After Weeks in Hospital… Sapphire & Iris Are Coming Home 🐴

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:00]Today is a really big day. We're here at Rainbow Ecquin Hospital to pick up Sapphire in the fall. She's been on a real journey. The fall when it arrived was very, very poorly. It's now in rude good health. We need to make sure that we keep feeding it as they're doing now.

[00:00:16]And hopefully it'll continue to prosper, continue to do well and stay with Sapphire and hopefully learn good manners, good behavior, and um and and put plenty of weight on and enjoy the summer, which is probably what we're all looking to do. Apparently, the first thing I need to do is have a lesson in how to feed it. And apparently, she's a bit of a madam. She's a bit feisty and she likes to spill the milk occasionally.

[00:00:44]>> Right. I'm here with Astrid and I'm getting a little bit of a lesson in milking horses. So, we've got Sapphire and and Sapphire is really crucial to to this phase of the program because we're using her milk mixed with a formula milk to keep our little fo going. Now, I'm sure you've you've done quite a bit of horse milk in here, Astrid.

[00:01:05]>> I have. Yes.

[00:01:06]>> Yeah. And is she good to milk? Has she been >> She's lovely. She doesn't move, >> right?

[00:01:11]>> Yeah. No, she's very nice.

[00:01:13]>> Right. So she's she's done cannon all farm proud then. She's been well behaved.

[00:01:17]>> She has.

[00:01:17]>> Oh, good. Good. So the the process is Astrid is milking sapphire. We then mix that milk with some formula milk. We then put it in a bowl, give it to that little fo who will soon get a name and the fo will hopefully drink it from the bowl, get none of it on its lungs and continue to grow and prosper when she comes home to Canon North. Cuz that's what we're doing today. We're bringing her home. The the plan with sapphire and a fall is for them to to live in close proximity to spend time out together, but the fo will will need sort of um a mouth guard on so that it can't suckle from sapphire. The problem that we've got is the fo has not mastered the art of suckling and when it does so it gets milk on its lungs, gave it pneumonia and we can't afford for that to happen again. So this is going to have to be a carefully managed process and one that we're prepared to invest time in. These guys have done brilliantly to get that fall to the point it is today. All we've got to do is continue that process, look after Sapphire at the same time, and hopefully get to the end of the summer with a a well- behaved foe and a contented mar.

[00:02:28]Right, that's all the milk off Sapphire.

[00:02:30]Astrid's mixed it with some 4m milk now.

[00:02:33]So, this is where I get my crash course in full feeding via um a bowl.

[00:02:40]So, is there is there a knack to this?

[00:02:41]Oh, no.

[00:02:42]>> Oh, she knows.

[00:02:43]>> Yeah.

[00:02:45]>> And I usually just >> So, it even drinks it right from down at the floor.

[00:02:52]>> Look at that.

[00:02:53]>> And you just top her up.

[00:02:56]>> Well, that to me looks I'm sure there's a knack to it and I'm sure you're really good at it, but that looks like a job that's not too ownorous for the middle of the night. It's not giving me sleepless nights thinking about it.

[00:03:09]>> No, no, no, no, no. She She had to learn. But once she's learned.

[00:03:14]>> Yeah.

[00:03:14]>> She was straight.

[00:03:15]>> So So you've done the hard bit by teaching her. All I've got to do is keep that ball full.

[00:03:19]>> It It was a teamwork effort.

[00:03:21]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:03:22]>> You can see here it's coming out of her nostril a bit.

[00:03:27]>> All right.

[00:03:28]>> We're not there yet. H.

[00:03:31]>> So she's still a little bit of a sloppy feeder then.

[00:03:34]>> Still, >> right? But she's she's emptied that bowl pretty much >> just a little bit.

[00:03:40]>> Yeah. It's a bit hard for for her to get get the end bit. But that's just because of the shape of the bowl.

[00:03:45]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:03:48]>> So you call her Milky Way.

[00:03:50]>> Yeah.

[00:03:50]>> We've got to give her a a permanent name. But she's going home with a with a full tummy. So uh so when will she need feeding again? That's the big question.

[00:04:00]>> Um >> how many how many hours between?

[00:04:02]>> 2 hours would be ideal. Uh now it depends on the travel time. I'll maybe get her settled at home. But >> yeah, >> um yeah, that's what we do here. 2 hours during the day, 4 hours um at night.

[00:04:14]>> Right. Right. And she's obviously done well, hasn't she? We can see the difference in now. So if we just repeat that process, hopefully she'll continue to prosper.

[00:04:22]>> Hopefully.

[00:04:23]>> Yeah.

[00:04:27]>> Right. That's her fed. It's time to get her loaded up now. So hopefully we can get her on board easily. And hopefully we've got a nice open road to sail back to Barnsley and get her uh get her bedded down ready for a restful night back in Coron.

[00:04:44]Good girl.

[00:04:47]Oh then. Come on. She's such a good mom, isn't she?

[00:04:50]>> She loves her. She stands there all day with her head over the door.

[00:04:54]>> Yeah.

[00:04:56]>> She get because anytime you see her, she's just watching.

[00:05:01]Good.

[00:05:03]So, what way are you traveling?

