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Foals and Young Horses
Training and Management for a Well-behaved Horse
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Foals and Young Horses
Training and Management for a Well-behaved Horse
UTE OCHSENBAUER
BEATE SCHMIDTLEIN
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First published 2013
Copyright © 2013 Franh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co. KG, Stugart, Germany Original title:
Ute Osenbauer and Beate Smidtlein: Fohlen und Jungpferde.
Sue Anderson asserts her right to be known as the translator of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmied, in any form or by any means, electronic, meanical, photocopying, recording
or otherwise, without prior permission of the copyright holder.
Published by
5M Publishing Ltd,
Benmark House,
8 Smithy Wood Drive,
Sheffield, S35 1QN, UK
Tel: +44 (0) 1234 81 81 80
www.5mpublishing.com
A Catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-1-910455-09-8
Book layout by
Keystroke, Station Road, Codsall, Wolverhampton
Printed by
Replika Ltd, India.
All of the information and methods in this book have been carefully researed, considered
and eed. ey do not release horse lovers from their responsibility for their animals or for
themselves.
e methods described are used under the reader’s own responsibility. e publisher and
authors assume no liability for loss, damage or injury to persons or property, or for
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consequential damages, arising from the use of the equipment and methods presented in this
book.
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About the authors
rough her training and her work on stud farms, Ute Osenbauer also has vast
experience of the day-to-day handling of foals and young horses. Ute has kept horses
for over thirty years and trains them herself.
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Contents
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A good brood mare …
e foal’s aracter
What foals should learn
Taking care when leading and tying up
Differences between colts and fillies
Worming and vaccinations
Weaning
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Ground work
Training to load
Resources
Exercises for every age
Sources
Further reading
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Useful addresses
Index
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For organisational reasons, all photographs specially commissioned for this book
were taken during a summertime photo session – including those for the winter
apters.
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Headway arity disclaimer
e books in the ‘Horse Riding and Management Series’ were originally published in
Germany. e photos used in the books are taken from the German books and in
some cases show riders not wearing protective helmets. e law on wearing
protective headgear differs between countries, states and equestrian disciplines.
However, it is strongly advised that all riders wear a properly fiing, CE approved
helmet at all times when riding, whether on private or public ground, for all riding
activities. e UK Highway Code makes it clear that ildren under the age of 14
must wear a helmet that complies with the Regulations, and other riders should also
follow these requirements. is applies to roads, bridleways, footpaths, cycle paths
and other roadways.
5m have partnered with Headway – the brain injury association – on this issue to
highlight the importance of ildren and adults wearing appropriate head protection
while riding. e following statement has been provided by Headway:
Headway, the UK-wide arity that supports people affected by brain injury, strongly
advises riders of all ages and abilities to wear hats with straps that meet British standards.
We all think ‘it will never happen to me’, but the reality is that an accident can happen to
anyone at any time, with all riders at risk – regardless of age or experience.
If worn correctly, riding hats are effective at preventing head and brain injuries, the
effects of whi can be devastating and last a lifetime.
To all horse and pony riders, we simply say: Please, use your head, use a hat.
For further information about brain injury and how Headway helps those affected,
or to make a donation to the arity, please visit www.headway.org.uk or call the
freephone helpline on 0808 800 2244.
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Foreword: From ild of nature to trained
partner
Newborn foals are a 100% natural product. It is only in the first few years and months
of their lives that we humans intervene, aiming to refine them into useful assets. As
we rear horses, we want to retain their trusting curiosity, friendliness, readiness to
learn, natural impulsion and drive, plus all of their other positive traits.
Our job as handlers is to help a foal to develop gradually from an instinct-driven
ild of nature into a trained, specialised partner in our riding and driving activities.
We expect the horses we work with to be cooperative and ready to perform. is is
certainly aievable if we can learn from them how to be ‘present’ and how to master
a language that we have long spoken without knowing it: body language. All of the
skills that we develop in ourselves or our four-legged partner during the civilising
process will serve us well throughout its life – either in our general contact or in our
riding partnership. So it is vital to proceed with caution, patience and an eye on the
long term!
And as owners and riders, we can also continue to develop ourselves, and to
improve our ‘horse sense’, our capacity for learning and our fairness and fitness. is
book is designed to help. Learning is easier when done together!
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Learning is easier when done together.
16
e nursing foal to weaning
Age
0 to around 8 months
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Should I breed my mare? How do I rear my foal? What should it learn as a newborn,
or as a yearling or a two-year-old, in order to grow up to be a friendly, easy-to-ride
horse that trusts its handler? ese are questions that preoccupy many mare owners.
And many horse lovers who dream of having their own horse wonder whether to
buy a foal rather than a fully-grown animal. If you breed a foal yourself, you need to
be ready to accept what nature gives you. is could be anything – from a ampion
stallion to a reliable ‘happy haer’, from a perfect healthy specimen to a si or even
a dead animal. Even at the weaning stage, a foal’s size, aracter and rideability in
later life can still only be guessed at. If you buy an older horse, on the other hand,
you can draw fairly accurate conclusions about its aracter and health.
Inexperience and la of knowledge oen lead to uncertainty about the rearing and
training that a young horse should receive. We have heard stories of weanlings that
were already being taught lateral gaits, nursing foals that were in seduled training
programmes, separated from their mothers for hours on end, and yearlings that were
already being lunged under saddle.
Training too early causes serious, lasting damage to the immature body and mind
of a young animal. Horses learn best in an atmosphere in whi they feel safe. If their
stress levels are too high, they can become traumatised. (For more on stress and
optimum conditions for learning, see pp. 64, 65, 67, 130)
On the other hand, we know of many foals that may well be growing up under
natural herd conditions but have almost no contact with people. Animals like these
are oen anxious and defensive during vet or farrier visits, anges of pasture or
treatment for injuries. eir owners may then be tempted to use coercion (e.g.
restraint, tethering, a twit), pressure or even violence to allow the vet or farrier to
do their job, to ange pasture or to treat the injury. is teaes the young animal to
associate people with fear and anxiety. It will take quite some time for the animal to
develop the deep trust that we want from our horses.
