Blue’s behavior was puzzling. While maiden mares will occasionally reject their foals (the Mar. 3 issue of The Blood-Horse includes an article mentioning that the dam of Kentucky Derby hopeful Stormello rejected him as a foal–he was raised by a nursemare), it’s quite unusual for an experienced broodmare to do so. Exotic Blue had been an attentive and protective mom twice before. I still couldn’t grasp what was different this time. Sure, the foal was a bit slow to find her feet–but once she did, why did Blue refuse her?

Blue is intubated for treatment–suffering from uterine bleeding and postpartum stress.

While that thought was at the back of my mind–and honestly, I was still rather annoyed with the mare–I was starting to become concerned about Blue’s condition. After nearly a year of carrying a large foal and then the physical trauma of delivery, Blue had been subjected to a couple of days of heavy sedation, multiple IM and IV medications, and stall-tying. We had really stressed her out while trying to unite her with her filly. When I came in to the barn the day after the final separation, I started to realize how much physical stress she was feeling