Day 1 – 14th January 2002
Button, a wee scrap of a foal weighing only 23kgs was born at 6:05am. Mum,
Sophie an Australian Percheron cross mare was standing quietly
resting and guarding her tiny foal when Graham looked out fo the
house to the foaling paddock. We
have since estimated that Button should have had a birth weight of
at least 60kgs, and she was probably at least 2 weeks premature.
Sophie had an undetected uttering infection that prevented
her placenta developing fully.,
Button was initially to week to stand or feed on her own. But
she showed such determination to survive that we began to help her.
The vet was in the paddock very quickly after my call to
see what could be done. So
premature that all of the standard foal equipment was to large, we
had to resort to a puppy stomach tube to get the first of the
colostrum into Button.
Sophie wanted to be a wonderful mother and stood patiently
while I milked the all important colostrum 100 mls every 60 minutes.
After the third “milking” I only had to stimulate Sophie
and she would release all that she had, it was up to me to get the
bowl under fast enough to collect the milk!
So we milked every 60 min of the first 3 hours, then every 2
hours for the next 24 hours.
Day 2
Button was awake and alert waiting rather impatiently for
her 4am feed. I let
myself think that we are beginning to win – well you have to think
something positive at that time of the day!
By noon she required only minimal assistance to stand and by
6pm if you held her head, she could nurse.
By 2am she was doing it all by herself.
Day 3
Time to let mother and daughter bond without intervention.
When we checked Button at 4pm, her leg seemed a little
swollen, but she was still moving around the paddock.
The vet was due to return to do a check on Sophie.
When he arrived he carefully manipulated the swollen leg.
I knew by the look on his face that it wasn’t going to be
good news. “Alison, I
am fairly certain that she had broken her leg.”
By 7pm, Button had a full leg home made split, and an
appointment at 8am at Massey Veterinary Hospital
Day 4
Sophie proved again today just what a wonderful horse she
is. She loaded calmly
into the float and travelled well considering all that had taken
place over the past 48 hours. X-rays
confirmed that Button had broken her on-fore, but fortunately the
growth plates appeared not to be damaged.
So many emotional decisions to be made.
Button was weaned from Sophie and was to remain at Massey for
6 very, very long weeks.
