Two hours later when the foal hadn't yet stood or nursed, I started to worry. The filly's only attempts to stand were hampered by contracted tendons in both rear legs. She couldn't plant her feet squarely, and couldn't manage to steady herself upright. Another two hours later, I had spoken to my veterinarian, Dr. Tom Daugherty of Rood & Riddle in Lexington, Ky., and he had sent a fellow practitioner to evaluate the situation. Dr. Woodrow Friend arrived just as the new filly managed to plant all four feet for the first time.
Dr. Friend urged Chris and Tabitha and me--the co-owners of the mare and foal--to release Blue and her filly in a small grass paddock outside the barn as soon as the foal had nursed. The exercise and motion would help to correct the fetlock contraction. But before that next step, the filly would need to get her first meal.
Now that the foal was up and moving around--albeit shakily, on unsteady legs and walking mostly on the points of her hind hooves--it was becoming clear that Blue's attitude had shifted, and she was looking at the foal less as "my new filly" and more as "that pain-causing stranger." Around hour five of her life, the filly started to search purposefully for her mom's udder, but Blue made a beeline for the other side of the stall as soon as her filly approached. At first it seemed like she was just sensitive and maybe nervous, but then her ears started to flatten each time the foal came near. Blue's body language started to scream "stay away if you know what's good for you."
