Foal
Gallery: Dodge
page
1
2
3
4
5
6
< previous |
next >
Dodge Update - No
More Casts or Splints for the young colt!
We are happy to
report that Dodge, the wobbly and weak legged young foal, is now
bigger and stronger than ever. There was a concern before that
this young colt’s legs would never fully correct themselves and
that he would be partially crippled for the rest of his life.
Dodge showed everyone his survival instinct and strong will to
live the moment he arrived and has never lost his fiery spirit.
He is an inspiration to all of us that we can overcome a
physical disability with a willing heart.
No one is worrying about his health now! Dodge is running and
playing outside with his mother Diva, without his splints. He
has grown into a strong and sturdy young colt that has a major
attitude. He loves his play time in his paddock, bucking and
rearing and pestering his mother. At three months old Dodge has
already decided that he likes to jump! Turned out in the ring as
his mother is ridden bareback by Lisa, the foal follows
alongside, jumping over the small fences with ease. With this
miraculous turnaround in strength, Dodge seems to have a bright
future ahead of himself!
A Foal is Born:
On June 21st the first official day of summer, a foal with an
interesting beginning was born. His father, Dex was a beautiful
black stallion with an Olympic bred background that recently passed
away this year making this foal one of the last of his lineage. His
mother Diva is the daughter of Fantast, brother to the famous "Big
Ben." At about 10:00pm Diva began labor and
the birth began to take place only something was not right. Normally
when a foal is born the front legs come out first and then the head
proceeds, but in this case no legs were seen, but only a head trying
to come out. Seeing that something was the matter, Sandy, owner of
the mare and Lisa, the future owner of the foal soon to be hers
called the vet to see what they needed to do to help the mare and
foal. To save the foal, the legs would have to be grabbed from
within the mare and pulled out manually. Sandy had to pull Dodge’s
legs out slowly as not to hurt him and the mare, and finally as he
pulled, the long legged foal finally emerged and was lying right
before them. Having had his legs folded for so long instead of being
outstretched in front of him, his muscles for standing up were not
as strong as they should have been. It took him up to an hour to
finally stand up, and at best he could only stand for a few minutes
with his legs braced. Lisa soon realized that with a weak legged
foal, she would be resuming the mare’s job of feeding the foal from
the ground from a bottle so he could rest and eat. For the next few
weeks Lisa found her self feeding the dark bay foal with the big
white star, every twenty minutes all day, everyday. Her and her
father took shifts feeding, only getting a few hours of sleep every
day, sleeping on hay bales in the barn. Finally as the young Dodge
from all his eating became stronger, Lisa and her father taught him
to nurse from his mother, so they could return to sleeping in their
own beds at home and finally get some sleep. But even with more
strength and time, dodge still needed help standing to rebuild his
muscles and tendons in his legs. Thus the vet came down to the barn
and fitted Dodge with his very own splint casts to help him stand
longer and make sure his muscles grew correctly. With his new leg
braces, Dodge soon realized that he could stand longer and become
the mischievous colt he wanted to be. Now Dodge at almost one month
old goes outside in his braces and tears around causing trouble for
his mother to keep an eye on him. Next week Dodge will get his
braces off for good and he will be able to stand and play all by
himself.
 |
 |
page
1
2
3
4
5
6
< previous |
next >
back
to
Foal Gallery
