A friend of mine, EL, wrote a story about his filly … can you give her a name? The one who sends in the name he chooses gets a shirt from Ariat or a book of choice!
Check it out …
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2009!!!
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I watched her struggle to gain a foothold in the straw made slippery by the mares broken water. Her front legs splayed apart as she collapsed. Her mother nickered using her nose to urge her back up on her feet. I wanted to help but the mare would have none it. She laid her ears back and moved between me and the foal. Sometimes things are better off left to mothers.
The foal had been born just before sunrise in an early monsoon for Florida. While the mare was still down I was able to get some iodine on the umbilical and remove the fetal sack before the mare rose to her feet to take full possession of her foal. It was a filly…and about time. After eight straight colts my luck had finally changed. Maybe it was the rain. She looked perfect with those long legs pulled up underneath her, a small triangular head with eyes the size of those giant purees we used for shooters in marbles when we were kids. The tips of her ears nearly touched and now I only waited for her to stand.
I walked outside to watch the sun break through the last of the monsoon clouds. The morning fog scattered an erie light
across the dew covered fields punctuated with palm trees. On entering the barn I could see the foal was up. She was short coupled, the beginnings of a handy horse, the kind used for cutting cattle or ranch work. A handy horse makes you sit down in the saddle, never stumbles and can turn on a dime. Sometimes that spin move can leave you in thin air. You have to ride them…all the time.
My eyes played up and down the filly’s legs. It was the left hind leg that explained her difficulty in standing. The fetlock was bent forward instead of back and it was this fetlock she was using to bare the weight which would normally be transferred to the hoof. Although foals have abnormally elasticity in their muscles and tendon the increased weight would eventually break the leg… (to be continued)