Hope

Somethinaboutmaggi was the kind of thoroughbred mare you don't get to see very often. She
was stunning to look at, towering over me at a true 16.2 hands- and large bodied enough to look
far more like a warm blood mare. Maggi raced quite successfully, and recovered from a series of
injuries to race again. She had the heart of a champion and the sweetest disposition. When she
went into labor with her second foal, we were so excited. Maggi delivered a perfect little filly
with the longest legs. It soon became apparent though that things were not progressing
normally. From the start, the labor seemed more difficult than normal, and Maggi's contractions
continued even after she had delivered her daughter. In a series of complications, Maggi's uterus
prolapsed and then her uterine artery ruptured. We lost her just a few minutes before the vet
could arrive. We were stunned, everything had happened so fast. Maggi had tried over and over
to stand and get to her baby, but was unable to do so. Our hearts were broken, and we didn't
really even have a chance to grieve- not with this precious baby depending on us now to take
care of her.

The vet gave the foal a 50% chance of making it, and we had to start fighting right away for this
little girl. We milked what colostrum we could from Maggi and fed it to the baby in a bottle,
every drop of that helped to improve her chances of survival. The amount of antibodies that a
mare passes to her foal as a passive transfer in colostrum has a tremendous impact on that
foal's health. The vet did what he could for her, and then we began the most sleepless week of
our lives. Someone had to wake up every 90 minutes around the clock, mix up a bottle and go
down to the barn to feed the baby. At some point in the middle of that first night, we decided
that the baby's name should be Hope.

The vet came back the next day to test the baby's antibodies. If adequate passive transfer
occurs, foals should have over 400-800 mg/dl IgG in their blood stream. Hope had just under
800mg/dl, and the vet was amazed. You couldn't tell from the antibody that she was an
orphaned baby, and we became hopeful that our little miracle would survive. Over the next
week, Hope got stronger and became more active. We were concerned that she wasn't gaining
enough weight though. Her appetite improved and she was guzzling bottles as fast as we could
make them, but bottle feeding just cannot take the place of nursing and she was not gaining as
much weight as we would have liked. We started taking her for walks around the barn yard when
she was three days old, encouraging her to follow us around just like she would her mother. As
soon as she heard our voices, she would start calling for us- hungry for the next bottle and
lonely from being left on her own for an hour. We were exhausted, but madly in love with Hope.

Once it was clear Hope was going to make it, we started making plans for her future. We knew
that it would be critical to find a nurse mare for Hope, for several reasons. First, Hope needed
more round the clock care then we could provide- she needed to be able to nurse at will and
have a mom to follow around. Even giving up 80% of our sleep, we still couldn't make up for a
full time mom. Second, orphaned babies that socialize with people instead of horses learn all
the wrong skills. They grow up thinking they're human, and can become very destructive. It was
important for Hope's physical and psychological wellbeing to have an equine mom. Hope was a
late baby, and at the end of June we couldn't find any nurse mares nearby. We could bring one
in from out of state, but that is expensive and can be dangerous. Mares are very protective of
their own babies; they need to be in order to keep them safe. Trying to get a mare to accept a
foal that is not her own can be very difficult. We spoke with people who had had foals injured by
their nurse mare, and the vet cautioned a long and slow introduction process. It would take two
people to feed Hope this way- one to restrain the mare and one to be ready to snatch the baby
out of harm's way. We made the decision to try to wean one of our own mares slightly early, and
see if we could get her to adopt Hope.

Tavi is another retired racehorse, one with an impressive lineage. She's also the best and most
attentive mother we've ever seen. Her baby Cora was Hope's half sibling, the amazing Friesian
stallion Keegan is the sire of both fillies. Cora was a little younger than we normally wean, but
old enough for it to be safe for her. We made arrangements for Cora to go and stay with Keegan
and his owner Emily in order to try and get Tavi to accept Hope. We were really nervous about
the whole process, and so afraid that Hope might get injured. As it turned out, we didn't have
any reason at all to worry. When Hope was a week old, we were taking her for a walk around the
yard and Tavi saw her over the fence. Tavi called to the little baby, and Hope called back. Tavi
came trotting up to the fence, Cora in tow, and continued to nicker to baby Hope. We decided to
let Hope approach and see what would happen. Tavi amazed all of us by sniffing Hope from head
to toe, and then beginning to lick her. After a few minutes of introduction, Hope started calling
back to Tavi, and Tavi swung around sideways to Hope, clearly encouraging her to nurse through
the fence. We couldn't believe it!

I put a halter on Tavi, and Julie led Hope into the pasture. It took Hope a very long time to
figure out how to nurse- she could smell the milk but she kept looking for a bottle and seemed
very confused! Eventually Hope figured it out, but this entire time Tavi stood patiently still,
waiting. She did not display any of the aggressive behavior that the vet and others had
cautioned us about. Tavi just seemed to look at Hope, say 'where's your mother?', and then
adopt her as her own. For the next few days, Tavi nursed both Hope, and her own foal. We
continued to supervise, because although Cora loved her little sister at first sight- she was so
much bigger than Hope that she could easily knock her over without meaning to. She was also
big enough to push Hope out of the way while she was nursing. Because of this, and because we
were afraid that nursing two foals would be a drain on Tavi, we did go ahead and send Cora off
to stay with her Dad for a while.

A week after Hope was born, she had a new Mom that loved her very much and she began to fill
out overnight. A month later, you couldn't tell Hope apart from any other baby her age. Except
that maybe she's friendlier than most. Baby Hope has been a miracle and a blessing for us. We
still miss Maggi, but we are thankful to have so much of her still with us in baby Hope. The older
she gets, the more Hope looks like her birth Mother. She has become best friends with her sister
Cora, and her adopted Mother Tavi still looks after her in the field. We look forward to all the
amazing things ahead with Hope, and for now her home is here with us. The pictures below
show baby Hope with her adoptive Mother and big sister Cora, and hanging out with the family.
We'll add more photos as she grows up. Hope's story has been an inspiration for us, which is
why we wanted to share it with you.