The Raising of Legacy.....

Newborn Legacy photograph August 2000, the beginning.

I am writing this story to hopefully help others who have an orphan or nurse mare foal to perhaps help with the raising of their 'orphan'.

Newborn Legacy photograph August 2000.
 

NT Scarlets Legacy was orphaned within hours of his birth.  His equine mom Scarlet, prolapsed her uterus, read her Memorial, links to her story and pictures in the links below Legacy's story .  Legacy date of birth is August 02, 2000 in the afternoon approximately between 3:30-3:45.    His mom would not let him nurse with good reason (for more details on the first few hours read Scarlets Story),  We did get a little colustrum in him from his mom.  But atlas,  she left her "Legacy" to carry on for her.   Yes her colt, NT Scarlets Legacy.   There are many things with Legacy that remind me of his equine mom.   For see.......  I am his mama now in his eyes as we raised him with a human baby bottle using Foal Lac milk replacer.   Yes Scarlet, your Legacy is here and he is truly a Legacy to you..  Legacy at birth was at most 3 feet tall and 50 pounds.

New born Legacy photograph August 2000.
 

Our vet helped build a  wall of hay to make a safe square area for Legacy in the aisleway (Scarlet passed away in the foaling stall so he could not be in there)  One of my children stayed out in the barn for the few hours that were left of the night to keep an eye on Legacy.  Legacy has become their 'little' brother that out grew all the kids.  .That next morning we had to go to Dr Insley's to pick up some foal lac milk replacer.  My good friend Libby drove and Legacy and I rode in the back of her Expedition with a tarp under us in case of potty accidents and a blanket/sheet to cuddle Legacy with.   Legacy was given a tetanus and E. Coli paste.  Legacy's IgG levels were good at 800 but we thought it best to give him a collostrum replacer just to ease our minds and give him the best start we could.   So off  my husband went to Salisbury to get seramune, a collostrum replacer.

Legacy photographs at 1 years old, 2001.

Legacy has been raised with a human baby bottle.  He was bottle fed every two hours for quite a while.  I have a notebook with his schedule and the dates/times milk was increased, food was introduced and more. We bought a camera for the barn so that we could 'see' what he was doing at the times we were not out there.  THAT was a lifesaver as I worried so much about what 'could' happen and while we were not out there.  My husband (none horsey husband mind you_ would feed him if he could (also since I couldn't sleep even when he was tending to him I got to catch him PLAYING in the stall with Legacy, running up and down.  LOL he said he was making sure he got his exercise)  We also had another good friend that Legacy knows as 'grandma Shirley' who took care of him the days I had to work.  Before we finally got our spoiled little boy to drink out of a bucket (yes we did try SEVERAL TIMES), he was drinking up to 64 ounces at a time!  Can you imagine filling up an 8 or so ounce human baby bottle.  And he was very picky about the kind of nipple he would drink out of as well, (he would REFUSE to drink out of any other kind!  Found that out the hard way the first time his 'nipple' collapsed on the bottle.  It did not take me long to get some extra ones of those!  So what I did was have a couple of bottles so I could have two filled and then he would have to wait a minute for me to fill the next batch up.  I used a 64 ounce container to have it all mixed up so just had to fill up the bottles.  Legacy is a joy to have.  So full of himself, he has such a fun filled personality.   To get Legacy to eat we had to put the foal lac pellets and sweet feed (and he did not like sweet feed, had to get pellets!) in his mouth until he finally got the idea after much trial and error that that stuff tasted ok and filled up a little spot in his tummy.  He did not even like the taste of Molasses!

Legacy photographs at 2/3 years old, 2002/2003.

I used to sit out in the pasture with Legacy, he would not stay out in the fresh air and sunshine unless I or someone he knew stayed out there with him.  Many a thing I have pulled from his inquisitive mouth!   I used to go out with a blanket to lay on in the pasture and read a book only to find him standing beside me to see what I was doing.   Our younger children would run and play with him as well to help him strengthen his legs and build muscle.  The would run up and down the pasture.  Play 'ring around the rosey' with the hay bale being what they ran around.   Legacy would sometimes jump the haybale as well.    He would toss his ball out of the paddock and we would toss it back in with him.  He learned grass was ok to eat once we hand fed it to him.  He would come up to me and hide behind me if scared or just come to me for 'reassurance' that all was ok.  We tried getting a young goat to keep him company.....  He preferred to be with us.    He never knew he had an equine mama.   He says I am his mama. To this day he 'looks' to me if unsure.

Legacy has a very playful personality. He learned at a very young age after watching me,  to TURN the lights on in the barn.   First time it happened I thought someone had been out in the barn and forgotten them.   The very next day the same thing happened and nobody had touched the lights.  I had to build a fence around the light switch after that!   Anything he saw me do he thought he could try and do it as well.    When he got big enough to reach the barn camera after having seen me mess with it, the little stinker got ahold of it, turned it upside down and pulled on the cord.   Then we had to put the camera up different so he could not reach it.   He absolutely LOVES to play ball.   I sent in one of his video tapes when he was a wee tyke playing ball.   He is just so funny and very determined while he is playing.  He also played with a road workers orange cone as well.  I have not put the cone out for him to play with for a long while but I am sure he still would play with it.  Legacy has learned to do tricks on command/cue.  He smiles and smiles even bigger when asked, he has the beginning of 'bow' but we have not worked on that in a while, kneeling he does on cue even sans halter and he picks up and waves the USA flag.   We plan on working on teaching him to stand on a pedistal and holding the flag.  He is a quick learner and picks up things that he is asked VERY quickly.   He will pick up his right fore by hand signal when asked as well.  There is much Legacy and I are learning together.  His newest thing to play with is his muck bucket.   He has a BLAST with it and with his stall balls.

Legacy photographs at 4 years old, 2004.

Legacy grew, filled out and has become exactly what I hoped for when I bred Scarlet to Warrier.  He has the best features of both parents blended so nicely.  He has excellent confirmation and is very mature for his age.  He has some of the old Crabbet bloodlines up close thru Scarlets Pedigree and a nice pedigree from his sires side as well.  We are hoping to train Legacy in Western Pleasure and show him.  He could excell in so many disciplines with the movement he has.    I also would like to show him in Sport horse in hand classes.
 

Legacy photographs at 5 years old, October 2005.

To quote a very good friend of mine, Michelle:  Legacy is an excellent stallion prospect in both color and  conformation.  He is the finest example of a colored part-bred colt I have  encountered on the Eastern Shore.  Having personally known another pinto
 part-arabian stallion here who was nationally ranked in the Top Ten for the  PtHA, Legacy is definently of that caliber. He is a highly intellegent  horse, who has managed to learn many tricks that the average horse is unable  to learn.  He is a wonderful ambassador for a breed (Arabian &  Part-Arabian)that is frowned down upon as being too hot and unmanageable.

Legacy and his daughter, NT Legacys Papoose (born on Fathers day in June 2003). Tessa was orphaned at just under a month old, her mom coliced badly and had to be put down.

  copighted

Anyone that has an orphan foal.  DON'T give up.  It can be done with dedication, time, loving and understanding.

This story was submitted and  printed in the Arabian Horse Times in April 2003.  It is and was edited by Faye Ahneman-Rudsenske, copyright, in the AHT story.

  Loss of a friend   Scarlets Story

 yrLink to Loss of a friend, Scarlets story  

Other Links:
Link to Orphan FoalRescue Email list