Our paint mare, Cookie, was due to foal in late April/early May. We had originally planned the breeding 2 years ago and last year she was bred to a handsome Quarter Horse stallion, Obviously Wincredible. We were so excited when the first and then later a second ultrasound showed she was indeed expecting and thoughts of our pending new arrival are what helped us get through the long winter and Kent’s recovery from his heart attack.

As the first possible due date arrived we started checking on Cookie late at night, in the middle of the night, early in the a.m., had friends stopping by, etc. We could feel and then see the foal moving. He would get hiccoughs which shook Cookie’s whole body and made me laugh. We were so eager to finally meet him. Foal watch continued for two weeks. Early the morning of May 3rd we went down to the barn, opened the door to Cookie’s stall and there he was, a big perfect stud colt, no movement, no breathing, still damp and warm. I tried to get him breathing but no luck. Cookie was nudging him and would even touch him with her foot gently as if to wake him up. We were stunned to say the least. This just wasn’t happening after all our waiting. We called the vet who came out and said the foal may have been in the birth canal too long (because he was so big) and the cord compressed too long depriving him of oxygen. At least Cookie was basically fine except for a few small tears from the delivery. We and Cookie were heartbroken. The vet kindly suggested we move the foal outside where Cookie would be spending the day so she could grieve for him. Cookie would not leave his side and occasionally would nudge him. We were in tears.

I called a couple of people who had been helping us watch over Cookie during the day while we were at work. Shortly after that one of them got a call from a neighbor whose mare was rejecting (and trying to harm) her 4 day old foal. She had to be caught and tied up in order to let him nurse even for a short time but now she wouldn’t let them catch her. That friend suggested they call us. When I got a call asking if we would consider letting our mare foster a rejected foal I was still numb from our loss but how could I say no? So they brought the foal over.

Somehow I managed to think through how to introduce this foal to Cookie so she would accept it. I had my husband and one of the other foal’s owners carry Cookie’s dead foal out the barnyard gate and out of her sight. Once he was out there they rubbed towels on him then rubbed them on the live foal. After that they brought the live foal back through that same gate. I was holding on to Cookie. She must have heard or smelled the foal coming as she picked up her head and started whinnying as they came around the corner. I wish I could know her exact thoughts at the moment. I wonder if she thought they had revived her foal yet I think when she smelled him she knew he wasn’t hers but made the choice to accept him. He was the same color and sex as her deceased foal but even at 4 days of age he was smaller. I held onto her while he tried to nurse. He was a bit afraid of her since his own mom had bit him and picked him up by his back and flung him against a wall but once he tasted her milk he became more confident. I rubbed his back then rubbed his scent on Cookie’s nose. After that as far as she was concerned he was her foal. When she accepted him and let him nurse we all had tears streaming down our faces. This was going to be a healing thing for us and Cookie.

After a few days (and a few suggestions from my Facebook friends) the foal was named “Foster”. He is growing and thriving. His owners come over daily to visit and we are starting to halter him and teach him to lead by walking him behind Cookie. That is a 3 person job right now but getting better! He already has 4 teeth with 3 more (including a molar) coming in so he is already nibbling small amounts of grass, hay and grain.
I still have periods of tears when I spend time with him and Cookie but I am a firm believer that things happen for a reason and have to accept that this was meant to be. I am glad I have a foal to watch grow and to be around even if it is for just a few months. Something good has come out of a very sad event.

After last winter I didn’t think it could get any worse. In fact I told people when the first snow fall hit here in Nov. that I was suffering from PTD from last year still. 100 plus inches of snow last year is being topped this year as we already have over 50 (season average is 49) and more coming tonight and next week.  Even more challenging is the extreme cold we are having this week.  It was minus 21 degree last night and at 11 a.m. it is still only minus 8 degrees.

Having dogs in this weather is enough of a challenge (don’t worry, they all live in the house and several have coats they wear when they go outside) — they barely want to go outside to pee so are definitely not getting the exercise they are used to.  They walk a bit then hold their feet up pitifully.  The pugs all huddle against the door a minute after they’ve gone out.  Then add in the horses and donkeys and we can’t escape being outside in these sub zero temperatures.

Yesterday the high didn’t get out of the minus digits.  All the area schools were closed yesterday due to wind chill warnings of up to 40 below zero and they are closed again today although winds are pretty calm.   Kent bought he and I face masks at the UW Bookstore yesterday (his office is right above it) which I can see will be helpful as I just used mine for the first time while I did barn chores.

The horses and mini donkeys are used to going out every day, rain or shine.  They have 3 sided shelters for when they are out but with these extreme temperatures and wind chills they could easily suffer frost bite, especially those donkey ears.  I have seen donkeys who have had their ears frostbitten and lost part of them so it won’t be happening to mine.  So they are getting a bit stir crazy as this is day 4 of these temps.  Yesterday I turned the horses out briefly when the temp almost made zero and it was at least sunny out.  They went crazy running, rearing, bucking and actually didn’t want to come in so I left them out for 2 hours.  This a.m. they made it out for about 10 min. while I cleaned their stalls, took a couple of laps and were ready to come back in.  The donkeys are divas and if you turn them out they usually stand by the barn door and bray to come in when it is like this outside so they pretty much have been captive in the barn since Monday and it’s Friday now.

We also have 2 barn cats, Gadget and Beauty, who I have been watching carefully for any signs of being chilled.  All the barn animals have heated buckets/bowls for water and we keep a lot of food out at all times when it is like this as digestion produces body heat.  Gadget and Beauty have blankets to lay on and often are laying in the barn window in the sun.  They have the most gorgeous, plush coats right now so they seem just fine although we have a contingency plan of bringing them into our basement should they seem to be suffering from the cold at all.