Welcome, Cherise!

Friday, May 20 greeted us like this:

We weren’t expecting a cria this soon (late August, early September was the earliest), and we were caught unprepared. No scale, no solution to wash the belly button, no emergency colostrum, no bottles.

Peggy-O had “abandoned” her first cria, so we were on high alert. The little one was quick to get up, but did not want to nurse. We were worried that Peggy-O didn’t have enough milk, or some other problems. At any rate, the cria was not getting the colostrum it needed to start its immune system.

After spending most of the day stressed, we headed for the Purdue Farm Hospital. Alas, none of our neighbors  had a truck and trailer for us to borrow, so we loaded the crew into the back of the Impreza! I had to babysit in the back - the little cria was constantly nosediving into the space between the front seats and where the back seats folded down. 

Finally, we settled in for a little nap to make the ride go faster and with less stress…

The Farm Hospital was brand new, and the duo got to spend four nights getting care. It turns out that Peggy-O had plenty of milk and was amenable to nursing after all. The cria probably had a rough birth with too many minutes of oxygen deprivation which led to “dummy foal” syndrome. Apparently horses have this problem regularly. She got plasma infusions to get the antibodies that she missed from the colostrum and was carefully coached to start nursing. We think this probably also happened to Peggy-O’s first cria, and the farm she lived on was just far better prepared and started bottle feeding right away.

On Tuesday the 24th we picked them up again in the Subaru. Peggy-O had a lot less patience this time, but we made it work.

We finally felt like we could name the cria. The Farmer picked out Cherise, from the Grateful Dead song Rubin and Cherise. It means dear one or darling, which is spot on! We are thankful for the positive outcome and delight in Cherise’s antics and scampering about.

 

Till soon, friends! More good news is imminent…

PS If you were wondering why the baby cria was so early, apparently Peggy-O had been bred last May, and again in August. We’re not sure why she didn’t reject the second breeding. Glad Cherise is here with us now, and we don’t have to wait till August.