Many difficult behaviours in adult horses have their roots in management or
training methods that are horse-unfriendly, unnatural or tenically incorrect.
Inexperience and la of knowledge oen lead to misunderstandings and injustices,
with potentially serious consequences.
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Rhapsody feels safe under the watchful gaze of her aunt!
Guarding foals is a job often shared between friends or related mares within a herd. Here,
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e aim of this book, therefore, is to improve understanding between young horses
and their owners. We want to support you in building a sound, trusting relationship
with your young horse and to help you rear it in an age-appropriate way. Problems at
a later stage can be avoided by striking the right balance between holding ba and
‘being present’.
We hope to be able to answer many of your questions by giving practical examples
and providing plenty of additional information.
At around half past six one morning, I went out to the stables to give our lile
herd their first hay of the day. We have an open stable, where we close the stall
doors for feeding so that all animals, even low-ranking ones, can eat in peace. I
am usually greeted by the same sight every morning. e horses are all lying
down in their open stalls.
e Haflinger jumps to his feet immediately but only then does he really
wake up; the New Forest pony lingers for a moment longer before geing up,
and the half-bred casts a soulful eye in my direction and goes ba to sleep. He
doesn’t stir, not even when I put his hay down right in front of him. I can
approa him, or even lie against his side and stroke him, if we are both happy
with that.
All three of these animals grew up in a baelor herd of young stallions. e
Haflinger had contact with people only when a ange of pasture, farrier’s visit
or veterinary aention (e.g. castration) were required. e New Forest pony had
slightly more contact with people. Our half-bred came to us at the age of one
having had regular human contact. He has a fundamental trust in humans that
is as deeply ingrained as the fundamental distrust shown by our Haflinger, who
came to know humans as creatures that would approa him only for particular
reasons and then carry out their plans regardless.
Wouldn’t we all like to have horses that trust us so implicitly that they stay
lying down when we approa? A path of trust, right from day one.
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Is she living in a peaceful herd, does she get plenty of exercise every
day?
Is she healthy?
Can you afford to provide medical care for the mare or foal if something
goes wrong?
Can you afford a second horse?
Can the mare stay in familiar surroundings aer she foals?
If not, where could she raise her foal?
Does the foal have playmates of its own age?
Where can the foal go aer weaning, to allow it to grow up naturally?
is point should be considered separately for colts and fillies, as there
are limits to allowing colt foals to run with mares.
If answering these questions has convinced you to breed your mare or to buy a
foal, we wish you lu. If you decide to breed, we wish you and your mare good lu
in your oice of sire and a trouble-free pregnancy.
In the later stages of pregnancy, most mares start to show that they are carrying a
foal. Many mares become calmer as soon as they are pregnant, and their facial
expression anges.
Sometimes a pregnancy can be identified just from this ange of expression, even
before the vet has confirmed it.
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The pregnant mare feels secure in a peaceful herd of mares.
Until the eighth month of pregnancy, the foal grows very slowly. Then space starts to get tight!
Mares are naturally more rectangular in build than stallions. Pregnancy is oen
spoed late in long-bodied mares, even by experienced breeders. Shorter-bodied
mares, on the other hand, oen start to ‘show’ mu sooner.
Many horse lovers will have heard tales of mares unexpectedly delivering a foal
the day aer an examination, competition or particularly strenuous ride. Or they may
even have seen it themselves. But it is mu more horse-friendly, and mu safer, to
take good care of your mare at this stage.
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In earlier times, when horses were still an essential part of the agricultural
economy, mares were worked right up until foaling. e more exercise a mare gets,
the easier she will find the birth. Gentle has are recommended at every stage of
pregnancy.
Strenuous riding, high performance sport, jumping, tight turns, tournaments and
the associated stress of travelling could all be stressful for a pregnant mare. In the
worst-case scenario, they could even cause her to lose her foal.
Spontaneous abortion can also be caused by falls, bumps or kis, poor
management or feeding, or excessive worming. Herpes virus infection can trigger
epidemic abortion. is can be prevented by vaccinating mares appropriately.
However, vaccination is controversial and works only if all horses on a yard are
treated.
People who know a mare well can often spot a pregnancy immediately in her face.
Horses feel most at ease if there are not too many anges in their herd or their daily
routine. Unfamiliar feeding times or a ange of stall or pasture is enough to put them
on edge. e safety and security that mares in particular experience in a stable herd
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cannot be overestimated. Ideally, mares in late pregnancy should not be moved from
their herd or stable.
All calculations of foaling date are merely estimates. So it is important to observe
your mare closely, to keep her healthy and to make sure she has plenty of fresh air,
light and daily exercise, ideally on pasture. Our mares foal once the grass starts to
grow, providing an ample supply of nutrients. e nights begin to get milder from
around mid-April. But we still bring mares inside overnight if they are close to
foaling. is enables us to observe them at night and to be on call immediately if
there are any problems. However, some mares have failed to appreciate our efforts
and have arranged things so as to foal at pasture in the middle of the day!
e peak growth time for the foetus is in the last third of pregnancy. At this stage the
foal seems to turn sharply and ange position. Some mares feel a bit unwell around
this time, whi can affect their feeding behaviour. Some mares show particular likes
or dislikes in the final weeks of pregnancy. Types of feed that they would normally
eat with relish are suddenly rejected. For example, we give an oat/barley/mineral mix
as a concentrated feed. One of our mares developed a preference for barley overnight
and didn’t like the taste of oats any more. Another mare only wanted oats and turned
her nose up at barley. We tend to indulge these likes and dislikes, partly in order to
meet our mares’ nutritional needs but partly because we love them.
