Ficus, the new orphan foal, is doing better

In the last post I told of losing our mare Oeke last week due to complications from foalbirth. Her baby, a colt by Mintse 384, is still in the hospital at the Virginia Tech Equine facility. We have found a nurse mare for him and brought her in from Kentucky. It looks like he will be able to bond with her and the vet techs are working with them now to have him nurse from her.

Two days ago Ficus was taken in for surgery to repair an opening between his umbilicus and urethra. The opening never sealed properly and he was suffering from a lingering infection. This procedure is very common with male foals (I think this is the third such operation in our herd) and is fairly standard. Still, you worry. He recovered well though and we hope to bring him home next week.

We named the little guy Ficus. A ficus is a plant and one version is a rubber plant (ficus elastica). Seems to suit him since he keeps bouncing back. A tough start, but welcome to the world Ficus.