Hokkaido Horse Racing Story.

Chapter 319 The Journey of the Second New Year

The plane broke through the dark clouds and climbed into the blue sky.

The seatbelt indicator light is on.

Looking out the window, one can barely see the winding coastline of the British Isles below.

In the last week of February, I began my second trip to England this year.

Strictly speaking, the destination was actually Ireland, which is across the sea from the island of Great Britain.

In addition to visiting the dazzling performance and the unnamed Blue Deer Hair foal, this trip also aims to discuss the follow-up matters of the birth with the Gumoa side.

I continued to kill the rest of the time with the downloaded electronic version of "Equine Veterinary Journal," and when I came to my senses, the plane had already landed at Dublin Airport.

As soon as I left the airport building, the grey sky of England came into view.

"It's another cloudy day—"

Such weather has become somewhat commonplace.

After a bumpy two-hour ride in a rental car, we finally arrived at our destination, Gumoa Ranch.

The wind whistled past my ears as it swept across the road.

She wrapped herself up tightly and subconsciously quickened her pace.

Led by a staff member from Gumoia, we arrived at the breeding stables located inside the ranch.

Here, we reunite with dazzling acts that we haven't seen for some time.

And, the foal born to the Black Deer horse wearing a royal blue ponie coat from the Old Moa.

Unlike its robust mother, the foal with the blue deer hair was slender, but its body was well-proportioned and graceful.

I didn't have any premonition that "this will be a good horse" when I first saw the foal.

However, just as the staff said, the foal with the green deer hair has clear, bright eyes and looks quite adorable.

—Ignoring the fact that the meteor's shape is indeed somewhat subtle.

"His body was somewhat weak in the first few days, at which point we took him to Faisalma Hospital for care."

The staff member smiled and looked gently at the pony beneath the dazzling performance.

"Fortunately, there were no complications, and he returned here quickly."

Hearing the continuous noises outside the stable, the foal twitched its ears, turned around somewhat timidly, and hid under its mother.

While gently humming to soothe the first foal, it made a dazzling gesture by slightly bobbing its head up and down as if greeting the two people outside the stable.

"This girl is remarkable as a mare. Although the process of giving birth to her first child was somewhat difficult, she recovered quickly and had plenty of milk after giving birth."

The staff member began to explain slowly.

While listening attentively, he turned his gaze toward the interior of the stables.

[Can only be used nine months after the foal is born]

After opening the panel and using the [Detector] on the pony, the following line of text popped up in front of my line of sight.

To be honest, this is the first time we've used a detector targeting the Year of the Horse.

Despite some disappointment, I felt more that it was reasonable than unexpected.

At the horse auction, perhaps even the [detector] wouldn't be able to help. Thinking this, he turned his attention back to the foal itself.

Her petite back, directly in front of his eyes, seemed to have been stained with a faint yellowish tinge.

—Traces that are different from normal excrement.

Is it diarrhea caused by estrus?

I looked away and asked the staff member this question.

A mare enters her next estrus cycle approximately ten days after giving birth to her foal, after eleven months of pregnancy.

During the period when mares begin to estrus again, foals that give birth are very prone to diarrhea symptoms known as "estrus diarrhea".

According to Professor Yano's explanation in a certain paper, this is due to subtle changes in the composition of the mare's milk caused by hormonal changes, which leads to estrus diarrhea.

"That's right. Although it's only the first year of breeding for this mare, this girl is like a mother who has given birth several times. Both her due date and postpartum estrus tend to be a little earlier than expected."

The staff member nodded slightly and began to describe the care experience of the foal during its estrus and diarrhea period.

Although I have treated this disease many times as a veterinarian, the situation I need to consider as a breeder is somewhat different from what I was doing back then.

The exchange of experiences on foal care with the staff continued for a while before we started walking toward the building where the ranch office was located.

Here we met He Luoxuan, the ranch manager of Gumoya, and the resident veterinarian.

After a three-way meeting that lasted for about forty minutes, a decision was made to transport the dazzling event, along with the foal born to the Blue Deer Pony, back to Japan.

If the foal is born once a year, or if the decision is made to sell the foal, then foster care is naturally the preferred option.

However, having made the production plan of one foal every two years and the decision to own the foal, it would be inappropriate to leave the dazzling performance to Gumoa as it did last year.

Moreover, the breeding farms of Gumoia open to external boarding mare only operate until May each year, and the boarding stables can only be used when paired with Gumoia stallions.

At this point, it's time for you to put in the same level of effort as a breeder.

The transportation time was set for mid-to-late March of the following month after discussions with the veterinarians from Gumoya.

Generally speaking, yearlings will only begin to consider international transport six to eight months after their umbilical cord has healed and they have been weaned.

After a foal is born, the umbilical cord needs time to dry completely, fall off, and heal and close completely.

If the umbilical cord is not fully healed, it is highly susceptible to bacterial infection during transport, leading to umbilical cord inflammation (Navel Ill), which can result in fatal sepsis or severe joint disease.

Furthermore, newborn foals have an immature immune system and need to suckle their mother's colostrum to obtain maternal antibodies, thus initially establishing passive immunity.

On the other hand, international shipping usually requires that foals transported independently must have been successfully weaned and be able to eat solid feed such as alfalfa and starter feed.

Because weaning itself is a stress process that can be compounded by the stress of transportation, breeders usually observe the foal for a few weeks after weaning to ensure that it has adapted to independent life and has not lost weight before considering transportation.

In cases where mother and foal are transported together, international shipping can begin as early as four to six weeks after the foal's birth.

In addition to receiving psychological comfort from their mothers to alleviate transport stress, the continuous supply of colostrum during transport also provides protection for the foal.

Nevertheless, the resident veterinarian who provided the transportation plan remained quite conservative about the plan itself, stating that a rigorous inspection was required before transportation.

In addition, flight planning, the special-specification air transport stables required during transportation, all quarantine, vaccination and document preparation required by the exporting and importing countries, and even the psychological assessment of the mares and foals all require a lot of time to prepare.

"It wasn't that simple after all—"

(End of this chapter)