MEET the NEW foal! ~ His improvement is AMAZING! ❤️

Added: 2026-05-15

[00:00:00]Good job, Prammy.

[00:00:05]You too hot.

[00:00:08]There you go.

[00:00:12]After surviving a fairly traumatizing birth last night, Prim's new little fo seems to be doing loads better. He was a bit hypoxic at birth that led him to have some lingering symptoms of being a dummy fo. After a few squeezes, it seemed to have straightened him right out, but he's still suffering from a few of the effects. He's still a little bit wobbly on his feet, and he doesn't have much interest in interacting with Prim or myself. The vet should be here any minute for his first checkup, and I'm hoping that he gives both the full and Prim a clean bill of health.

[00:01:12]In the past, really aggressive imprint training has been pretty popular. I like to have a much more hands-off approach.

[00:01:22]It will however be beneficial if he knows how to stand still just a little bit before the vet comes. He's not a very big guy. He is definitely less than 100 lb. So, he's not hard to manhandle, but it's always better if they figure out how to stand still on their own.

[00:02:08]At this point in time, I am much more worried about Prim than I am the little fo. She really got put through the ringer last night. Her birth was pretty long and exhausting.

[00:02:20]She's been staying pretty vigilant and doesn't really like it when Scarlet or Ziggy get too close to her baby. Before the vet comes and looks at these two, I am going to take a little bit of a rest with the fo so Prim doesn't get too distracted by the other horses. Since I did have to manipulate the fo a little bit, there is a possibility that she could suffer from some lingering effects. I did very quickly sanitize my hands before I reposition the hole, but it was certainly not sterile. She could have certainly gotten tiny little cuts and scrapes inside, and if bacteria enters those, we are going to be in some big trouble. She plopped her entire placenta out right on top of this guy.

[00:03:09]And after I checked it, it looked like it was complete. So, I'm not too worried about any of that being retained and causing problems. But just the fact that I did have to stick both of my arms inside her presents a bit of a worry.

[00:03:25]She's also been feeling pretty uncomfortable. She got some anti-inflammatories last night right after the birth. She might need to get a few more doses just so she's not too uncomfortable to nurse this little guy. I've noticed in addition to sometimes being a little bit wobbly on his feet, he does not have the coordination to lay down sometimes. I'm hoping that this is all going to improve as he is out in the real world. He's only about 12 hours old at this point, so really he hasn't had much time to improve. When he was born, he did have a little bit of raspiness to his lungs, but that seems to have cleared up. I tried really hard to get as much milk into this guy as I possibly could last night. Prim should have really good colostrum, and it's pretty important that FO get it as soon as possible. Even though the vet is coming out, we are now past the window where this little guy could get oral colostrum.

[00:04:32]It is pretty standard practice now to have your FO's IGG tested right after birth. This number ensures that the FO got a good amount of antibodies for passive transfer. Failure to do so results in a fo that is susceptible to a lot of nasty bugs and they tend to decline really quickly. If this guy's numbers were low, he would have to get a plasma infusion. So, I'm hoping that they're high enough that we don't have to go through all that. Thankfully, after a thorough checkup from the vet, both Prim and him seem to be doing perfectly normal. Of course, I am still going to keep an eye on both of them over the next week or so. There are a lot of things that could happen that would be a medical emergency.

[00:05:23]This little guy had an IGG that was over 800. So that means he did receive all the antibodies he needs. The vet said he thinks this little guy will improve over the next couple of days.

[00:05:47]I'm pretty thankful that even though her birth was quite the ordeal, Prim and the baby seem to be doing fine. He is a little bit small, but he does seem to be fully developed. He has nice straight legs, pretty good musling, and everything else seems to be in order until he has all of his wits about him.

[00:06:10]He is going to stay in this stall with Prim. When he has all of his bearings straight, then I'll be able to turn him out so he can stretch his legs.

[00:06:38]With a really good checkup from the vet, I am now a little bit less stressed than I was earlier today. It's really important that this little guy stays nourished. So, I will be waking up a few times throughout the night just to make sure he is still nursing. Trying to escape now, you little turd.

[00:07:03]Where you going? Hey, little one.

[00:07:10]Always getting to the milk.

