Champion Thoroughbred Fosters Orphaned Foal
Maybe it was an overwhelming maternal instinct. Or maybe it was that headstrong, competitive spirit. Brown Bess wanted another baby. Retired from life as a broodmare, the 22-year-old champion had the roam of a grassy pasture with other pensioned
- Topics: Article, Foal Care, Mare Care, Thoroughbred Racing
Maybe it was an overwhelming maternal instinct. Or maybe it was that headstrong, competitive spirit. Brown Bess wanted another baby. Retired from life as a broodmare, the 22-year-old champion had the roam of a grassy pasture with other pensioned mares and some cattle at John Harris’ River Ranch near Fresno, Calif. When a heifer unexpectedly gave birth, Brown Bess stole the newborn calf.
Champion Brown Bess with Peaceful Road’s foal. |
“She must have witnessed the birth and it set something off,” said Dr. Jeanne Bowers-Lepore, Harris Farms’ resident veterinarian. “It triggered some maternal response in Brown Bess. I don’t know if it was pheromones in the air or what. But it was very difficult to get her separated from the calf
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Debbie Arrington
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