Inside the Foaling Barn: A Five-Day Diary

re: Inside the Foaling Barn: A Five-Day Diary

PK — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 13:30:01 GMT

you are living my dream . To be around horses is a love that can't be beat.You have a good personal touch to the writing & that's what makes it so interesting.Keep living my dream .I will keep in touch.

re: Inside the Foaling Barn: A Five-Day Diary

kathleen — Sat, 15 May 2010 15:56:42 GMT

I have some fond memories and great stories from when I was foaling out mares. I didn't have a night watchman, so I spent many a night in the barn, in my foaling clothes. Friends would camp out with me in order to be able to watch a foal come into the world, and most were rewarded with the miracle of birth. One friend in particular spent endless hours with me, waiting and watching, but was never there when the mare foaled. It became a joke, we all knew the mare would wait until Judy couldn't make it for foal watch.

re: Inside the Foaling Barn: A Five-Day Diary

alydar — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 19:53:37 GMT

Hi Kesley, many thanks for the blog,To see a mare delivered her foal is like to be at the center of the universe where the life born. I think the quality of the mare to producing champion racehorses is the ability to give birth at certain time and the attendant must pay attention to the moment when the navel cord is break off. If you are interested to the relationship between astrology and racehorses please visit http://tht.myblog.it thanks a lot.

re: Inside the Foaling Barn: A Five-Day Diary

sweet terchi — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 16:58:43 GMT

Wow Kelsey, you brought back some memories!!! As all my friends know, the only babies I coo and cuddle over have 4 feet and are covered in fur! Equine and canine babies are where it's at! This experience will yield awesome memories. Thanks for sharing!!

re: Inside the Foaling Barn: A Five-Day Diary

Dawn — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 02:44:51 GMT

Thank you for posting this and those adorable photos!

re: Inside the Foaling Barn: A Five-Day Diary

Lynne — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 03:46:21 GMT

Thanks for sharing your wonderful job with all of us. I loved the sweet pictures of the babies.

re: Inside the Foaling Barn: A Five-Day Diary

Zia — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 00:13:20 GMT

Great blog and love the pics!

It brought back my memories of

foal watch. I don't think that

anything can match it for pure

tired and still feeling on top

of the world. Thanks!

re: Inside the Foaling Barn: A Five-Day Diary

Margaret — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:55:14 GMT

I want another week of diary entries. This is wonderful. I think you should write a book about your experiences!

Quick thoughts on that one. Tape recorder and tape your thoughts as you go along. Later someone else can help you transcribe them. And obviously a lot of this would happen in summer and fall.

re: Inside the Foaling Barn: A Five-Day Diary

Hank — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:42:34 GMT

Great blog, Kelsey. There's a powerful foaling story called "The Foaling Man" by Edward Falco (a terrific writer who was once a foaling man). You can read the story online at the Virginia Quarterly www.vqronline.org/.../falco-foaling-man

re: Inside the Foaling Barn: A Five-Day Diary

aspradling — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:23:37 GMT

Great insight Kelsey!

re: Inside the Foaling Barn: A Five-Day Diary

GinnieJ — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:55:34 GMT

Kelsey, those mares and their foals are/were in good company with you as their attendant. You obviously love your work and it shows.

Thank you for sharing such an interesting blog .... and with pictures! Loved it and look forward to more in the near future.

Rest well.

re: Inside the Foaling Barn: A Five-Day Diary

marktoothaker — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:58:42 GMT

It never gets old the rush is a thing of beauty. Last foaling season I missed the days of running a farm and decided to nightwatch and foal my own two mares in Ky. It was awesome, now if those two can find their way to the winners circle in a couple of years. Great Blog, loved it.

re: Inside the Foaling Barn: A Five-Day Diary

Donna — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:22:55 GMT

WOW, Kelsey as a huge racing fan, this wonderful account of behind the scenes foaling and the wonderful folks like yourself really give me a true appreciation for all of you in the horse industry. How incredible that you see these beautiful horses being born. You may help deliver a future champion! how cool is that. I admire and respect your dedication!!

