Delilah

Delilah is coming along beautifully in her training and is going walk/trot/canter under saddle. Today we put shoes on her as she has been a little footsore ever since the ground was frozen. She immediately was moving much more comfortably. The trainer called me today and said that her and her mother (who owns the farm) have really taken a liking to Delilah and think that she might be a good match for a couple of her students as a potential adoption. They wanted to offer Delilah another month of free training and 1/2 off the board, so that they could get Delilah a little further along in her training and give her students a chance to ride her in lessons. We were of course thrilled with the offer! Delilah will therefore be staying at Half-Trak Farm in Stanwood at least another month, but we are currently accepting applications for her! Her adoption fee is $1000.

Since Delilah’s adoption did not work out, today we sent her up to start training with our trainer. I think she’s going to be a super nice horse, just need to be mindful of her alpha status and her size with other horses. She loaded and hauled perfectly…can’t wait to hear the reports of how she does under saddle!

Unfortunately, Delilah got into it with the other dominant mare in her foster-to-adopt situation and Delilah did a bit of damage to the other horse. The other horse will be ok, but as Delilah clearly isn’t going to work out in her herd long-term, Delilah is once again being made available for adoption. She will continue to be fostered at her current location in Sultan. During the time she has been there she has already done quite a bit of groundwork with Delillah in the roundpen and has generously offered to continue her training and start her under saddle. 

Click here to view videos of Delilah being worked on the ground at her foster home:
VIDEO 1
VIDEO 2

Sampson was weaned today! It was the most low-drama weaning ever, we put him in with Lola and Bubbles and he was so busy running around and playing with them he didn’t even notice Delilah leaving. I think he called once and it was over. Delilah was more than happy to leave him and is now off on her own adventure, on a foster-to-adopt situation!

It’s been a while since I have given a Delilah and Sampson update! I will work on getting new pictures this weekend, he is GINORMOUS! He’s a little monster but a cutie…and he is TURNING GRAY!!! Lots of white hairs all over his face and ears where he has shedded out. He is now just over 3 months old, can you believe it? I have decided that he will be weaned at 4 months, a bit earlier than I like to do it but he is really sucking the life out of poor Delilah, who is eating and eating and still looks skinny. He’s very independent and she’s not really all that interested in being a mother anyway, so I think it will be fine. Delilah already has a couple of people interested in her!

Delilah did end up getting her teeth done today, and we figured out a way to do it with Sampson by doing it just outside the fence where he could still see and touch her and he was perfectly fine with that. She had quite a few sharp points and also one small wolf tooth which was removed.

Sampson is hilarious! He has decided he wants to be a racehorse when he grows up, and practices in his field as often as he can. He *loves* his ball and every time he notices it he races over to it to give it a bite or a kick or a shove. He is a big boy, even next to his mama, who’s not exactly liliputian.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgTTDz16pPo

A very cute video of Delilah and her colt in the front pasture!

Sampson is only one month old but he can run as fast as those long little legs can carry him. 

Thanks to Abby Gambrill for this adorable video!

Sampson got his own photo essay this morning. He’s strong in mind and body — and there is not a shy bone in there — he takes after Delilah in that respect. Jet and I tag teamed on the attention, or all the pictures would have been closeups.

http://blog.seattlepi.com/horsebytes/archives/201071.asp

I wish the sun had been shining like it is this morning (in Seattle, anyway), because he did some amazing sprints but it was hard to photograph! He is thoroughly paparazzi-despooked already, fortunately, and didn’t mind the flash one bit.

There are some more pictures on Facebook too.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=158837&id=122967233300

Video from April 19, 2010:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12289788@N05/4535332072/

One day old, and already full of himself!

7:23 am:

Unfortunately, Delilah is not taking to motherhood as well as we had hoped. I have been up every two hours all night because she will not stand to let him nurse without being held and forced to. Dr. Evergreen was just here to do the iGg test and he looks healthy, but we are concerned. Delilah gets agitated when he starts chasing her around trying to nurse and has swung her butt at him and acted alternately protective and aggressive. Our vet is going to consult with the repro specialists at Pilchuck to discuss options. In the meantime, we may need extra volunteers on hand to handle feeding shifts.

I am now beyond exhausted, but if I hadn’t gotten up every two hours, she wouldn’t have let him nurse at all. 

12:44 pm:

We consulted with Pilchuck and they said that this will probably resolve in the next 48 hours, and if it doesn’t, it probably isn’t going to resolve. But she’s not out and out rejecting him, she just doesn’t want him to nurse. If I hold her, she resigns herself to it fairly quickly, but if I don’t then he just chases her around and when he gets anywhere near her side she pins her ears and swings her butt INTO him (knocking him over, into walls, its pretty scary to watch).

Yes Chelsea, I expected this and was prepared for it for the first nursing and used a chain on her for that, and she was squealy and kicky as expected, but I wouldn’t have expected it to last this long. The poor mare is streaming milk and I just wish she would realize how much better it would feel if she would just let him nurse whenever he wanted.

12:52 pm:

Thanks to everyone for the offers to help and suggestions with our mare and foal. Right now we have things covered and as Delilah is a bit protective/nervous I would ask visitors to hold off for a while. We’ve had a lot of people just dropping by to see the baby and I think it would be best if we limit visitors for the time being. Thanks for your continued help and support!

