gonna give the link for some of the pics I took! community.webshots.com/album/126202233elbjjo I just had to share them
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Christina

2.3 leos
-0.1 tangerine het rainwater albino w/jungle background (Blinkers)

-0.2 jungles (Vahz & Skissor)

-1.0 tremper albino (Spitfire)

-1.0 tangerine rainwater albino (Bronx)

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Your so lucky I used to ride and my cousin had a mare with a foal when we went to visit them. The mom got spooked and took off around the corral then did a mad dash towards the gate. Mom ended up stopping but the young'N kept going, right over the fence. Little guy could jump like there was no tomorrow......it was awesome. We couldnt' catch him, we had to take mom out and lure him back into the barn LOL.

I've always wanted to live on a farm, i used to be in competitions for drassage (?) and jumping. MY parents thought it was funny that i being so short got to ride the largest horses I would love to start riding again. Its one of the things on my to do list this year

Red
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Crested Gecko Zeek:1.0, Ziggy and Zeus
LEOS: Boo: 1.0 normal , Bronx & Nala: 1.1 blizzard,
Lily: 0.1 patternless, Abby: 0.1 albino, Zoe: 0.1 reduced pattern, Dot: 0.1 hypo
New Girls: Flame, Karma, Bubbles and Bell pics coming soon
Chip: 1.0 papillion (small dog)

hehe...hell I haven't been riding in years...it makes me crazy!!! It was definitely something that my parents didn't really encourage even though I've been nuts about horses since I was old enough to see them...lol They let me take western and english lessons...but neither group of lessons lasted long enough to even get me to cantering... It's actually something that I'm quite bitter about...lol I'm a horse fanatic and always have been and it honestly makes me mad that my parents hardly even got me riding lessons when we're quite fortunate as far as money goes, when for example my ex boyfriend's little sister, who's about 12 years old, jumps competitively because her parents encourage her and got her all the lessons she wanted even though they really don't have much money and have probably never even bought a new car. I realize that I'm incredibly fortunate, and I'm not complaining because I didn't get enough stuff or anything like that...I'm a spoiled brat and I can admit it...lol (btw...my dad didn't grow up the way I have...he worked damn hard to get where his is and to support the family...it didn't come easy to him, we actually lived in a converted garage up until I was about 7). It just bothers me a lot that my parents really didn't encourage me or help me at all to get anywhere with my love of horses. It makes me crazy that I know half as much as the rest of my horse loving friends just because they have the experience with horses and I don't. Anyway...enough with that rant...lol It was a great experience to see the foal born, and I hope to see many more...lol I love horses more than anything, and can't wait to have my own if I ever have enough money for that...lol If I was to win the lottery or smt all of my money would go to animals, a farm, a trailer, and a bigger truck (I have an F-150 ) to tow the trailer...lol I wouldn't care if my house was an old farmhouse with only a few rooms (one for reptiles!...lol)...as long as I had animals and a way to take care of them I'd be happy!
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Christina

2.3 leos
-0.1 tangerine het rainwater albino w/jungle background (Blinkers)

-0.2 jungles (Vahz & Skissor)

-1.0 tremper albino (Spitfire)

-1.0 tangerine rainwater albino (Bronx)

n/p
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Christina

2.3 leos
-0.1 tangerine het rainwater albino w/jungle background (Blinkers)

-0.2 jungles (Vahz & Skissor)

-1.0 tremper albino (Spitfire)

-1.0 tangerine rainwater albino (Bronx)

I had the opposite problem. My mom loved that i rode. In competitions though she would go so crazy if i won, and not to brag but i usually did. I was good. LOL. I really enjoyed it but after a while, some problems i was having just overwelmed me and i quit just about everything (horseback riding, gymnastics, karate etc.) I'm just starting to get out of this rut i dug myself into after about 10 years. It would be so great to ride again, but this time just for fun, no competitions.

I would love to have my own horses, maybe one day For now i'm goign to focus on the geckos hehehe

Red
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Crested Gecko Zeek:1.0, Ziggy and Zeus
LEOS: Boo: 1.0 normal , Bronx & Nala: 1.1 blizzard,
Lily: 0.1 patternless, Abby: 0.1 albino, Zoe: 0.1 reduced pattern, Dot: 0.1 hypo
New Girls: Flame, Karma, Bubbles and Bell pics coming soon
Chip: 1.0 papillion (small dog)

geckos are definitely easier and cheaper than horses......LOL I wish I'd gotten the chance to do some competing riding. Although it sounds like your mother may have been into it more than you...lol That's never good. I'm determined to go horse-back riding next week during spring break...there's a state park somewhere near here that has horse back riding...I'm gonna try to drag a friend or two up there...lol It's like they say, when you fall off you've gotta climb right back on! I hope you can get back on the horses sometime soon. lol
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Christina

2.3 leos
-0.1 tangerine het rainwater albino w/jungle background (Blinkers)

-0.2 jungles (Vahz & Skissor)

-1.0 tremper albino (Spitfire)

-1.0 tangerine rainwater albino (Bronx)