[00:07:13]I only have one bucket in with Prim, and that is so she can drink without the risk of this little dude drowning in a big giant water bucket. It also lets me monitor her water intake a little bit better when I can refill it multiple times during the day.

[00:07:38]I've been getting a lot of questions about what I have been feeding Prim.

[00:07:43]I've slowly switched her over from the Grow and Win product to this growth formula feed. The amount of feed that you have to get lactating mayors to eat is pretty significant. Once the baby's out, they basically need twice as much.

[00:08:01]Ziggo, run some food, Ziggo.

[00:08:06]I want to make sure that Prim is producing enough for both her and the baby to stay healthy. I noticed a little bit of a decline in her interest in food, but I'm pretty sure that has to do with the fact that her belly definitely still hurts her. I'm going to keep an eye on her throughout the day and if she seems too painful again, then she'll get another dose of that anti-inflammatory.

[00:08:35]Hello.

[00:08:39]>> A few hours after this little dude was born, we got a rogue snowstorm and the temperature dropped a ton. Last night it was also around freezing, so he has been wearing his little blanket. It's pretty important for these little guys that can't control their body temperature to stay warm at night. At this age, these little horses are still growing a ton every day. It is a lot harder for them to grow properly when they are freezing cold all the time. Once it warms up a little later on in the day, I'll go ahead and take his blanket off. But anytime the forecast is below 40°, this dude is going to wear his fancy blanket.

[00:09:23]>> I'm so glad I listened to the breeder and got the smallest one they make because he is definitely still swimming in it.

[00:09:30]>> It's pretty cute.

[00:09:31]>> I haven't had the ability to weigh him, but he is pretty small for a full.

[00:09:38]>> He is definitely wide like his mama.

[00:09:41]Prim is not used to eating a high volume of hard feed. So eating enough to keep her baby sustained might be a little bit tricky. She is still getting free choice alalfa 24/7.

[00:09:55]She is also still getting a vitamin and mineral supplement along with some flax seed oil and extra vitamin E. Since I'm running so low on hay, the rest of the horses are still getting mash a few times a day. It's certainly not ideal, especially when I'm so darn tired. They get three mash meals a day and then at night they are getting regular hay. I need to check with the producer, but they may start cutting very soon. I've got enough pellets to last for the rest of the month, but the sooner I can go back to feeding regular hay, the better.

[00:10:35]This blanket off, mama.

[00:10:40]Hey, little one. Let me get you.

[00:10:42]>> This guy has one little white foot and you can actually see a bit of a red ring on his hoof. That is from his difficult birth and when he did not have enough oxygen. I'm going to keep an eye on it, but I think now that we're on the right track, he shouldn't have any trouble with it. He is still getting a lot of really good naps, and I can tell that he's pretty darn tired all the time.

[00:11:13]He is not the most graceful little thing on his feet yet, but he seems to be able to find the milk on his own.

[00:11:20]>> I don't think so.

[00:11:22]>> I have not let Huckleberry meet him yet because he doesn't seem to be fully aware of what's going on quite yet. It's nice to be able to see him without his little blanket on. Leading up to Prim's birth, I did not know the sex or the color of the fo. Honestly, in my mind, I was kind of expecting a Philly and for some reason, a palamino, but I'm pretty excited to have a colt that appears to be the exact same color as Prim. Something really important that I've already done a few times already is dip this guy's navl. I like to use a chlorohhexodine solution instead of iodine. It doesn't dry up the stump quite as quickly, but it provides a lot wider coverage.

[00:12:10]I'm trying really hard to keep it as clean as possible in this little foing stall, but baby horses tend to get into any kind of filth they can find. I gave this guy an enema last night because he was having some trouble passing that very first hard poop that horses have.

[00:12:28]I'm going to continue to monitor his outputs. Sometimes it can look like these boy horses are constipated when they're having trouble urinating. I've already seen him pee twice on camera, but I want to check it out in real life.

[00:12:44]With him on track healthwise, I'm starting to notice a few more things about this little dude. I was really surprised to see that he had two beautiful blue eyes when he came out.

