Rizzie foaled right on schedule: one day after she was due. After a long night of watching her on the monitor, we were sure she'd foal the next day. She was restless and very uncomfortable.
But around 7:00am, Arizen calmed down. She stood and slept in her stall. At 8:30, I decided to go home to take a small nap because I didn't expect her to foal until later that night, anyway. At 11:30am, I got a phone call from my trainer saying she was pacing in her stall and I should come back.
I got to the barn and she was pacing, alright. But she was more concerned about being able to go outside in her pen than anything else. After an hour or so, she calmed down a bit so we decided to take her outside in her pen and chase her around a little to see if maybe the baby needed help getting into position. I took her outside, and she seemed completely normal. Plenty of energy and just trotted around like we do every day. After her exercise, I checked her bag and it was still huge. It hadn't gone down at all. Usually, the bag will shrink a little with exercise, but the closer she gets to foaling, the less it shrinks. This was a good sign.
Then I camped out in the big feeder in the pen for about 6 hours watching Arizen do nothing. She ate, then slept in the sun, then went into the barn to sleep some more. She was showing absolutely no signs of being in labor. She bossed around her friends a little, but nothing extreme for her. Sometimes, if they are getting ready to foal, they will chase all the other mares away from them really agressively, but besides her normal alpha mare routine of pinning her ears when they got too close, she was just dandy.
So I took a break from watching to go eat some dinner and talk with some friends. I could see her from the barn, and she was still just standing around. My trainer asked me to help her shoot some video of last year's foals and some of the new ones, too. When we were done, my trainer told me to bring Rizzie back into her stall so she could settle in for the night and hopefully have this baby. When I got to her pen to get her, she was STILL just standing there looking perfectly content! I was starting to think she would hold out another day. :(
I walked her back to her stall where her dinner was waiting. She didn't touch it. That surprised me, so I stayed and watched her a little. She immediately made two or three VERY slow circles around the middle of the stall with her head down low like she was looking for a good spot to lay down. Then I saw her water break and ran out to my trainer. By the time she got there, at 7:36pm, Rizzie was already down and starting.
Unlike last year, she pushed it out very fast. The baby was out and we were imprinting within 4 or 5 minutes. It went beautifully besides the umbilical cord breaking too soon. So it was a little messier than normal, but still a very easy birth. And for missing out on that last supply of blood, the baby was still strong as ever (which was evident by his incessant kicking in the womb, too)! It was a HUGE black colt with one white sock on his hind leg. He is a spitting image of his father with a bit more elegance in his head and neck from Rizzie! Just gorgeous! If I were in the position to buy a baby, he just might be the one!
Afterbirth pains were never Rizzie's favorite thing. She handled them much easier than last year, though. She had one really awful cramp and she could hardly walk, but we worked her through it. She accepted the baby right away this time, and was very concious of it from the start. Last year, she didn't know what to do with the baby. This year, she understood. Even so, she's not the most nurturing mother I've ever seen. She throws the nicest babies, but I don't think she's cut out to be a full-time broodmare. :)
So my trainer jokingly had regrets about selling her to me because of how nice her babies have been. But she knows she will get all the eggs she wants with the embryo transfers we agreed on. I'm counting down the days, now!
Now the baby needs a name. It has to start with "I" for the warmblood registry, like his dad Indian Artbeat. Rizzie's registered name is A Rizen Talent. He is super strong and either VERY smart or just very food motivated. He found the milk right away and stood up in one wobbley try. Lies down like a pro, too. His ears are super floppy right now, but he just has the cutest face. I'm going to try and get better pictures from my friends who were there and when I can get out there again to see him bounce around on steadier legs. I'm so happy it's over and Rizzie is too!