Some mares also show colic-like symptoms during this stage. We normally assume
that abdominal pain in late pregnancy is likely to be caused by the foal pressing on
the mare’s intestines, but we always consult the vet in these cases.
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This mare is close to foaling; her pregnancy is hard to miss.
Around this time some mares develop a worrying disarge accompanied by blood
or mucus, whi disappears by itself aer a few days. is should be investigated and
monitored by a vet. A mare’s drinking behaviour may also ange. Many pregnant
mares don’t like to drink cold water because it triggers movements of the foal. In a
mare close to foaling, these movements can be seen clearly just aer drinking, or aer
being moved to pasture.
• 1 kg crushed oats
• 1 cup linseed, simmered for ½ hr, or
• 1 cup ready-prepared linseed, soaked in ½ l hot water
• 1 cup wheat bran
• Stir, cover and leave to stand for 1 hr
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e mare’s requirements in terms of energy, protein, calcium and phosphorus begin
to rise from the eighth month of pregnancy. ese needs can be met by feeding good-
quality hay and haylage, together with supplementary feed designed for brood mares.
Top-quality feed is essential. Digestion promoters su as mash, molasses and linseed
support intestinal activity.
Mares in foal should be wormed regularly – just like the rest of the herd – using
products suitable for use in pregnancy. e literature on worming recommends an
additional treatment around two days before foaling. readworms in particular can
be ingested by foals from their mother’s milk, or through wall liing or contact with
contaminated bedding. However, worming treatments can affect the digestion and
general well-being of the heavily pregnant mare. is is why we delay worming until
the day of foaling itself, once the mare has recovered from giving birth.
Heavily pregnant mares should not be overfed just before foaling. Feed rations
should be divided into several small portions with slightly less forage being fed.
Mares should still be receiving an adequate supply of minerals.
Here too, however, some mares may reject a mineral feed that they would
otherwise eat happily. ere are many different types of mineral feed, so there is
bound to be one that the mare will like. Carrots are a healthy, well-tolerated source of
carotene and vitamin A. We feed a maximum of one to two kilos per day. Easily
digestible mash can be given once every two to three days.
Mares should be fed with restraint immediately aer foaling. What they need most
at this time is plenty of good-quality forage to make up the volume deficit in the
abdomen. We feed mash daily and divide the forage into multiple portions
throughout the day. Due to contraction of the uterus, some mares experience colic-
like abdominal pain in the first few days aer foaling. is can last until their foal
heat. A vet should be called promptly to inject antispasmodics or painkillers.
Herbal remedies
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Give three drops once a day, starting from around a week before the mare’s
calculated due date; if necessary, continue for up to three days aer foaling.
A remedy whi promotes healing of the uterus and is useful for colic-like
aerpains, mild post-partum bleeding or a retained placenta, is Sabina C30. Give
three drops twice a day aer foaling, in addition to any veterinary treatment, until an
improvement is seen; in acute cases, give every 15 minutes.
Juno’s belly has already dropped. The birth of the foal is imminent.
When mare and foal are ready for the birth, this is announced by a variety of external
anges in the mare. Her belly drops, the broad pelvic ligaments relax a lile, the
udder – whi has grown steadily in recent weeks – becomes fuller and tighter, the
labia are slightly swollen and in some cases the vulva opens slightly when the mare is
lying down. e mammary glands start to produce colostrum, whi takes the form
of small yellowish drops of fluid at the ends of the teats (‘waxing’). In the worst-case
scenario, colostrum may appear several days or sometimes even weeks before the
birth. is causes some of the vital early milk to be lost. If this loss of colostrum goes
on for only a few days there will still be enough gamma-globulins (antibodies) le
27
aer the birth to protect the foal. But if the dripping or spraying of colostrum
continues for longer, the foal will initially need to be bole-fed. Breeders should
always keep a sto of deep-frozen colostrum from another mare on hand for this
contingency. Nowadays there is also the option of using artificial powdered
colostrum. However, it is beer to use colostrum from your own mares, as this will
contain antibodies from the mare’s home stable.
Often, one half of the udder is larger than the other. In this case, the foal has already emptied
In some mares, the udder is already very full while the teats remain lax, and no
waxing is visible. e milk doesn’t come in until the birth is under way.
Owners are oen advised to handle the udder of a heavily pregnant mare to get her
used to being toued. We do not recommend this. It is all too easy to stimulate the
milk flow, causing a loss of valuable colostrum. Before pregnancy or in its early
stages, on the other hand, it is quite safe to tou the udder. (For more about
colostrum, see pages 13 and 22.)
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Cut some pieces of string to tie up the aerbirth
Foaling kit
I always make up a foaling kit well in advance of the mare’s due date. e kit
contains an umbilicus disinfectant, disposable gloves, a single-use enema (get this
from your vet), a poet tor or head tor and two towels.
Loss of Colostrum
One of our mares is prone to losing colostrum. In her first pregnancy, the milk
flow started two weeks early and there wasn’t enough colostrum for the foal.
La of antibody protection led to the foal developing a high fever, and it nearly
died. Fortunately it survived thanks to veterinary treatment and feeding with
artificial colostrum.
29
e year aer that, the mare in the next stall foaled six weeks before this
mare. is clearly upset her hormone balance. She started to produce milk and
lost a huge amount of colostrum. But luily the milk flow stopped aer a
fortnight or so and she still had enough colostrum le when her foal was born.
is mare’s mother also lost colostrum before foaling, so this seems to be an
inherited trait. In any case, a supply of frozen colostrum should be kept on hand
as a reliable source of first aid for the foal.
Keeping a vigil
As foaling draws closer, inexperienced breeders are naturally anxious and keen to get
everything right. As flight animals, horses are able to delay birth for many hours.
ey wait until they feel safe. Noise, clumsy helpers, nervous owners, strange dogs or
stormy weather can unsele them. Especially for skiish mares, peace and quiet are
essential for a complication-free delivery.
is is why most births happen late in the evening or at night.