10:51 pm:

If you haven’t seen the update on Facebook, Delilah started letting him nurse without intervention late this afternoon. So far, she’s continued to do so although sometimes she still isn’t in the mood initially but after walking away from him a few times she resigns herself to it and stands. I do think, and the vet concurs, that if we hadn’t intervened the baby may not have lived through that first night. Either he would have been incredibly weak, with a very low iGg score and require plasma, or he would have been injured or killed by her. Every time I would leave them alone, go take a nap for two hours, wake up and watch them on the camera hoping for the best, and every time I would see the same thing…and increasingly frustrated colt chasing momma around the stall, and a mare who was getting more worked up and aggressive towards his efforts, and I would finally have to run out there to get her to stand to nurse the colt both to get him fed but also for his own protection. He would be so hungry by then he would nurse for 20 minutes straight and then immediately lie down and crash. Now that she is giving him more consistent access, he nurses for only a couple of minutes at a time.

In any case, I am hopeful that the worst is over. Bonnie drove over from Silverdale and arrived just as she started letting him nurse on her own. She just left and I actually turned the light out in the barn to really let them rest by themselves tonight. I feel comfortable now leaving them alone now, but definitely not last night or today. We also were able to give them a little bit of turnout time in the arena today and I think Bonnie took some video of that. He’s back in the stall tonight because it started getting really windy and cold out. He’s adorable and so sweet and curious!

Here you go…many more pictures to come but I need to feed horses, myself, take a shower, eat, and maybe take a nap first. But mom and baby are doing great and he’s a healthy, strapping big solid dark bay colt. He’s been up, nursed, and all the things he’s supposed to do. Vet will be by at 5am (yes, you read that right! Has to be between 8–12 hours after birth) to do the iGg test and check them out.

Click here to view the complete photo album of the colt’s birth!

Hoping to get some updated photos of Delilah today. She’s bagging up and getting close I think. She’s huge and uncomfortable and has lots of edema under her belly and between her front legs. Yesterday she got a little excited and tried to do a little head flip/mini rear and her hind end went out from under her and she fell down…poor girl just has no coordination right now. I’m not technically on foal watch yet, but I have her separated in her own pasture and took her blanket off just in case. I’m going on vacation April 5–11th, so I would really appreciate it if she would either give birth before or after I am gone!

I think we are going to have a baby soon…we have dripping milk! She’s totally quiet now and eating her breakfast but I wouldn’t be surprised if she has the baby in the next 24 hours.

We’re ready! We did a quick job of taking out the wall between my stalls and making her a birthing suite, put down straw, got her tail wrapped, the foal cam set up and working in the tv in my bedroom, and she’s happily eating in there right now and seems quiet.

Is Delilah looking more pregnant or what? Now 4 1/2 weeks post-rescue:

She’s doing great! She’s such a sweet girl. When we groomed her last weekend the baby was all on one side and she looked huge on that side, flat on the other. I wish we had some idea of when the baby might be due, but we’ll just have to keep watching her udder for changes and hope she waits until spring and warmer weather.

Excerpt from “Hoofbeats Across My Heart” by Jeannette Parrett

“All of the mares are getting noticed on the SAFE message board but Delilah seems to be stealing hearts left & right. I’m not sure if it’s her maternal status or the fact that she looks like a giant teddy bear. Her photos don’t necessarily show her ravaged body. The pregnant body and long winter fur (or long parasitical evidence?) disguise her neglect at first glance but when you get up close to her the protruding bones and lack of conditioning tell a very different story. In fact, Monica first brought to my attention what appeared to be some kind of growth on her shoulder, until we determined it was actually her shoulder bone. For those of us who have fairly normal horses, you can’t just wrap your fingers around their shoulder bones and hold on to it like you can with this mare. 

I’m not sure anything prepares you for this, no matter how many times you see it in different cases. This particular case has it’s own distinctive set of moments that just make you question, “What was that person thinking?” …The only answer we’ll probably ever get is that they weren’t thinking at all! Unfortunately it’s history repeating itself. We see this over and over….”

Read the entire blog post here.

Delilah got her feet trimmed today and those long, flared feet trimmed up. Here’s the summary I sent to AC:

Delilah was showing lameness in her left hind right after having her hoof flexed for trim and then set back down for a few steps and then got better. Seemed to be originating in fetlock or stifle area but not sure — not sensitive to hoof testers. Delilah had several older abcess tracks in her heels and pus pockets in her frogs but nothing that was currently draining.

Delilah is a 4 1/2 ‑5 year old dark bay/black Percheron or Percheron X draft mare seized by King County Animal Control on January 19th, 2010 and currently residing at the main SAFE facility. She has a BCS of 3 and is at least 7 months pregnant. She is approx. 16.2–17h, very sweet and easy to handle. She was living with 3 other mares and several other farm animals (live and dead) in a small area with about a foot of mud and feces. Her feet are long, overgrown and chipped and she has ulcers in her mouth from lack of dental care but she is in otherwise fair condition.

At this time this is an active case and limited information can be shared. Charges will be pending with the accused neglecter of this mare and the other animals on the property.

She is likely bred to either a QH or Thoroughbred stallion. She is not available for adoption at this time.