How the stallion breeder handled this situation.
While all the heartache of losing my beautiful baby (my daughter named Flicka) was going on; it didn't occur to me what was going to happen next.
I contacted the breeder and she did inform me that her stallion had been tested and confirmed for lethal white. What she didn't know was if the results had been back at the time we bred my mare. Her opinion was that I knew about the disease and was willing to take the 25% chance that I could end up with a lethal white baby.
I assured her that I did not know those risks and knowing the risks I would not have chosen another Overo. I most certainly would have chosen a Tobiano stud. She let me know that there is a live foal guarantee and that a lethal white baby is not considered a live foal. I then asked if what that did mean for me as my mare was no longer alive and my Quarter Horse mare was already at the breeder's. I had no other mares or options.
Kim was very flexible. She told me that I could "lease" a mare, have a baby already on the ground or she had a mare that had not yet foaled. The colt on the ground was going to possibly have dental issues, I could not afford the lease option so we worked out a deal for me to take the baby that had not yet been born.
After many discussions, I asked about bringing the mare to my property for foaling. Many people thought I was crazy. This option made me responsible for feeding, vet care, hoof care, and all other daily management of the mare. My thoughts were; if I had the mare, I could control the nutrition of the mare and foal as well as get to immediately bond (imprint) with the baby.
We trekked over 2 hours to pick up Ginger and here is the beautiful gift we received about a month later...
I was supposed to wean Misty around Thanksgiving and return the mare, however, I received a call from Kim in October saying that she was ill and having to reduce her herd. For a very small fee would I like to keep Ginger? Needless to say, we now have two additions instead of our one.
Please do not misunderstand this post; there is nothing that will ever replace the beautiful Flicka for me.
I would also like to thank the breeder for her support during this very difficult time for me. I am just sorry that a life was lost due to my lack of knowledge.
9 comments:
That's good that the breeder what reputable. That's the way it should be. I'm glad that you didn't end up with nothing after such heartache.
The baby is adorable and it is so nice you now have her mom as a new addition also.
Thank you both for your kind words. I am happy with the new additions but wish I had known better.
You've just been tagged for a "meme". Come on over for the rules.......It's fun!
HELP! I am new to blogging and have not learned how to link back yet...anyone able to walk me through?
Hi, I needed a lesson in linking also so MiKael from rising rainbow,sent me these instructions, they helped me, I hope they help you:
Linking back is good for your rankings in the search engines so readers can find you. So I'll give you a quick lesson in case you want to try.
In the field where you put the text for your blog, type the name of the person you want to link to, then highlight it. Leaving it highlighted go up to the tool bar and click on the tool that looks like a link, that will bring up a pop-up window to type in the link. Fill it in and click OK and you have a hyperlink included in your blog. The only exception would be if you have pop-ups blocked. If that is the case, you should get a message that asks if it's ok. Once you fix that you should be good to go.
THANK YOU!
Now I have to find people that have not been tagged. :)
please don't tag me! i just wanted to say, after reading the tragic story of your lethal white baby, that you aren't alone in feeling the way you do. i had a horse that slowly and mysteriously deteriorated over the years, and none of the many vets we brought him to had any idea what was wrong. it wasn't until several years later, after the horse had already passed, that i recognized all of his symptoms beginning in another horse - but this time it had a diagnosis: lyme disease. i wish i had known then what i know now about that disease, because i might have saved my poor horse a lot of suffering. i beat myself up over it for not being better informed, for not getting more opinions, etc. it's definitely not easy, but at the very least i know i will never let it happen again, and i try to make other owners aware so they can avoid the mistakes i made. small consolation to my one horse, but a relief to all the others who have been successfully treated! if anything good can come of something like your experience, i hope it will be educational to other breeders. congratulations on your new mom and baby - they are beautiful and i wish you all the best with them!
jme-thank you for your comments! I am so sorry that you lost your horse to lyme's and then had another horse with it. I hope all is well with your horses now.
One question...does the lyme vaccine work or is it iffy?
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