30
Dilation stage 50–80 minutes
Expulsion stage max. 30 minutes
Aerbirth stage ideally 30 minutes
Length of foaling 1.5–3 hours
Expulsion of
within 2 hours
aerbirth
Time for foal to
approx. 1 hour, max. 2–2.5 hours
stand
Time for suling
max. 20 minutes
reflex to develop
First drink of
ideally within the first 2 hours
colostrum
Passing of
the sooner the beer, but within 12 hours
meconium
Urination 6–10 hours aer birth
Imprinting period up to 4 days
immediately aer birth: 70 beats per minute, 1 hour later: 130
Heart rate
beats per minute, then approx. 90 to 100 beats per minute
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A camera and birth alarm belt allow you to monitor the mare from indoors.
Mares in labour become restless and start to sweat. ey paw the ground, swish
their tails, lie down for a while and then stand up again. Contractions are separated
by quiet intervals in whi mares may even start to eat again. Mares differ in the
intensity of their response to contractions. As long as the waters haven’t broken, the
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intervals between contractions are not harmful. ey give the mare a ance to relax
and find a good spot to deliver.
We stay out of the stall until the foal has begun to emerge through the pelvis, and
even then we only enter to e that the amniotic sac is torn over its nostrils.
Otherwise, we leave the mare to it.
An ideal, complication-free birth takes around one and a half to three hours in
total. In the dilation stage, the cervix opens and expands. e water bag widens the
whole birth canal.
When observing a birth, the breaking of waters is impossible to miss. Noisy and
copious, it marks the transition from the dilation stage to the intense expulsion stage.
Mares normally lie flat on their sides, pushing and groaning, straining and streting
out their legs. But they also stand up again from time to time. Lying on their sides
creates the best conditions for meanical expulsion. Aer all, the heavy foal, whi
weighs up to a fieenth of the mare’s weight, has to be shied towards the pelvic
opening from its position deep inside the mare’s belly.
Complications
Despite our spacious foaling stalls, we have still had a case where an
experienced brood mare lay down so close to the wall that the foal did not have
enough space to come out. During a painful labour, the mare had burrowed
deeply into the straw and become stu. e foal’s legs were already emerging.
With several helpers, we managed to level out the straw as the birth
progressed and carefully manoeuvred the mare more into the middle of the
stall. In the end, the mare stood up and found herself a beer spot for the birth
of her foal. Especially in a precarious situation like this, it is important for
everyone involved to suppress their anxiety, to talk to the mare reassuringly,
and not to make any sudden moves but to radiate peace and calm. Our mares
know and trust us and I believe they understand that we are trying to help
them.
33
Before birth, the first uterine contractions turned the foal into the ideal position for
delivery. Its head is wedged between its forelegs. e underside of its hoof points
towards the mare’s udder. e edges of the hooves are naturally covered with a so
down, a protective meanism that prevents injury to the birth canal. Oen, one foot
emerges before the other. As a general rule, mares don’t need any outside assistance.
Never try to help by pulling on the foal’s legs. Only assist if the mare is having a
difficult birth and has lost the strength to push. Make sure to synronise your
assistance with the contractions. Pull only during a contraction and only towards the
udder, not towards the tail. Ideally, use a towel to improve your grip on the foal’s
slippery legs.
However, birth complications in horses are rare. If they do occur, they are usually
life-threatening for mare and foal. Call your vet as soon as possible if the normal
foaling parameters on p. 15 are not in order.
Possible complications
• Malpresentation
• Birth interrupted by external disturbances
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• Narrow birth canal
• First-time mother, large foal
• Weakened mare
e foal is still connected to its mother, and being nourished, via the umbilical
cord. Never cut the cord, because the foal will receive another one to two litres of
maternal blood before the mare stands up and the cord tears by itself. So if your mare
decides to stay down for a while longer, there is no cause for concern. On the
contrary, as owners and breeders, these are moments in whi we can simply take a
deep breath and observe. Our calmness transmits to the mare and her newborn foal.
is is the most important thing we can give them at this time.
35
• Tear open the membrane sac and clear the foal’s nostrils
• Treat the umbilical stump with disinfectant
• Colt foals: administer an enema (see p. 25)
Healthy, vigorous foals oen whinny soon aer birth. e dam answers her foal’s call
with a distinctive slow, gentle niering. e imprinting process between the pair is
underway. All other mares in the stable or out on pasture will also answer and greet
the new foal. is is always a very moving process.
When the mare stands, the umbilical cord breaks at a certain point around 3 to 5
cm from the foal’s abdomen. We treat the umbilical stump immediately using a
disinfectant solution, repeating this treatment several times.
e mare normally engages with her new foal in a very caring and motherly way.
She nuzzles it and lis it all over. At my first foaling, I actually worried that the mare
36
might nibble off one of the foal’s ears! Even first-time mothers have these maternal
feelings. e mother’s body secretes a hormone called oxytocin, whi has effects on
milk production, milk let-down into the udder, delivery of the placenta and stress and
pain reduction. e release of oxytocin is promoted by pleasant, relaxed contact.
Intensive licking by the mare stimulates the foal’s circulation and is a vital part of imprinting.
The foal’s first attempts to stand are very wobbly. Its brain stores the sequence of movements
37
a) Afterbirth b) Foal’s bread
In a healthy foal, the suling reflex is immediately present and recognisable. Even
before they stand, healthy foals will curl up their lips and rea out into the air or
against any object that toues their muzzle. is milestone can therefore be tied
off as a sign of a healthy delivery.
As soon as foals are able to stand and walk a lile, they start to look for food.