re: Inside the Foaling Barn: A Five-Day Diary

AEK — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:19:01 GMT

I finally just gave up, moved the wireless video moniter to the aisle. Bought a cot and 10 below wilderness sleeping bag and watch mom right outside her stall. Fully dressed, snug and warm. The dog has a bed underneath the cot and as soon as the mare acts funny. The dog starts whining and I glance at the video. The dog loves the foals and it's his duty to guard them from birth. Plants himself in front of the stall and stays with them in the field too. The mares figure this out right away and the dog is more than tolerated. Even if I fall asleep the dog doesn't miss a trick and hassles me until I wake up. It's best to keep a stash of dog cookies and power bars in a bag tied to the cot too. Hot tea in a thermos and you're set. Make sure the dog becomes a part of the herd social order like a goat and the mares do not view the dog as a predator. When the mares and fillies lay down in the field the dog is out there curled up with them as an early alert system. I didn't teach the dog, he took it upon himself. Has some Border collie somewhere probably.

re: Inside the Foaling Barn: A Five-Day Diary

Lou in TX — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:23:00 GMT

Kelsey, I found your diary fascinating. Can u tell me how long the mare and their foals stay in their stall before going out? I think that would be one of the most rewarding jobs in the world. Thanks for the pictures, you both are so cute. Would love to hear some of your stories about the foals. Maybe next time. Thanks for sharing.

re: Inside the Foaling Barn: A Five-Day Diary

Carole Hemingway — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:01:56 GMT

This is by far one of the sweetest things I've ever read and the photos are precious. Thank you!

re: Inside the Foaling Barn: A Five-Day Diary

Kelsey Riley — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:29:02 GMT

Thanks so much to everyone for your feedback. It certainly is a very special job, and it really comes to fruition seeing the horses you foaled on the track two years later. The night watch people who know exactly when to call on us are probably some of the most underappreciated people in the business- I have also worked that side of it, and I cannot say enough about the things those people do for us and the horses.

mz: I am from King City, Ontario. I spent four years there working for Mr. Gus Schickedanz. A wonderful place to live, and a great racing and breeding program in Ontario.

Best of luck to everyone with your 2010 foals.

re: Inside the Foaling Barn: A Five-Day Diary

Lupe Aranda — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:30:08 GMT

Wow, awesome! Thank you for sharing your story, your love for your work is very inspiring! Keep it up! You remind me of all those great and silent heroes who made the champion race horses who they became, "the grooms", specially Secretariats!

A horse lover in Texas

re: Inside the Foaling Barn: A Five-Day Diary

Cassidy — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:23:23 GMT

Loved your diary:) Precious pics too, thank you for a brief insight into your week. Congrats to the new mommas!

re: Inside the Foaling Barn: A Five-Day Diary

KateW — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:18:45 GMT

wonderful story and you told it so well!!!

re: Inside the Foaling Barn: A Five-Day Diary

Bellwether — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:39:29 GMT

GOTTA LOVE THE KING!!!...ty...

re: Inside the Foaling Barn: A Five-Day Diary

ebr — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 10:41:41 GMT

As a full-time foaling person, I can appreciate your story! I'm fortunate that during foaling season I have a regular schedule (from 8 to 12 hour shifts) and don't have any problem sleeping during the day-but I've been the on-call person,too, and used to sleep in my long-johns so I just had to throw the sweats over them as I ran to the barn...

re: Inside the Foaling Barn: A Five-Day Diary

Chris K — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:14:24 GMT

Thank you Kelsey for sharing. You are so dedicated. I work on the Mother-Baby unit in a busy hosp. and babies come whenever they want. They do not take holidays or weekends off. Our obstetricians and us nurses are there 24 hrs a day to give these moms and their babies a wonderful birthing experience. I do alot of teaching to the new moms. Teaching them how to breastfeed and take care of themselves and thier new baby. It's a lot of work but very rewarding.

re: Inside the Foaling Barn: A Five-Day Diary

bmr — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 02:55:07 GMT

It was so great to read your blog. I miss this work so much and you couldn't have said it better: It is a lifestyle. People always looked at me strange when I did all of the above (including sleeping in the clothing!) The only other thing I remember telling people is that you have December and January to sleep. Thanks for the reminder of the pleasant part of spring!

re: Inside the Foaling Barn: A Five-Day Diary

zenyattaisqueen — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 02:21:34 GMT

Fantastic read! Thanks for sharing this. You must be so proud of your work. Those are fast little miracles you're delivering. Future equine superstars. Worth the sleeplessness, I'd say!