[00:05:05]>> Uh, well, the F will go in the front, >> but it might be worth I I'll see if I can get the the mayor on first.

[00:05:19]>> Come on. Walk on. Walk on.

[00:05:23]Good girl. Good girl. Good girl.

[00:05:28]Good girl. Good girl.

[00:05:31]Good girl.

[00:05:33]Come on. Good girl, >> mommy.

[00:05:36]>> Good girl.

[00:05:37]>> No. No. That's weird.

[00:05:39]>> Come on. Come on.

[00:05:40]>> This is just one mess.

[00:05:41]>> I just think you don't need to look for >> No.

[00:05:44]>> for issues, do you?

[00:05:46]>> One less.

[00:05:46]>> Oh god.

[00:05:47]>> Opportunity.

[00:05:48]>> Yeah. If it gets a leg caught or something.

[00:05:52]>> Yeah. You'll be straight.

[00:05:53]>> Yeah. Exactly.

[00:05:54]>> And you've had your quoted back.

[00:05:57]>> No.

[00:05:59]feels great to be uh to be taking Sapphire home and and she is a great mom and she deserves to to Ria this fall and whilst it's not conventional and it's not what normally happens between us, we're going to make sure it it does well and that she's going to get the joy of motherhood for the rest of the summer.

[00:06:19]We've we've brought Rainbow a a big problem yesterday, but we're we're taking one away today. So hopefully these two are going to do really well. Hopefully the news on Ruby will be positive. Um but all we can do is is is make tomorrow the best it can be and and hope that lady look shines down on us in the future.

[00:06:48]Right back to Barnsley.

[00:06:51]Don't spare the horses.

[00:07:02]Right, we're back in Barnsley. Job now is to get Sapphire off the trailer, get the fall off, hopefully keep them nice and calm, get them into a joining pens, mix some milk, and hopefully that fall will drink as readily for us as it did for the team at Rainbow.

[00:07:21]Right, the plan is that it brings Sapphire off backwards and they fall off forwards and keep them all calm hopefully.

[00:07:32]Is that clear?

[00:07:34]Back.

[00:07:35]>> Yeah, >> back back. You take you take her off now.

[00:07:42]Back back.

[00:07:50]Good girl. Good girl. Now then. Good girl. Right. Straight in. You go in first.

[00:08:01]Good girl.

[00:08:04]And then that that through there.

[00:08:06]>> Come on.

[00:08:08]>> Fall through there. You shut that gate, Hannah. Once it falls through, it's it's used to being nearer and not with her, so it won't be a problem.

[00:08:20]Good girl.

[00:08:22]Sydney said he right there you go.

[00:08:26]Welcome home.

[00:08:28]Come here.

[00:08:30]Good girl.

[00:08:32]>> All right, Bubba.

[00:08:35]Right, that went well. What we've got to do now is is hope that they become relaxed in this environment. They were certainly relaxed at Rainbow. might take a little bit of time for him to get used to, but as long as they can see each other, talk to each other, communicate and and get that all important drink of milk when she needs it, then we should be okay. But we're going to work really hard to keep things consistent, keep things even, keep things normal. This is the new normal for these and we've got to make sure that it works.

[00:09:18]It's now 2 hours since since the fall had a feed and she's got some she squirts in a funny direction. So there there is a knack to this and the fall's due again now. So, but she's she's a good milking me. She's got plenty of milk. Right. Sapphire's done her bit. I've got 600 ms there. That the next job is to mix some formula and um and and this needs doing with meticulous accuracy. So, I need 160 g of 100 pound a bag horse milk.

[00:09:57]So, I'm not going to spill any.

[00:10:03]And it's important we're bang on with every measurement because through good detail there 160. Oh 161 pinching a bit. Right. Through meticulous measuring and attention to detail we hopefully will we'll rear that fall. So we're not going to leave one stone unturned. We're going to do it right.

[00:10:26]There we go.

[00:10:29]Right. Then whisk halfire's milk with the formula.

[00:10:39]Whisk again.

[00:10:46]And then pour into a bowl and then a hot oven for half an hour.

[00:10:58]So hopefully, right, and this is the acid test, that little f will drink this milk and and continue to grow and prosper. That's what we need to happen.

[00:11:08]Are you feeling hungry?

[00:11:10]>> Are you glad to be home? There you go, beautiful.

[00:11:20]So far so good. She hasn't lifted her head yet, so if she drinks that 2.2 two liters of have of have blended horse milk and and formula and then steps away and has a little nap, then we'll know that's a really good start. The team at Rainbow are brilliant at teaching horses to drink from bowls. It's something we've never done. It's an alchemy to me, but they're great at it. And all I've got to do now is follow the instructions and keep doing the same thing seven times a day for the next 17 weeks.

[00:11:52]awake.

[00:11:58]Right, that's an empty bowl. So, that's a resounding success. We'll be putting a mouth cover on so that she can run with Sapphire three times a day. We need them to maintain a strong connection. We need this fall to keep drinking like Dave on a Friday night. And hopefully, if we do everything right, we'll be rewarded with a great fall at the end of the summer.

[00:12:18]Thanks for watching. Farmer Rob with this little fall with a full tummy of milk and a satisfied farmer. See you later.