Geing the hang of walking is easiest out on open pasture, but even indoors a foal
will wobble purposefully towards its mother on still uncoordinated legs and aempt
to nudge and sule her. Foals are genetically conditioned to look for a place that
replicates the feeling of standing closely under their mother’s body and a particular
angle formed by the udder and hind legs. Unfortunately, sometimes they also find this
imagined treasure trove between the mare’s front legs. Mares, especially the more
experienced ones, will present themselves invitingly to the foal time and time again
with enormous, unswerving patience, sometimes even liing up a leg. If the foal
happens to brush against the teats, even the slightest tou is enough to make milk
spray out from the bulging udder. Now the foal develops a taste for it and is reluctant
to leave.
However, sometimes the foal needs to rebalance itself, or it falls over or
accidentally wobbles off on its long legs. en the treasure hunt starts all over again…
Once the foal is in the right place, the mare rubs it gently on the croup. Sometimes
she even raises her belly invitingly, all the time talking to the foal in a special so
tone of voice.
First-time mothers are not always so patient. ey are sometimes nervous and
irritable, especially if the foal is still a bit clumsy. ey keep walking off, then the foal
38
walks off as well. Unsure of the situation, it starts to sear somewhere else along the
walls of the stall, and a nerve-wraing cycle begins.
39
Only a few hours after the birth, mother and foal are together in the paddock for the first time.
The mare investigates her newborn foal with interest. These are special moments of intimacy.
But keep your cool and radiate calm. Your lile protégé will learn and remember
his way to the udder only by finding it himself. Avoid disturbing the imprinting stage
and the ‘geing to know you’ process between mother and foal, for example by
guiding the foal to the right place. Any aempt to assist healthy animals delays the
first intake of nutrition! As difficult as it might be, stay outside the stall and observe
mother and foal from the aisle or by wating on CCTV.
e whole ‘finding food’ stage can take up to three hours.
Colostrum
e first drops of the mother’s milk, drunk in the foal’s first three hours of life, are
vitally important. ey act like a protective shield. A foal can’t survive without them.
e power-paed first milk or ‘colostrum’ contains antibodies called
‘gammaglobulins’ whi combat the various disease-causing factors that the mare has
confronted and overcome in the past. However, these immunising molecules are
relatively large and can pass through the lining of the foal’s intestine only in the first
12 to 24 hours. e mare’s milk contains extremely high levels of antibodies for the
first seven days. Later on, it contains specific antibodies, is ideally tailored to the
foal’s life stage and living conditions and anges composition depending on the
foal’s needs. Colostrum also promotes the passing of meconium (see p. 24).
Nursing Hurdles
One of our mares, a first-time mother, was confused and extremely twity
aer the birth. Ea time her filly foal tried to sule, the mare squealed and
dodged aside. Once the foal was at her head end, she calmed down again. e
foal had been born very early, aer ten and a half months of pregnancy. For
three long hours the filly persevered with her quest, displaying huge vitality,
strength of aracter and an iron will. Small and delicate as she was, she did not
lie down even once during the whole time. In su cases it is easy to lose
patience with the mare. Even 15 minutes of wating a process like this is
enough to make you strongly tempted to intervene.
40
Even today, Early does not tolerate pressure. She expects generosity and polite manners
Aer consulting our vet, we gave the mare a mild sedative and the foal
nursed successfully at the first aempt. To build up the sturdy, tenacious lile
fighter and provide her with her first natural immunisation, we bole-fed her
with some colostrum milked from a mare who had foaled a few hours
previously. Aer nursing again, she was able to lie down and rest.
is filly foal is now a four and a half-year-old mare and her strength of will
and fighting spirit are legendary.
Weak foals
If the newborn is too weak or too ill to drink unaided, colostrum should be milked off
and administered to the foal, ideally hourly but at least once every two hours. Bole
feeding can continue for days or weeks. If you have never done it before, it is best to
seek assistance. Incorrect feeding tenique can lead to milk geing into the lungs,
whi may trigger pneumonia.
41
e last colt foal born to one of our foundation mares was very weak. Try as he
might, he simply couldn’t stand up. Once every hour, we lied him to his feet
and took him to the udder. e experienced mare just stood there and let him
drink in peace. ree days later, I went to the stable to help with another
mealtime and the lile colt was already standing. I asked around to find out
who had helped him, but this time he had done it all by himself. We were no
longer required!
Meconium
In the first few hours aer birth, a healthy foal passes a substance known as
meconium. is is waste material that collected in its gut over the course of the
pregnancy. Meconium takes the form of a bla stool, up to a metre long in the horse,
whi is divided into small hard pieces.
Wat out for meconium retention. is is a particular risk in weak foals, colts,
foals born aer longer pregnancies and foals that were slow to drink their first
colostrum.
Take care!
Meconium retention can prove fatal for foals. So it is vital to make sure that the
foal passes all of its meconium within the first few hours of life. Repeated
writhing or straining is a sign of retained meconium blocking the gut.
Colts have a narrower pelvis than fillies, whi makes it easier for meconium to
build up. is is why we give our colts a ready-to-use enema as a preventive measure.
We also treat any fillies that we see straining to defecate.
Signs of meconium retention in foals include colic-like pain, rolling and kiing at
the abdomen. e pain on their faces tells you they are feeling uncomfortable.
Abdominal pain demands a foal’s full aention. e sooner it passes the meconium,
the sooner it will be able to focus on finding the teat, learning to walk, imprinting on
its mother and dealing with its new world.
Meconium retention needs to be differentiated from a physical defect of the
uraus duct that stops urine draining normally via the urinary tract. e result is
that urine collects in the abdominal cavity. e foal strains in the same way as it does
42
when defecating, and displays colic-like symptoms similar to those of meconium
retention. So it is important to e that the foal passes both meconium and urine
during the first few hours of life. Foals should not urinate from the umbilicus!
Meconium looks like a string of shiny black pellets. Here, it is already coated with the yellow
milk faeces.
