I woke up on the morning of June 20th (Father’s Day) and checked the barn cameras like I do every morning and saw that our very pregnant J was not in her stall. I jumped out of bed to catch my naughty mare but when I ran outside and looked around the corner into the indoor arena I see a mostly deflated mare standing there with a perfect foal curled up at her feet. J was only 311 days into her pregnancy, normal gestation is closer to 330-340 days with some still foaling from day 320-380. We knew she was about ready to pop but she had been showing no signs!
Imogen is out of our quarter horse mare ‘Hot Backroad Fantasy’ (J), and by Irish Draught ‘Cappa Irish Charmer’ so we decided this Irish Sport Horse filly needed an Irish name. Imogen (ɪmədʒən) means innocent but we are quickly learning that this little girl has ALL of her momma’s sass! She had a slight heart murmur, an umbilical hernia and her hind tendons were a bit lax but she passed her IgG test and was quickly unfolding!
Three days after J foaled she developed a displacement/torsion colic. It came on incredibly fast, within 5 minutes she was drenched in sweat and was throwing herself on the ground. Thanks to quick urging from our vet we took the dividers out of the trailer, loaded up mom and baby and HAULED ASS to the Myhre Clinic in Rochester, NH for emergency care. I truly thought we were going to be burying her that day, I had never seen that much pain come on so quickly. I was terrified. We were immensely lucky that J didn’t end up needing surgery but she and Imogen stayed there for three days to monitor and slowly introduce food.
After a rough first week of life both J and Imogen are home and they’re doing great! J is back to her normal feeding schedule and has just as much energy and pep as ever. Imogen’s murmur and umbilical hernia have cleared up and she’s almost totally off her heels! Keep your eye on this girl, it’s going to be so cool to watch her grow up! I have high hopes for her!
