Caught in the Act MF (Catch)
is a beautiful rose gray filly by Chaleon out of Britney who is by Rio Grande. Rio Grande was the leading sire of Hunters
for 2005 by USEF rankings of progeny winnings. Chaleon has been enjoying numerous wins in the First Year Green and Conformation
Hunters on the Indio Circuit.
Catch got
her names (show and barn) because I actually had to catch her and gently lower her to the ground the night she was born!!!
Earlier that evening one of our Vets had been out to do a few things, so since she was here I asked her to palpate Britney
to make sure her foal was in the proper position. Britney wasn't due for another week, plus the last two she delivered were
born a week after her due date, so I wasn't expecting her to foal soon but it is always a good idea to make sure you don't
have a possible breach. Britney's foal wasn't even in the birth canal and the Vet commented that the foal was probably
down turning in preparation for foaling in a few days. So, thinking I was in the clear I did something I NEVER do...I left
the barn before the night shift arrived and went down to the quarantine barn to throw those horses some hay and feed. I was
gone about half an hour and as I walked back into the main barn I glanced at the foaling cameras monitor and noticed that
Britney was laying down. As I watched her she jumped up, spun around with her tail up and laid down again. I thought I saw
a flash of white under her tail so I hit the ground running. As I got to her stall she was up again and pacing and turning
frantically. She was definitely in labor and something was wrong. I went into her stall, talking to her soothingly and grabbed
her from behind and wrapped my arms around her rump to try to get her to stop spinning. At this point she had forelegs sticking
out of the birth canal and I was terrified that she would hit them against the wall of the stall. The legs were sideways
and slightly up, not facing down as they should be. She seemed to understand that I was there to help her and stopped turning,
planted her back legs and stood perfectly still. I was able to push the foal back into the birth canal far enough so that
I could to turn the foal into the proper position and release the shoulder lock. At that moment Britney had a contraction,
and now that the foal was in the correct position was able to push her out with very little help from me. But....she
was still standing up!!! So she delivered this beautiful filly right into my arms!
Rio Grande competing with Eric Lamaze (2008 Olympic
Individual Gold Medal winner)