Administering an enema
e aerbirth
e mare should pass the aerbirth or ‘placenta’ within two hours aer foaling. Once
the mare gets to her feet, the amniotic membranes hang down between her legs. Tie
them up using the pieces of string you cut earlier. is will stop the mare from
standing on them or kiing at them in irritation. e mare oen lies down during
this stage; she is experiencing aerbirth contractions as the placenta detaes from
43
the uterus. Right at the end of the process, the aerbirth’s own weight helps the mare
to expel it completely. Take care never to pull on the aerbirth!
Place the aerbirth in a lidded container that you got ready earlier. is is so you
can e that the placenta is intact. If any parts have been retained in the uterus,
your vet will need to remove them. Consequences of a retained placenta include
fever, inflammation (possibly making the mare unfit for breeding), a drastic drop in
milk protection and post-foaling laminitis. ese in turn can lead to a si mare who
is unable to take care of her foal.
Some mares experience strong aerbirth contractions. ese colic-like pains can be
severe enough to prevent them from taking care of their foals. If this happens to your
mare, ask your vet to administer an antispasmodic.
Delivery of the afterbirth can take a while. Here, the afterbirth has been tied up to stop the
Once the mare and foal are healthy, happy and well cared-for, remove the wet
bedding and top up with fresh material. As you clean out the stall, you may find a
liver-like substance called the hippomane or ‘foal’s bread’. is is an accumulation of
metabolic residues whi floated around in the amniotic fluid during the pregnancy.
It tends to break down and disappear rapidly aer birth. Finding the foal’s bread
depends on close monitoring of the aerbirth stage. In the past, stable masters were
sometimes rewarded for finding the foal’s bread, as it proved they were keeping a
careful wat on their mares.
When preparing the foaling stall and muing out aer the birth, make sure to
heap the bedding up around the walls to stop the foal bumping into or falling down
44
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
the beat of my heart. No comments were made, and after I had
dressed again I was sent to an anteroom and told to wait their
decision.
For a few long minutes I sat in the silent room wondering what would
be the decision. I was optimistic enough to plan what I would do if I
should enter the navy. I should—here the attendant came, offered
me a tiny card, and without a word bowed me to the door. I knew
then that I had been refused. I walked through the yard in a daze.
When I reached the city, I took heart to read the card they had given
me. I recall that it read thus simply: “REFUSED. Defective teeth.
Cardia—” Uncle Sam did not want to give me a chance!
Chapter XXI. The Ichabod of
Mule-rooms, some Drastic Musing,
College at my Finger-tips,
the Mill People wait to let me
pass, and I am Waved
into the World by a
Blind Woman
Chapter XXI. The Ichabod of
Mule-rooms, some Drastic Musing,
College at my Finger-tips,
the Mill People wait to let me
pass, and I am Waved
into the World by a
Blind Woman
ON my return from Newport I went to work in one of the oldest mills
in the city. The “mules” were in a gloomy basement—a crowded,
dim, and very dirty place to work in. It was the Ichabod of mule-
rooms, with every trace of glory gone. The machinery was obsolete
and had to be helped along with monkey-wrenches, new parts, and
constant, nerve-wearing wearing watchfulness. The alleys were so
narrow that the back-boys had to edge in between the frames; and
expanded chest often meant a destructive rubbing on bobbins and a
breaking of threads. It always seemed to me that this room was
reserved by the corporation to work off its veteran spinners and its
unreliable ones, its veteran machinery, and its bad-tempered,
ineffective bosses. This mule-room was the byword among the
spinners at that end of the city. A man hung his head when he had to
tell another that he was working in it; for it generally was his
testimony to his fellows that he was in the last ditch. Spinners
graduated from that room into scrubbing or oiling.
The personnel of this room was always changing; but its prevailing
character remained the same: a dull-eyed, drunken set of men, a
loafing, vicious set of young fellows who worked a week and loafed
three.
I chose to work in that place because it was my first opportunity for
an advance from doffing to “joiner.” A “joiner” is one who shares with
another the operation of a pair of mules—a semi-spinner. The pay is
divided, and the work is portioned off between the two. I had been
working toward this position for six years and a half, and now it had
come, even in that miserable room, I was eager to see how I should
manage.
But, oh, the mockery and vanity of all efforts, even my wild ones, to
master one of those machines! The lurching, halting, snapping things
could not be mastered. Threads snapped faster than I could fasten
them. One tie and two breaks, two ties and three breaks, along the
row of glistening spindles, until there were so many broken threads
that I had to stop the mule to catch up. And every stop meant the
stoppage of wages, and the longer a thread stayed broken, the less I
was earning; and on top of that, the bosses swore at us for stopping
at all. I should have stopped work then and there—it would have
been the sensible thing to do—but I was no loafer, and I was trying
to make good in this new work—the end of a long desire. The other
“joiners” and spinners did not try to keep at it. They gave up the work
as soon as they discovered how useless it was to try to make a
decent wage from the worn-out machines. Only myself and a few
poor men who were there because they could not get any better
place stayed on and fought the one-sided fight. Every time the
machinery broke—and breaks were constant—the machinist
grumbled, and took his own time in coming with his wrenches.
The physical and mental reaction of all this upon me was most
woeful. My muscles grew numb under the excessive pressure on
them, so much so that I often stood still when the threads were
snapping about me and looked on them as if I had never seen a
broken thread before. Or I would suddenly stop in my wild dashes
this way and that in the mending of threads and look dazedly about,
feel a stifling half-sob coming to my throat, and my lips would
tremble under the misery and hopelessness of it all. My only
consolation, and very poor, too, lay in the clock. At six o’clock it
would all end for a few hours at least, and I could get out of it all. But
when you watch the clock under those circumstances, an hour
becomes two, and one day two days. So the labor was, after all, a
wild frenzy, a race and a stab and a sob for ten and a half hours! I
can never think of it as anything more.
