On May 9th, just as the clock rolled over, at 12:31AM, Frida welcomed her filly, Paloma Isabel into the world.
Her birth was fast and without complications. We were then waiting for the 1–2‑3 guidelines: standing within one hour, nursing within two, and the placenta passing within three. Well, Frida passed her placenta quickly and easily within the first hour, and little Paloma hit the first of her milestones — standing after an hour — right around 1:30AM. She also passed some meconium, another important marker. Now all that was left was for the foal to nurse. She was highly motivated, stumbling around the stall on new legs, suckling on anything she bumped into.
But all that try and she couldn’t seem to find where she was supposed to be. Like an errant pool ball, she would bump into something and ricochet off in search of the next, but she seemed no closer to locating the place she was supposed to be. After the first two hours, we tried to gently guide her in the correct direction, but she was disinterested in our help. Over the night, we watched from the cameras as she toddled around, took naps, and failed to nurse.
By 5AM, we called our vets for guidance. Dr Lewis was quickly on the scene. After a bit of sedation for Frida, who, without was not very keen on entertaining us touching her teats, one person guided Paloma while the other expressed milk from Frida, helping to show her where that yummy substance was coming from, and how to get more. While Paloma was very interested in the milk, she still wasn’t connecting the dots as to where it was coming from, and would not latch on. Because it had been so many hours and she had not nursed, we had to tube her in order to ensure she received colostrum. After that, the plan was to continue to try and guide her, giving her plenty of breaks in between sessions to prevent her getting too frustrated.
We helped her twice, and each time she got the hang of it a little more until, to our great relief and delight, she latched on all on her own at 10:45am. We’re sure we weren’t the only ones feeling relief — Frida was surely ready to get some of that milk out!
From that point on, she had it down. Not quite to a science yet, but each mealtime had her a bit more confident.
That afternoon, Paloma had her first foal check with our vet who ran her IgG levels. They were not quite right. Lower levels than normal could mean that she would need to receive plasma to boost her immune system. The next morning, a second test showed better levels, but just to be sure we were getting the most accurate results, her blood sample was sent out to a lab for more thorough testing. In the meantime, the vet cleared her to spend some time out on grass, so Paloma made her first venture out into the world alongside Frida on Saturday morning.
This little darling has already brought us so much joy, and we are so thankful to be able to witness her grow.
