The Birth of a Foal

Given my infatuation with horses, my next step out of high school was to attend a junior college and major in horse science. (No matter what anyone else thought!) This was a two-year program, of course. Not only did we learn feeding and care of horses, we also learned horsemanship and showing. Plus .... there was a stallion on the premises that stood at stud, so we also learned all about ... *ahem* ... breeding. Consequently, we were able to see an interesting event - the birth of a foal.

The school's barn had around a dozen horses, plus a few more outside. One mare in the barn was in foal, from the barn's stud. Sometime that winter of my first year there, she was due to drop her foal. So all of us students were put on "foal watch" through the evening and night when no one would normally be there. We worked in pairs, and signed up for 2-hour shifts. A classmate and I took a night shift in the wee hours, and took an alarm clock with us. We'd snooze in the classroom, and set the alarm clock for every 15 minutes to take turns checking on the mare. This went on for a few nights.

Our shift was around 2 or 3 a.m. Finally on about the 3rd night (I think) of foal watch, I got up on one of my turns to go check on the mare. O-boy, I saw a hoof starting to protrude! That put things in action really fast! First, I hollered at my classmate. Then I called the instructor. Then he spread the word to all the other students. Before long, there was a bunch of us crowed in the barn aisle, quietly seeing how things progressed. After a good bit, the mare gave birth to a beautiful filly! That was real cause for excitement, and I think we all enjoyed the new addition to the barn. It was definitely a learning experience.

One thing each student got to do was to show a horse at halter once sometime during the two years they were in the program. This was at a major national stock show. My chance to show happened during my first year there, so the second year, I was more or less a stand-in if someone else was suddenly unable to show.

This filly was worked with and prepared to show as a yearling at halter at this stock show the second year I was in the program. I had the privilege of doing a tiny bit of work with her, just some grooming, etc. Time came for the stock show. Since I was just a standby that year, I had a lot of free time, and went to see this filly show in her class. If I remember right, I believe she won her class! That was wonderful to see.

Another "tradition" was for the students to go snow skiing one of the days of this trip. The first year, I skied, and let's just say that isn't my cup of tea!! So the second year, I skipped that, and just hung around at the stock show. What happened was, someone had bought the champion filly, and we were to deliver her to her new home nearby. So While all the other students were slaloming and getting snow-blind and sunburned, I went with the instructor to see this filly to her new home. And it struck me as we left that farm, that none of those other students got the chance to see this filly one more time. Maybe I'm just sentimental that way, but I was glad that since I had seen it born, worked with and gentled, and then shown as a champion, I was glad to sort of say "goodbye" to it in its new home. It was certainly a special treat to see that whole "cycle" of accomplishment. Better than skiing by far!