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Whispering Winds Ranch
Northfield, WI
The first mare “Miss Leo Ship” that we bought to start our venture into the world of AQHA horse breeding was about to have her 4th baby for us. We could not be more excited as we had bred her to a son of the great Rugged Lark. Having 6 mares bred and 4 of them already had their babies out of our buckskin stallion “Leos TopDeck Buckeroo” we were really excited. Gary went down and checked out the all of our horses before we retired to try to get some sleep. Knowing that Sparkle was getting very close to delivery we were anxiously awaiting our new arrival, hoping for a buckskin but just wanting a healthy baby.
At 1 AM on April 24, 2006, Buckeroo our stallion started to make an awful ruckus, as he is just outside our bedroom window, Gary jumped out of bed and ran to see what was wrong with him. Little did we know that he saved our little “Sparkys” life. His mother was giving birth and having a hard time. Gary went down in the field to check her out and came running back up the hills to have me call the vet as Sparkle’s intestines were hanging out and one foot of the foal was out. Just having moved to the area we had only had the vet out once the day before, lucky for us as he was the same vet that was on call that night. I called Nate and he said he would be at the house ASAP. I told him we would be in the pasture. It seemed like an eternity until he arrived. He drove through the pasture while I closed the gate and ran after him.
We were lucky as we had taken on line classes from Dickinson College in ND, one of them was about problems with foaling. Gary was able to push the foals fool back in and with the help of Sparkle he pulled him out as she pushed. Little Sparky was born and trying to get up. I told the vet I had a baby bottle and sterile jar in the house if he thought we could get some milk from Sparkle. He told me if I could get it and be back in 10 minutes we might be able to keep him alive. I started running up the hills to the house as Nate yelled at me to bring some towels also. I don’t remember when I ran so fast. I drove our pickup back down and was back in less than 5 minutes. I know I’ll never be able to do that again! I held Sparky by his mom’s head, while Nate held her neck and rubbed it and talked to her while Gary was able to milk almost a quart of milk from her before it started having blood in it. Then Nate did what he had to do and gave her a shot as we all said good bye to our beloved mare. Sparky was picked up and put in the back of the pickup with Gary holding him as we rushed to the barn with the milk and Sparky wrapped in our good bath towels. We got him in the barn and started giving him some of his mothers milk in the bottle and teaching him to suck on the bottle. I was never happier to see a baby start sucking on the bottle. Then Nate gave him his first shots to help him out.
We had milk replacer at the house but that is one thing I could not find so I drove the 10 miles following the Nate to the Vet Clinic to pick some up. The next few days were pretty hectic. Sleeping in the barn was not an unusual sight for us. We were getting up every hour on the hour feeding our little man. I remember calling my daughter at 2am (her husband is in the military and they were stationed in Hawaii) she asked me if I was awake and I said I was calling her so she could keep me awake and talk to me as I fed Sparky and talked to him. (I had also called her while I was waiting for the vet to come. Waiting for him was really difficult.) It was good to have someone who cares to talk to when you are tired and just want to talk to stay awake.
For the first 3 weeks we were up every hour on the hour feeding Sparky. Poor little man had no one to help him learn how to be a horse. The first few days Sparky would not lay down by himself. We figured that it hurt the first couple times he tried it himself. We would help him lay down until he figured it out. Then we had a really cold spell and bought him his first blanket. Poor guy, we had it on just a little tighter than we thought and he could not get up after he laid down. Getting everything right the first time is really difficult. Of course after buying the blanket I read an article about how a lady used an old sweatshirt with a zipper up the front, would have saved a bunch of money for sure and made just a really nice blanket for him.
Read more next month about our trials and tribulations with “Sparky” The Orphan Foal.
Hi, My name is “Sparky” I came into this world on a cold night. It was really difficult getting here. First my one foot came out than something happened I’m not sure what it was, but something was pushing my leg back into my mom. I did not understand it but then I felt something pulling me out and my mom pushing. Wow! That was really scary. Next thing I know there were 2 other people and one was trying to hold me by my mom’s head and another one holding my mom down while the 1st person (who I’ll now call my dad} was holding a bottle by my mom and getting me some milk. I know now that is the reason I am still in the world. I had my first truck ride my human mom drove real careful so dad and I would not get bounced around too much but it was something I will never forget. Dad carried me down to the barn and put me in a big room and they rubbed me all over with towels I got my first drink of milk from a bottle and it was still warm, I miss my mom already but the humans are taking good care of me. Someone poked me with needles and said that he needed to do that to all babies. I guess I am glad that I am not the only one around getting poked.
It is pretty hard being a baby. I don’t have anyone to show me how to stand up, walk or even lay down. I keep hitting my head when I would first lay down, so my dad would pick me up and lay me down. After a few days I got the hang of it, thank heavens as my head was hurting from hitting the ground.
One night it was really cold and they put a new blanket on me. Talk about scary. I had it on before and walked around, it was the kings purple and I looked really great in it. I would prance around the stall and show off to the other colts in the barn. The blanket fit really nice until I laid down then I could not get up. Thank heavens that my mom and dad were coming to feed me every hour on the hour or I could have been laying down for a long time. Dad fixed the blanket and that made me feel so much better.
Dad takes me for long walks in the pasture. The other colts are with their moms and when I get too close the mom’s put their ears back at me. I have learned that they are telling me to stay away. Dad is really good as he keeps the mares away from me. I can’t wait until I am old enough to play with the other foals.
Every morning while we are on our walk my dad picks up my feet one at a time. I have been getting pretty good standing on 3 feet for a few seconds, which seem lots longer.
Dad plays with the other foals in the pasture, there are 5 others and they are all different colors. There are 2 girls the same color as I am dad calls me a buckskin just like my mom. There are 2 little boys that have white mane and tails but other wise look like me, someone said they are palominos and the head mares baby is a really dark liver chestnut. I really have a lot to learn about life, how to play but most important to be good and drink all my milk up when I get my bottle .
I watch dad when he brings the other horses in the barn, it is fun to say hi to everyone when they come in at night. During the day I am all alone in the barn, but at night I have lots of company. People are always in and out of the barn during the day to feed me and give me lots of loving, but at night it is really quiet. I like it when I get my bottle at night as all the other foals have their moms with them. Mom and dad are pretty good at taking turns coming to the barn to feed me.
What a surprise! Dad lets me walk around the barn when he is cleaning it out. I get to go in and out of all the stalls and smell all the different smells in the barn. The other day my mom went out of the barn up some steps and I heard her say my name so I went up the steps to see who came to see me. I like going up the steps but going down dad had to sort of carry me. That made me feel like I was going to fall on my head, guess that is something else that I will have to learn
Gotta go it is feeding time and I don’t want to miss any feedings.
Read more next month about our trials and tribulations with “Sparky” The Orphan Foal.
