Our foal has now lost dad and mum within weeks!

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Penniless

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Can't believe the ill luck we are having at the moment. It's been disaster after disaster recently, and now yet another one. One of our foals is now an orphan. We sadly lost our TB stallion (Advise) a number of weeks ago, and now have lost one of our broodmares yesterday - who sadly had to be put down at Rossdales having suffered amongst other things a twisted gut, etc, which was inoperable. "Sara" has given us winner after winner in the show ring - every foal she has ever given birth to which has been shown have all won at County and National level. Her racing stock have also been placed on the racetrack. She herself won numerous awards at County shows, notching up a handful of Premium Broodmare awards too. Sara was 17 years old.

This is Sara taken a few weeks ago.
Marsara5808.jpg


This mare had never had a days illness in her life. She loved being pregnant and was the best mum any foal could possibly have. She had on more than one occasion, fed two foals at the same time.

So now we have "Hope" who is just over 3 months old without a mum or dad. She was a little superstar - having to leave her mum at Rossdales, travelling home alone in the box and now is in her stable all alone. She has coped brilliantly, we've not even had to put a grille up at the door - she is taking everything so calmly about being on her own - although did cry a bit last night. Ironically, we have just days ago started to advertise her and her yearling full sister for sale, so now will doubly make sure we find the correct owners for them who will make both mum and dad proud.

This is "Hope".
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Never in a million years did we think this foal would be an orphan, especially as we have another of our broodmares who is very ill at the moment and she's being kept going (thankfully pain free) until her little one is old enough to cope on her own.

Sara gave us many years of pleasure and had 7 foals in total. We are in total shock but would also like to thank Rossdales vets for all their efforts. We reckon Sara knew we were having trouble trying to find her another husband since losing Advise, so decided that if he wasn't about, she wasn't interested in anyone else. We were so upset a few weeks ago when for financial reasons we didn't cover her this year, but in view of what's happened now, thank goodness we didn't lose her and a foal which would have been inside her.

We'd just like to say if anyone has put a curse on us, please please remove it now - enough is enough. We've had emergency vets out every Sunday now for one or other or our horses since Advise was put down. Things must start getting better now.
 
Ditto, so very sad.

When I started to read I admit I had assumed it was your other poorly mare that you had lost.
I can't believe your run of awful happenings atm but have to say the little Hope is a credit to you, her mum, Sara and her dad, Advise.

(((((HUGS)))))
 
I'm so sorry to hear of your very sad situation. You are having some terrible luck lately. Advise was a complete stunner and this baby looks just like him. What a shame for the mare too - such a waste. It's good that the baby is taking it in her stride so far - hopefully she will be ok, I'm sure she will be. She deserves such a lovely home and I'm sure you will find that person who will take her and love her and do you and her mum and dad proud.
Hope the curse is lifted soon - you deserve a break. x
 
Am very sorry to hear this news, especially after the horrible year you have had so far. Your foalie sounds like a little star and I have fingers and toes crossed that your luck does get better and that you find the best home for "Hope" and her sister. x
 
How terribly sad, and what a beautiful mare Sara was.

Perhaps Hope can replace her as one of your principle broodmares in the future.
 
Am so so sorry to hear this....as with the others I also thought you were going to say it was your other mare who has been ill. There are no other words except I am soo sorry.....
 
No wonder you feel gutted that was one hell of a mare.
When this happened to us we put the orphan in the same stable as her yearling sister, and they bonded totally. We had the camera on them and at night they took turns to use each other's tummies as a pillow. It also helped later when they went out in the main herd because she always protected her too.
The good thing (if there ever is one) is that at 12 weeks old the foal can cope pretty well on feed, ours ate Alpha A as well as foal creep mix and gradually came off the milk, as it was so expensive a method of rearing her.
I wish life would buck up for you and your sister, this year must have caused you so much sadness, and I know you both work hard and do your utmost to be successful, so you don't deserve it.
So sorry you lost sucj a lovely mare, she's going to be very hard to replace I would imagine..
 
So very, very sorry to hear of this. It seems deeply unfair that you have had to battle with one disaster after another this year, and we can only all send you the most positive vibes that we can for things to improve. Coming your way : {{{{{{}}}}}} Little Hope looks lovely, she must be very special to you, and I do hope that you find her a 5* home, where she will be loved and cherished.
 
All our thought are with you and we wish you all the best luck for the years to come, I can not imagine how bad you must feel but know how a mare and a stallion can love each other, as we have two that have bred 3 and no 4 is being cooked. I hope Your Hope finds a wonderful home where she will be cherished.
 
Oh Colleen I can't believe you have lost sarah, I like the others thought it was your sick mare that had gone. Do hope the foalie continues to do well. So very sorry, my thoughts are with you and Kerry.
 
Thank you all so much for your kind words and thoughts. It was such a shock to us losing Sara - we'd always assumed she would be with us for many years yet and continue giving us beautiful foals.

"Hope" is coping brilliantly. She had a walk around the yard yesterday afternoon and all her half brothers and sisters (we've got about half a dozen of them here) plus her full brother and sister all allowed her to stop and have a chat with them. This morning we tried putting her out with our ill mare and her foal, but Hope was a bit worried, wondering where her mum was (as Sara and Happy (the ill mare) were best friends and it was always this pair who walked down to the paddocks together. This afternoon we intend turning her out for a short while with either our 30 year old "nannie" (she looks after the weanlings) or else our oldest ex-racer who up until now has been teaching the yearlings. He seems to have fallen in love totally with this filly and we allowed them a few minutes together in-hand grazing this morning to see what he would be like with her. He is the first born son of our stallion. "Hope" seems to be enjoying her big stable to herself, and we haven't even had to put a grille or anything up - and last night left the top door open as well. She's got our guard dogs out in the yard as well, and Nicko (our GSD) is laying down outside her door. He is the dog who kept telling us that something was wrong with Advise, and did it again on Sunday morning, when he stood outside Sara's stable and continued to bark until I went out there. This dog definitely has a sixth sense.

For those who thought we'd lost our ill mare (Happy), she's still hanging on. She's nearly completed a course of treatment now (she's got stomach cancer), and once that's finished we will talk with our vet and see whether we have any more options. Apart from her dreadful weight loss, she is at least eating now and seems fine in herself, but it could just be the medication doing that.

So if anyone wants to make us an offer on "Hope" and can provide a 5* home for her, then do get in touch.

AmyMay: As much as we would love to keep her, we are having to sell as many of our youngsters as we can unfortunately, as because of my sister Kerrys accident (other half of Penniless) we've got debts amounting to close to 6 figures now (private operations and legal expenses) and with Kerry in need of another operation now, unfortunately the NHS has a 3 year waiting list, so we need to reduce the number of our stock in order to get money for her next operation. Believe me, if we had any money, we would be keeping every one we've bred.

Henryhorn: Thanks for your kind words. Thankfully "Hope" is coping very well in the stable on her own and has been on hard feed and haylage for a long time now, so feed wise we don't have a problem with that.

She won't be short of company - as I've said above, she's got loads of family here to play with.

Once again, many thanks to you all, and here's hoping our bad luck changes - at least for a little while.
 
I don't know what to say - you have had such a truly wretched time. I am so very sorry.

I hope that your fortunes will change for the better.
 
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