[00:12:55]This can be a normal color for a fool and then they change later. But after talking to his sireers's owner, I've heard that there have been a few surprise blue eyes in his babies. They still are not 100% sure on the genetics of blue eyes and horses. It is a lack of pigment in the iris that can be caused from a number of different things. Prim has light brown eyes and I'm expecting them to change that same color over the next couple of months, but it'll be really interesting to see if they maybe stay that really pretty blue color. Now that he's out, I can pull some main hairs and send it in and see what his genetics say. I'm pretty confident that he is the exact same color as Prim right now. He does have a faint dorsal stripe, but it seems to be disappearing.

[00:13:57]Neither Prim nor his sire carry any dun jeans, so he definitely is not a true dun. There is a new gene that can be present in buck skins called the ND1 gene, and those horses can look like they do have a dorsal stripe. This little dude has no leg barring, so I'm pretty confident that that stripe is going to disappear when he sheds out his baby hair. It may not look like his legs are black, but if you look very closely, you can see that they are a different color than his body. His mane and tail are black. He has the tips of his ears black as well.

[00:14:34]>> Not the right spot.

[00:14:36]All right, good on you, little dude. I was pretty excited to catch this guy peeing. There is the possibility that some horses can continue to urinate through their uracus. It is a little bit of a shock when you see urine coming out of what is essentially their little belly button.

[00:14:58]It's more common in colts than phillies.

[00:15:01]So, it's something that I always keep an eye out for. With the stress and sleepless nights of waiting for a baby horse now finished, there are a few things that I am really looking forward to. One of them is putting up the fence for my fabulous garden. After looking at where our septic system runs, this area right here is going to be perfect. I'm going to have a pretty large area devoted to plants out here. And hopefully since it's technically in our yard, Huckleberry will be able to keep track of all of the prairie dogs. This is a project that I'm pretty excited to get started on.

[00:15:46]Hey Pim, how's your baby?

[00:15:52]He is really sleeping. Mama, what's wrong with him?

[00:15:57]Every once in a while, I catch this little dude in a very deep sleep, and it scares me. I myself have been taking some pretty serious naps, so I can definitely relate to this little guy.

[00:16:12]I've been pretty busy with the other horses, so I haven't really gotten to spend too much time with him yet. I really don't want to disrupt his normal schedule of napping and eating, but I do tend to sit with him a little bit in the morning and a little bit in the evening when all of the chores are done.

[00:16:38]Oh, Moody really snooting you.

[00:16:46]Hi, Mayor.

[00:16:53]His appetite seems to be getting better and better, and Prim doesn't seem too upset by his nursing, even if he is pretty aggressive sometimes.

[00:17:05]A little wobbly.

[00:17:08]Good girl.

[00:17:10]Good girl, Prim.

[00:17:17]I'm not sure if Prim really doesn't like her food or if I need to switch it to a different area of her stall. It might take a little troubleshooting to get her in the perfect spot to feed without having to worry about this guy.

[00:17:39]Hello.

[00:17:41]Hello.

[00:17:45]It's a nice boy.

[00:17:51]That's a nice boy. Want me to give you a little scratch?

[00:17:57]Today it seems like there is a little bit of extra exploration going on with this guy. He was all business before, just eating and napping, but now I can tell he's got a lot more energy to partake in a few little shenanigans.

[00:18:14]A lot of people still like to get their hands all over these baby horses, but I'm going to try and just let this guy come to me.

[00:18:22]>> If he wants to investigate me and get a few little scratches, then that is totally fine. And if he'd rather get milk and take a nap with his mama, that is also okay. Girl Pram poops are looking good.

[00:18:40]She won't let you near the baby. She won't even let you see him.

[00:18:47]Oh, Zig.

[00:18:49]Ziggy is pretty upset that Prim will not let him near her full. I did not really expect him to be so excited about the new baby >> doing down there.

[00:19:03]>> I have seen a few improvements today, but he still seems to be a bit on the wobbly side.

[00:19:10]>> It was really exciting that he did come over to me a few times just to investigate me. After struggling for a while, I also decided to help him out with an itchy spot he had.

[00:19:25]What are you two doing? Get you right in your butt scratched.

[00:19:32]There's not too much in here that will get him dirty, but it's probably a little bit annoying to be wearing that blanket at night.

[00:19:42]You're the cutest.