Some of my work-fellows in that room were sent to jail for assault,
petty thieving, and drunkenness. I used to think about them, in the
jail, doing light work under healthy conditions, even though they were
paying penalties for lawlessness, but I, who had done no crime, had
to have ten hours and a half of that despairing contest with a
machine. How much better to be sewing overalls or making brooms
in a jail! I had to stay in the house at night in order to be thoroughly
rested for the next day’s work. I had no liberty.
And, added to all this, there was the constant depressive contact
with unsympathetic and foul-mouthed desecrators of ambition.
Those who knew me in that room were aware that I was trying to
avoid every degenerative and impure act. Some of them passed
word around also that I was attending such and such a church! They
came to the end of the mule, when the boss chanced not to be
around, and, in a huddled group, stood at my elbows, where I had
work to do, and put on their dirty lips the foulest vocabulary that ever
stained foul air.
Then one day there came a flash which clearly lighted up everything.
“Why are you going through this wild, unequal labor in this dull room
day by day! Why? Do you absolutely have to do it? Are others
keeping at it, as you? Why, why, why?” each one bigger than its
fellow, made me meet every fact squarely. “To what end all this?”
My labor was helping to buy beer at home! I was giving up all my
wage to my aunt, and getting back a little spending money. I had
fifteen cents in the bank at the time. I did not have to overstrain
myself as I was doing. I had the privilege of giving up my work at any
moment I chose. I was no slave to such conditions. No man could
drive me to such tasks. Giving up the work only meant a scolding
from my aunt and a little going about among other mills to find
another, and perhaps better, position. This was a new thought to me
—that I could leave my work when I wanted; that I might be given
work too hard for me.
Previously I had worked on the supposition that whatever was given
me ought to be done at all costs; that the mill was the measure of a
man, and not man the measure of the mill. I had always looked upon
my work as a test of my moral capacity; that any refusal to work,
even when it was harder than I could bear, was a denial of my moral
rights. But now the worm of conscience was boring through me. Why
should I, at twenty years of age, not be entitled to what I earned, to
spend on my education, instead of its being spent on my aunt’s
appetite for intoxicants?
Then, too, why should I have to work with people who had no moral
or mental sympathy with me? Was five dollars and seventy-five
cents, my pay for the first week in that gloomy room, worth it?
Assuredly not.
But, then, what could I do outside of the mill? I had done nothing
else but work in the mill and spend a little time on a farm. If I left the
mill at so late a time, left all the technical knowledge I had gathered
while I had been going through it, should I be doing the best thing for
my future? There seemed nothing in the future from the mill, for, as I
have shown, I had not the strength to cope with more difficult tasks
than those that then faced me. Probably if I got out of doors, in some
open-air work, I should gain strength and be able to make progress
in some other line of work. But I had been trying for that, and nothing
had come. What then?
Then the greatest light of all came—flooded me. Leave the mill at
any cost! Stop right where I was; quibble no more, offend all, risk all,
but get away from the mill! It was all so simple after all! Why had I
not worked it out before? Leave home! Have all I earned to save for
my education! That was my emancipation proclamation, and I started
to follow it.
First of all, I went to the overseer in that dingy room and told him
frankly that the work he had given me to do was too hard for me. I
could not keep it up. I also told him I did not care to leave just then,
but, if he had any easier work in the room—doffing, for instance—I
should like to continue. He did not receive this declaration with any
expression of reproach, as I had expected, but said simply: “You go
to work back-boying on those first three mules. You’ll make as much
money by it as at anything in here.”
This first break made, how easily all others followed, as if they had
been waiting around all the time! It was just at this time that I met a
young fellow who had come back to the city to spend his vacation
from study at a university in the Middle West. To him I told all my
thoughts concerning getting away from the mill. I said: “I wonder if I
went out where you go to college, and worked at something for a
time, just to be away from mills, whether in time I might not have
money enough on hand to be able to start on my way towards an
education?”
“How much do you think you would have to save?” he asked,
smilingly.
“Why—why, hundreds of dollars, isn’t it?”
“Do you think so, Al?”
“Why, certainly.”
“And how long would you work to save up?”
“Oh,” I replied, “that depends upon what I get to do and how much I
could put by.”
“Suppose, Al, that you could go right out and start right in with school
at the university—it has a preparatory course—and work your way
along, what would you say?”
“You mean, jump right in now, this year?”
He nodded.
“But it’s all I can do to board and clothe myself by working hard in the
mill. I couldn’t by any means work hard enough to pay for going
through a school.”
“How much would you be willing to—oh, Al, you’re all wrong about
the cost. I tell you, old fellow, you can get through a year at my place
on a hundred dollars: board, tuition—”
“What’s that?”
“Teaching and room and heat. All the rest of your expenses won’t
amount to over fifty dollars, if you’re careful.”
I gazed on him, open-mouthed, for I thought he was laughing at me.
“Say—you aren’t kidding me, are you? All that is straight—about
being so—so cheap?”
“Why, yes, it’s all true enough. I think you can manage it too, Al. I’ll
do my best to speak a word for you. Get ready to go in three weeks,
no matter how much money you have. I think you’ll be able to get
some outside work to do at the university, to work your way through
and meet expenses.”
“Well,” I said, “I sha’n’t be sorry even if I don’t get a chance at the
school for a while, you know. If I could only get something to do near
there, my chance might come later. I shouldn’t be any worse off than
I am here. I can earn my living at something, don’t you think so?”
“Why, yes, I do; but I think you will have a chance at the school
without having to wait.”
“Oh, I can hardly believe that,” I exclaimed for sheer joy.
“But you can make all your plans for it, just the same,” said my friend
with confidence.
