Raising "Mack" an Orphaned Foal
Notice Linda hasn't slept for 24 hours, and she is still in the same clothes as when she pulled "Mack" out of his mother,
I think she still has Mare Placenta in her hair and on her shirt!!! Raising Orphans is hard work!!!
This is "Mack" short for "Holy Mackerel! " at 4 days old. Mack came into Rancho Del Zorro's life very suddenly!
On October 24th with hurricane Wilma bearing down on south west Florida we received a call about a mare who was in danger of imminent foaling and needing shelter from the storm.
We picked her up and prepped her as best we could. What should of been an easy foaling quickly turned difficult. We had abnormal presentation that required manual manipulation and pulling the foal. There was no time to summon a vet so we were on our own.
Because we have been so generously stocked by the leftovers from Mount Clemmons hospital we were able to drape the mare keeping sterile fields, prep the foal, suction him and resuscitate- Thus saving both the Mare and Foal.
Unfortunately, Due to the trauma of the delivery, The mare refused to care for her foal and became aggressive towards him, The mare made a complete recovery and is back with her owners, however they were unable to meet the demands and expense of raising an orphaned foal. Mac the foal is being raised here at Rancho del Zorro until he is old enough to go to a Loving approved home.
Orphaned Foal must be fed every 20 minutes to every hour for the first few weeks of life.......Day and night!!
It is a very hard task to take on and you must have support from others as it is not something a single person can do, being a mommy horse is hard work!
The Owners and staff of Rancho del Zorro all took turns being Mack's caregivers we had "Day shift and night shift" for over 2 weeks until we finally found Mack a surrogate Mommy who accepted him as her very own.
We had tried several mares through the first few weeks but none wanted a baby or had the milk to support Mack.
Then we finally found "Coca Mocha" a older broodmare who was having a hard time giving up nursing her 4 month old colt after much hard work on Linda's part she finally got Coca Mocha to accept the baby!
"Coca Mocha" belongs to our neighbors the Jen's we appreciate them loaning her to us very much!
Natalie Jen taking her turn feeding Mack
Mack at 8 months old
Mack has grown a lot in 8 months!
He is the first to come up to you in the pasture!