Everyone involved with breeding horses knows there are extreme highs and lows that go along with this part of the industry–excitement when a new foal is born healthy and sadness when a mare or foal has complications during the birthing process and they don’t make it. This breeding and foaling season is no exception. GoHorseShow came across two unsung heroes better known as Nora and Cookie who are nurse mares worth their weight in gold.
Our first unsung hero, Cookie, came to the rescue at Pine View Farm. Unfortunately, one of their broodmares, Tee Nee Avenger, severely injured her foot and had to be euthanized after she foaled her Lazy Loper baby.
“We did what we could for her to assure her comfort and just waited for her to foal knowing we would euthanize her after she delivered,” says, Debbi Trubee, who is the general manager of Pine View Farm along with Roger Landis. “She did excellent up to the last week and was going downhill. At this point, she was two weeks over her due date, so, we opted to do a C-Section and take the baby hoping it would be viable.”
Standing in wait was buckskin draft mare, Cookie, who was ready to take over as the new foal’s nurse mare.
“We already had Cookie prepared– bringing her milk in with a drug regimen since we knew that we would euthanize Tee Nee Avenger after foaling,” Trubee states. “All went perfect and the new foal, Pita, was pulled out. Once we got her going, it quickly became clear she was more than viable after she placed several good kicks to the vets back while he was putting her NG tube in! Once we got her stable, we introduced her to Cookie who immediately started talking to her and licking her–all was right with the world.”
Debbi told us that Cookie who came from Oklahoma Stud has been a recipient mare at the farm for about five years. “The mare has carried three babies for us and has always been the best mom and milks like a Holstein.”
Well, come to find out, Cookie was not finished with her good deeds. The mare came to the rescue again a few days later. On Sunday, a recipient mare rejected her foal and was kicking blindly at the baby every time he would try to nurse. Trubee tried to sedate the mare, but that did not seem to work either, so, Debbi thought that maybe Cookie would accept another baby.
“We introduced them and Cookie again immediately started licking the new baby and let him nurse. We are milking out the recipient mare and now have both babies drinking from a bottle under Cookie’s belly as well as both of them nursing on Cookie,” Trubee explains. “My vet said he has never seen a nurse mare accept a baby so quickly. Cookie already had a home for life here, but, now, she has moved to a different category of special. I just go down and watch them in amazement. Anyone who has ever raised a foal understands the love a mare has for her baby…Cookie, well she is truly a hero here to us. Cookie now gets a spot in the Nurse Mare Hall Of Fame!”
Another nurse mare extraordinaire, Nora, came to the rescue when Tracy John’s mare, Customerily Awesome (Tess), had to be euthanized due to a twisted colon a few days after her VS Code Red filly was born.
“I felt so helpless because I didn’t know what I was going to do with the baby (Taylor),” says Johns, who lives in McKinney, Texas. “I have been breeding for twenty years, and I have never lost a mare before. I called my friend, Jane Backes, who immediately posted it on Facebook. Within two hours, I was on the way to Nancy Sue Ryan’s farm. After arriving, Nancy Sue had her immediately drinking out of a bucket and she also had a mare named Nora that she thought would be a great nurse mare for Taylor.”
After a short time, the nurse mare, Nora, (sans the actual nursing part) accepted the filly and the grey mare is now very protective of her newly adopted baby. “Nora hasn’t had her own baby in five years, and, last year, she raised three babies and the year before two others,” Johns told GoHorseShow. “She is a great mare, and I am so happy she adopted Taylor and will be able to teach her the social skills she needs.”
Johns continues, “I’m just so blessed to have such amazing friends and in my time of need, not only they, but complete strangers, were jumping through hoops to help Taylor and I. My friend, Jane Backes and Nancy Sue were lifesavers, as well as Nora. Thank God for Facebook and the horse community for helping us through a difficult time.”