[00:19:45]After a brief scratch session, it looks like this little guy needs more nutrients. Going in for milk.

[00:19:54]You're a good peer.

[00:19:59]It's pretty excited every time I see him pee or take a little milk poop. Brim doesn't seem to be interested in eating too much today, but she really does love these treats. I moved her food to the opposite end of the stall, and it seems like she still has to follow this baby over when the other horses come to greet him. I may just move her food back down here so she can eat and watch the baby.

[00:20:27]It doesn't seem like a very big deal, but if Prim is not getting the calories she needs because she's too distracted by the other horses, it's going to be a big deal for the baby. It drives me absolutely crazy when people show brood mayors and they are in such terrible condition that their spines and hips are sticking out.

[00:20:53]Time for dinner, Nigel. A brood mayor being emaciated after foing is not a normal occurrence, and it annoys me to no end when people just don't feed their horses correctly. I had a few comments about Prim looking super plump, and she is actually in perfect condition in my opinion. She's a really muscular mayor to begin with and she really is not actually fat at the moment. She's providing the super cute new baby with all of the nutrients she needs. And after switching her over to the new growth feed, I'm having trouble getting her to eat the amount that she should.

[00:21:36]Hopefully over the next couple of days, she'll get used to it and she'll feel more comfortable eating next to Scarlet and Ziggy when they come to visit.

[00:21:47]You still have food.

[00:21:50]I think I might have to figure out a solution so Ivar and Tiny can get access to food 24/7.

[00:21:58]They're driving me a little bit crazy because they ask for extra snacks every time I see them throughout the day. We have some pretty crafty mag pies around here. And I've actually watched them steal cat food over the last couple of days. So, anywhere I leave cat food out has to be impenetrable to those birds.

[00:22:19]It's kind of wild how your outlook can change daytoday with these tiny little horses.

[00:22:26]Prim is still a little bit down and out.

[00:22:29]But this little guy seems to be bouncing back pretty good. Instead of just doing a medical checkup with Prim every morning and evening, I now am grooming her as well. When the baby wiggles in to get brushed, I also brush him if he stands still. I've noticed that today he definitely has more energy, and it shouldn't be too long before he's racing around Prim. He really is rooting around her belly a bit too much and I think it is getting too painful for her this evening. I'm going to go ahead and give her another dose of anti-inflammatories.

[00:23:06]This little dude is getting pretty rambunctious, but she needs to continue to allow him to drink. Compared to earlier this morning, this little guy has definitely turned over a new leaf. I haven't thought too hard about what I'm going to name him. I think I need to see what kind of horse he's going to be.

[00:23:28]Right now, he is definitely still recovering from his traumatic birth. And bit by bit, I can see his little personality coming out.

[00:23:41]He is much more curious than he has been. And he seems to be pretty interested in everything that I have.

[00:23:49]scratch you.

[00:23:50]>> Including my human hands for scratching.

[00:23:57]Look at that swirl.

[00:24:00]One thing I have noticed is he does have some crazy swirls on him. He's got a few on his face and neck that are not really something that you see too much of. It also appears that he has a double swirl on his forehead, >> which really doesn't bother me. I have quite a few horses with some crazy swirls, but it could mean in the future that I get to deal with a horse that has two dueling personalities.

[00:24:31]Right now, he's pretty manageable. But as he grows and he learns about more of the world, it could cause a problem.

[00:24:39]>> I can't be scratching on your baby.

[00:24:45]Since I was really convinced that Prim's Full was going to be a Philly, I haven't thought too hard on any boy names.

[00:24:54]He's got milk poop.

[00:24:57]That's good for me.

[00:24:59]I probably get a little bit over excited about seeing this baby poop, but it's pretty important to keep everything moving through. After being on the ranch for a few days, it's pretty apparent that all of the animals are pretty excited to meet this new addition.

[00:25:20]Okay.

[00:25:31]Prim is normally a little bit of a wiggly horse to give medications to.

[00:25:36]She's got a big strong neck that she really tenses up whenever you try and poke her. It's pretty important that she gets her medicine tonight so she can nurse without any pain. But her fool decided it would be the perfect time to start wreaking havoc.

