Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Birthdays

Today marks 344 days of my mare Joline’s, gestation. I had been hoping for a mercifully early delivery of this coming foal, but mares are funny that way. They will hatch when they bloody well want to, and if, they want to, until the inevitable really does happen. So I will bounce thru another day partially sleep deprived, wondering thru the brain fog of the lack of deep sleep and hope that tonight, will really be the big night and this foaling anticipation and worry can be put to rest, and me too.


I have been a witness to countless deliveries of new foals in the course of being a breeder for 20 some odd years and each experience is amazing to me. It is the transition point of the arrival of a new being from one realm into another. To this point in time, this foal has only existed in its safe cocoon in the mare’s womb for 11 months or more, floating in the warm darkness with zero stress, a world of peace, in a sensory deprivation chamber with no idea of what will be once the gates open and it is pushed into this bright and noisy world.

I have had the opportunity several times now, with my vet’s guidance, to reach inside a pregnant mare to feel the shape of the unborn foal and that is a trip. Reaching across realities, to touch and connect with a living thing from the future, a being not yet in our reality, and yet is, gives me thoughts of wondering where exactly the line of life really begins, and ends too. They seem to get closer and fuzzier.

On the farm here and now, we wait, and wait for this new foal. First and foremost is my concern for the mare and her health, and her foal’s. Joline is not a spring chicken and is moving slower with each day and each foal that she brings into this world. She waddles from her shed to the water tank and ambles back to nibble some hay she overlooked and sighs. I check constantly for signs of any sort indicating a coming delivery. Since most mares like to foal during the wee hours of the night, this checking is more frequent then. When she is good and well ready tho, it will inevitably happen and hopefully all go well. New life will begin for this foal. Joline will be a mom, again and do all the duties that moms have to do to get their offspring introduced to this reality, and how to survive it.

Today is also the 25th birthday of my second daughter, Collins. I remember each moment of the day she arrived and just how beautiful she was from the beginning. Her full spirit and her high level of energy were apparent from the first moment they handed her to me and this wonderful characteristic has never changed. It can be like pure sunshine pours in when she enters a room. I am in disbelief too, that it has been so long since she arrived, and yet it was, only yesterday. Collins lives in Colorado and so won’t be here for a birthday blessing with the cake and ice cream with us, so I hope that she gets to really celebrate it there with her friends.

All births are so unique and special points, marking our beginnings in this world’s reality. We have such a limited and unknown quantity of time here that I think that each passing birthday, for everybody, should be celebrated and heralded to the fullest possible way with hats, whistles, balloons, and all the fluff. It is important to connect to that place we came from, celebrate our inner child, and be happy to be here.

Just maybe Joline will be kind enough to give us a birthday present of a new filly, or colt today to mark and celebrate Collins’ 25 year celebration. That would be neat, but that's up to Joline and we shall just have to wait and see on that.

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