1.5 weeks of night watch in the stable

Floxely was due on June 22, and it looked like the foal would arrive around June 21. The milk pH dropped, Flox was restless, and there were several other signs that clearly indicated the foal was on its way. So I packed my things and settled down in the hay at the stable. But things turned out differently – for some reason, the foal didn’t come. Floxely is one of the 3% where the milk pH test is unreliable. This meant I ended up sleeping in the stable for 1.5 weeks – pretty exhausting! You’re constantly waiting in anticipation. Flox was often restless at night, which meant lots of broken and sleepless nights for me.

But on July 1, it finally happened!

How she managed this – on the hottest day of the year, it looked in the morning like nothing would happen. Her udder and pH hadn’t changed, she was calm, and I had actually decided to sleep at home that night because of the heat. But when I came to the stable in the afternoon, I noticed her udder was suddenly huge and dripping milk. So I immediately decided to stay at the stable. She was panting heavily – sure, it was hot, but this was different. I put a fan in front of her stall to help her cope with the heat. Around 9:30 p.m., Flox kept lying down, and it was clear: the foal would arrive on the hottest day of the year!

It was a tough birth for Floxely

Things suddenly moved quickly. I thought she was just lying down again because of contractions, but then I saw the legs already out. After that, it became tough for Floxely – this was her first foal, and he was huge! Getting the head and shoulders out was particularly hard. So I helped a little during the birth. The heat during the day had already been draining, and now this difficult delivery – a very intense day for Flox. The foal was immediately very active and stood up quickly. Floxely needed more time to get up; she was really exhausted and had to recover. But luckily, everything went well!

Welcome Lord Tulyp: a palomino pinto colt!

At 10:43 p.m. on July 1, Floxely gave birth to a beautiful, very large palomino pinto colt. He immediately searched for the udder but struggled to find the teats. After 2.5 hours, I decided to call the vet just to be safe. Lord got his first colostrum via a tube, and the vet also helped remove the placenta. Floxely was such an amazing mare – so patient and sweet while we worked with her and Lord!

Unfortunately, a uterine infection

Everything else seemed to go well: Lord soon drank on his own and was lively and alert. Floxely needed some time to recover, but she took great care of her foal. Unfortunately, a few days later, it turned out Flox had developed an early uterine infection with discharge and fever. So the vet came again for flushing and antibiotics. Things didn’t go entirely smoothly, but thankfully we were in time, and the infection was quickly under control.

And now it’s pure joy!

It’s amazing to see how mother and son are doing and how much they adore each other. Floxely is very protective and keeps an eye on Lord all the time. Other horses are not allowed too close, but she’s slowly relaxing about that. Lord is now 2 weeks old, already starting to interact more with the other foal in the stable, and nibbling on hay and grass. A cheeky little colt who I suspect will cause lots of mischief!

Lord Tulyp is staying with me, so I’m very curious to see how he will grow up!