This new outlook set every strong emotion shouting in me. The world
was not dressed in so gray a garb as I had thought. I went home and
told my aunt about my new plan. She said:
“You’ve never asked me if you could go!”
“Well, no,” I said, “I haven’t; and I don’t think I need to. I mean to set
out for myself, at any rate. It’s about time now that I was doing
something for myself, don’t you think so?”
“I think you’re an impudent puppy, that’s what!” indignantly cried my
aunt.
I told Pat and Harry, and they could hardly believe their own ears;
but they urged me to take the chance, for they thought it was a
“chance.”
My work—all work in the mill—had suddenly taken on a temporary
aspect now, a means to a great end and not an end in itself. I could
look on it now and feel that I had mastered it at last. The throbbing,
jubilant shout of the victor was on my lips now. I saw past those lint-
laden rooms, the creaking, whirling pulleys, and the clacking belts;
past them, and everything that the mill meant to me; to a very
pleasant new life ahead; one whose ground was holy and on which it
was the privilege of but few to walk. I think there must have been a
complete effacement of all the lines that had marked my face. For
once, I felt sure of myself; sure that all the lines of leading were to
mass into one sure road toward a better thing.
My mind was not on my work for the following three weeks. I went
about with a dream in my eyes. I know I whistled much and began to
lose all respect for those machines which had driven me, in times
past, like a chained slave. I even found myself having much pity for
all the other men and boys in the mill. I went among them with
hesitation, as if I had a secret which, if told, would make them feel
like doing what I was about to do.
I had found out from a ticket agency in the city that my fare to the
Middle West would cost approximately seventeen dollars. I knew that
in two weeks, with the week’s wage that the mill always kept back
and with the seven dollars my Uncle Stanwood had promised to let
me have, that I should have my railway fare and incidental
expenses, anyway. So there, in the ticket agency, I had the clerk take
me, with his pencil, over the route I should later take in the cars. It
was a wonderful itinerary. I was to see the mountains of New
England, the lakes of the border, and to plunge into a new part of the
country! It would take me three days. How I stared at the prospect of
so much traveling! I obtained time-tables with maps containing the
route over the different railways I should ride on during that journey
away from the mill. Three days from the cotton mills! That was a
thought to make a fellow dance all day without rest.
One day I lay sprawled out at full length in an alley behind a box, so
that the overseer might not see me, when Micky Darrett peeped over
my shoulders at the maps I had spread out on which I had traced
and retraced my great journey with a pencil.
“What yer’ doin’, Priddy?” said Micky. “Oh,” I announced with studied
nonchalance, “just planning out the road I shall take in two weeks.
I’m going to college, you know.”
“Oh,” laughed Micky, “quit yer kiddin’ like that! What are you doin’,
really?”
“Just what I said, Micky. I mean it.”
“Gee!” gasped the little Irishman; “yer a sporty bluffer, Priddy!”
“But ’tis true, though,” I insisted.
“What yer givin’?” growled Micky. “It’s only swells goes ter college.”
“That’s what you think, Micky, but it’s God’s truth that I go in two
weeks and try to make a start.”
“Gee!” he gasped; “I allus thought you was poor. You must have got
a lot of money saved, all right, all right!”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Micky. I shall have about three weeks’
wages and what my uncle gives me—seven dollars—if he gives it to
me at all. That’s all I’ve got to start on.”
“Don’t stuff that down me, Priddy!” cried Micky, in great disgust, for
he hated to be made sport of. “You can’t bluff yer uncle.”
But nevertheless he published all over the room what I had told him,
and thereafter I answered many questions about myself and my
plans, and had to spend much energy in rebutting the prevalent
suspicion that I was “bluffing the room.”
Then came my last Saturday in the mill—the last day I have ever
spent in the mill. I did my work with a great conscience that day. I
don’t believe the second hand had to look twice to see if I had done
my sweeping well. The spinners had become very friendly, as if my
ambition had won respect from them, and even the overseer came to
me just before I left the room, took me by the hand, and said: “I wish
you the very best of luck, Priddy. Keep to it!”
On Monday morning, at six o’clock, I sat in the train. I had drawn
thirteen dollars from the mill, received seven dollars from my uncle,
said good-by to my old friends, and paid fifteen dollars and sixty-five
cents for a ticket. Aunt Millie, in tears, had kissed me, and had hoped
that “I’d do well, very well!” Uncle Stanwood had carried my hand-
bag for me to the electric car and had given me good counsel out of
his full heart. Now I sat listening to the mill bells and whistles giving
their first warning to the workers. “You’ll never call for me again, I
hope!” I said to myself as I listened. Then the train started, and I
glued my face to the window-pane to catch a last glimpse of the city
where for seven years I had been trying to get ahead of machinery
and had failed. The train went slowly over the grade crossings. I saw
the mill crowds at every street, held back by the gates, waiting
deferentially while I, who had been one of them last week, was
whirled along towards an education. I saw them as I had walked with
them—women in shawls and looking always tired, men in rough
clothes and with dirty clay pipes prodded in their mouths, and girls in
working aprons, and boys, just as I had been, in overalls and under-
shirts. And I was going away from it all, in spite of everything!
One of my friends was an old woman, stone blind. When I had given
her my farewell, she had said: “Al, I’ll be at the crossing in front of my
house when the train goes by on Monday morning. Look for me. I’ll
wave my handkerchief when the train passes, lad, and you’ll know
by that sign that I’m sending you off to make something of yourself!”
We came to the outskirts of the city; the mill crowds had been left,
and at last a lonely crossing came, the one for which I had been
looking. I had the window open. The train was gathering speed, but I
saw the black-garbed blind woman, supported by her daughter,
standing near the gates, her eyes fixed ahead, and her handkerchief
fluttering, fluttering, as we plunged into the country.
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:
Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been
standardized.
Archaic or variant spelling has been retained.
*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THROUGH THE
MILL: THE LIFE OF A MILL-BOY ***
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