“While my husband and I were on vacation from our horse boarding facility, Royal Crest Ranch, we received a call from the equine manager,” said Christine. “‘Everything is fine’, she began, then added that we had a new ‘arrival’. I was not sure what she meant because we had an average of 25 boarders,
who brought their friends, family and horses to the ranch.
One of our boarder’s horses had foaled (had a baby) but, sadly, despite an emergency C-section the mother died and we had an orphan colt on our hands. The cute as a button, big, brown-eyed, not-so-little, chestnut and white, had an adorable topknot for his forelock. ‘Knick’ was born just in the ‘nick of time' and he had the cutest little horse knicker.
Knick needed around-the-clock bottle feeding and
a lot of TLC. It was easy to find his stall because of the amount of spectators and helpers gathered around it. And! The "It's a Boy!" sparkling balloon.
The poor little fellow not only lost his Mommy, but was born with crooked front legs. Luckily the vet said that Knick's legs could be straightened manually and that the colt would grow strong and sound.
The vet arrived, put Knick's tiny legs into splints, and gave him an IV in his thin neck -- while all our
boarders lined up. They couldn't wait to take bottle feeding shifts (which there was going to be many), spelling someone else from the cherished chore, or making coffee for the all-night crew.
It was wonderful having so many ready, willing and capable of caring for the orphan especially since the old adage, "He eats like a horse" is also true for a colt and Knick was no exception! Bottle feeding is not a 100% substitute for Mommy's milk, but where do you magically
find a lactating mare? Let alone one that would accept a strange little guy wearing horsey body armor?
How we found a surrogate mom for baby Nick demonstrates how unseen angels work on our behalf. Numerous trainers, instructors, competitors, vets, boarders, generic animal-lovers, etc. began sharing the colt’s plight in hopes of finding help. The power of word-of mouth reaped a miracle. Way down the network line someone mentioned a friend’s horse had lost
her foal and was so grief-stricken that she was sleeping on her baby’s grave. If it hadn’t been for networking, who knows how Knick’s story would have ended?
The distraught mare was driven over to meet Knick in the hopes of her being his new and easier milk dispenser (and, of course, his step-mommy).
Nobody knew if the mare would accept the orphan or not. This kind of introduction is fraught with dangers based on the foal's size and agility. If a
mare does not like a baby, then it does not stand much of a chance of getting out of her way if she expresses a negative opinion about raising an instant child. Especially little Knick, with his legs splinted. He could be in grave danger.
The mare was unloaded from her trailer. She turned around. Everyone held their breath, not able to guess which way this introduction was about to go.
The second that the mare saw ‘our baby’, instead of pinning her
ears back and striking out at him with one of her powerful front legs, she stopped, sniffed, whinnied, softly knickered, and licked him! It was a match made in heaven for them both! And for us. We had a plethora of people willing to help tend Nick in his time of need, but this new Mommy was the healthiest answer for Nick.
The mare's name? Angel. She surely was living up to her name!
It was obvious as the days rolled by and little Knick grew bigger and
bigger with the gift of Angel’s milk and attention that Angel and Knick loved each other.
When Knick's splints came off, weeks later, he had to relearn how to walk without stick legs, so - understandably - he took quite a few horsey nose dives.
Over the years his legs grew strong and straight and much longer as predicted.
There is a little caveat to this tale: A 90 year old man had three horses that he could no longer care for, so he had
to sell them at auction. He loved them so much that he made a point to meet each person who bought his horse to tell them about that individual. He told the buyer, who bought one of his beloved mares, that she had been pastured with a stallion and there was a good chance that she was pregnant at age 25. That mare is our Angel.”
