On Thursday in this excerpt from the Eclipse Press book Equine ER by Leslie Guttman, Quarter Horse mare Surely Awesome was able to deliver her foal, Sophie, despite the placenta prematurely separating from the uterus … and despite the fact that Surely Awesome was still mending from a shattered long pastern bone. Now, the big question is whether Surely Awesome can mend all the way without getting laminitis. We continue with Surely Awesome’s story: 

Dr. Al Ruggles’ nine-year-old daughter nicknamed the foal Sophie. She was a joyful filly, and liked to run around the stall she shared with her mom kicking up her hind legs. Blackburn decided to keep the baby with the mom instead of sending her to a nurse mare at a local farm. It was a difficult decision because that would mean the foal would be cooped up in the stall, possibly becoming underdeveloped. But it was difficult to monitor a foal’s physical and mental well being with a nursemare from so far away. Because of Surely Awesome’s equanimity, neither Blackburn nor Ruggles thought the foal would put stress on Surely Awesome by nursing.

Sophie was a joyful, frisky foal