[00:26:03]A brief pause in his new found energy allowed me to get Prim the medication she needed and continue her daily exam.

[00:26:12]Twice a day, I still check her temperature and look for any abnormal discharge. Those would be the two biggest sign that something is going on internally with her that needs immediate veterinary attention.

[00:26:40]During our grooming session, it was pretty interesting to see the bull come over and get interested in also being groomed. I'm not going to force him to be my friend at this point, but it's pretty cool when he comes over and offers to spend extra time with me.

[00:27:08]It's going to get chilly again tonight, so it is important that he is still staying warm. He's not super wiggly to get his blanket on, but it's not the most easy task to get done.

[00:27:40]The improvements that this little guy has made just over the last 12 hours have been pretty amazing. He's acting more and more like a normal fool, and it's been really nice to interact with him a few times today. He's staying pretty respectful so far. He may just not have the energy for shenanigans yet.

[00:28:01]Prim herself is a pretty opinionated mayor and I was expecting her f to be the same way, but only time will tell if he takes after her or his daddy girl.

[00:28:17]One of the added perks to having a security system on these two 247 is that I can check in on them anytime.

[00:28:27]Early this morning, I kept getting alerts on my phone that there was some extreme movements happening. I was really surprised to see this little dude racing around, jumping and bucking and trying to get Ziggy to play with him. I hadn't really thought too hard about getting this guy turned out, but today might be the perfect day to let him stretch his legs. Huckleberry and the cats also seem to have a growing interest in this little horse.

[00:28:57]Huckleberry is very good around all of the horses, but I don't know that he's ever met one this young before. What do you think, Ivar?

[00:29:07]Ivar was also a little bit too suspicious to get too close.

[00:29:12]What are you eating? Hey. Ew, baby horse poop. No, leave it. Come on. Having a magical moment. Huckleberry had me completely fooled all this time. I thought he wanted to see the new horse when in reality he was only interested in eating its poop. Come on, little one.

[00:29:32]Come take a nap.

[00:29:37]Since I've gotten him in a little routine, now he'll come over and lay down and take a short little nap with me in the morning and the evening. He doesn't want to snuggle too close, but the fact that he's learned this routine pretty quickly is impressive for such a young horse. I moved Prim's feeding station back over to its normal spot, and that has helped her appetite a ton.

[00:30:01]I think she likes that she can stand between Scarlet and Ziggy and the fool.

[00:30:06]I'm hoping after a few more days that Prim won't mind so much when the other horses are close to her baby. Otherwise, she's going to get pretty exhausted.

[00:30:18]The last couple of days, this little dude looked a little bit frail, but I've noticed just today he has started to gain a lot more muscle mass. Instead of being pointy through his shoulders and hips, he is getting a lot more round.

[00:30:35]After birth, a fo will gain 1 to three pounds a day. During the first month, they actually double in size, so their nutritional requirements are pretty serious.

[00:30:48]I've been hoping to do quicker checks with Prim and today was the first day I took her temperature without tying her up. She stood pretty well and I think in the future she's just going to get better and better with this. I'm feeling a lot better that these two are going to be okay. What are you doing out here?

[00:31:07]I know boy. Watch out. Better run.

[00:31:14]You shouldn't do that. Come on. Come on.

[00:31:19]every day. Of course, I still have a lot of things to do with the other horses, but it's nice to take little breaks here and there and play with the new horse, even if he is getting more sassy by the day.

[00:31:51]Get more scratches.

[00:31:55]Come on, little one.

[00:32:01]He seems to be getting pretty darn coordinated with those long legs of his.

[00:32:07]Getting a brand new baby horse out in the right turnup setup can be a bit tricky. Oh, >> I don't want to turn him out on a big giant pasture, but it looks like he's going to need a lot more room to stretch his legs and run around.

[00:32:39]Just a few short days ago, this guy was really struggling. But with enough naps and snacks, it seems like this guy has finally taken a turn.

[00:33:04]Tomorrow, I think, is going to be the perfect day to get him out and let him stretch his legs a little bit.

[00:33:20]me.

[00:33:22]Come on.

[00:33:43]Come on. Watch out, little dude.

[00:33:53]Thank you guys so much for watching and stay tuned for the next video.