A Summer Surprise

At 7:30 yesterday morning, as I was about to jump in the shower, my phone rang:

"Hello?"

Luke: "Hey, Jasmine had her foal last night, and Judy found it in the ditch this morning!"

"Oh no..."

"No, no, it's alive!"
"Really???"

"Yeah, it's a little colt. Judy carried it up to Jamie's house, and then they took it back down to Jasmine, I'm on my way to Rite Aid to get a couple things for them."

"Okay, I'll be there shortly!"

Sure enough, upon arriving at the barn, this is what I saw:

We knew Jasmine, the mom, was pregnant but didn't think she was due until Sept. or Oct. because she and the father are both wild and can't be handled. But she tricked us!

"Beamer" is an athletic little bugger, standing and walking much easier than Bailey did, probably because he's about 1/3 of the size Bailey was! Judy, one of the women who does morning chores at the barn, found him outside the pasture in the ditch by the driveway and at first thought he was a baby deer! We're guessing he stood shortly after birth, fell, rolled under the fence, tried to stand again and then toppled down into the ditch. He was shivering and mama was franticly calling for him, both were MUCH happier when reunited! However, Jasmine was nervous and kept moving, not letting him nurse for quite some time. Luke and Eric came and moved their shed, cleaned it, put rubber mats and shavings down, and then we carried Beamer in and Jasmine followed. They were both more relaxed in their "palace," with shade and fewer flies to bother them.

I stayed through the afternoon and ended up going in and standing on one side of the shed to block Jasmine so she had to stand still and let Beamer nurse. After doing that a couple of times she settled right in, and by late afternoon was nursing well all by himself. Yay!!! He's already quite the character - he took a 10 min. nap standing up yesterday, which is how adult horses sleep most often but I've never seen a foal able to do that at only 12 hrs. old! I was cleaning the stall out all around him and he didn't once flinch or even bat an eyelid.

He eventually woke up enough to nurse a little more and then lie down for a real nap. He loves to sleep with his knees tucked up under his chin, and I told Jamie he's practicing to be a jumper when he grows up. We'll see!

Jamie has always wanted a BMW and there's a (very nice) used one for sale in Hoosick Falls that she really wanted for her birthday (in mid-July) but knows she can't afford. So, she got a surprise equine Beamer for her birthday instead! Our lives are certainly never boring. :)