LRTC Information Sheet
  LRTC WILD HORSE ADOPTION CLOSEUP
April, 2004
Kobyashi Maru -
The Impossible Scenario
Koby's dam, "Sahara"
Day 1

It was a rescue project's worst nightmare.

A mare, extremely protective of her foal, kicked at a very pregnant mare who wasn't very agile. The kick connected with the pregnant mare's lower hind leg and snapped it in half. Here we're trying to save these mares from possibly going to a livestock sale and one suffers a fatal injury at the hands of another.

A veterinarian was summoned to come euthanize the injured horse. Jill Starr at Lifesavers Wild Horse Rescue was also called. (Lifesavers and LRTC were partners in this rescue project.) After a short discussion Jill Starr indicated that Lifesavers would fund an effort to save the foal if it seemed probable that the foal would survive and be healthy.

The veterinarian assessed the situation and determined that a c-section was a viable option. The mare was anesthetized, the foal was removed, then the mare was euthanized.

The foal was good sized but pretty comatose due to the anesthesia. LRTC Adoption Program Manager, Shirley Allen, took the horse into her bedroom where she set up an indoor "foal corral." She and other volunteers massaged the foal and applied TTouch techniques to stimulate him. After a few hours he started to shake off the effects of the anesthesia.

The volunteers went to work locating colostrum, foal milk replacement, goats' milk and other supplies. They nicknamed the little colt "Kobyashi Maru," after the impossible scenario in Star Trek.

By the end of Koby's first day he was spending short periods out in the back yard, visiting with Shirley's dogs (supervised of course), drinking milk like a horse and taking some very solid naps back in the bedroom.

Photos taken at 18 hours old

"Can't you see I'm napping?"
"Let me just steady myself."
"Hmmm, somebody to play with!"
"Oh, I have another visitor."
"Maybe I can explore the back yard."
"I think maybe I have an adopter."
Day Two

On day two Koby learned to explore the house and the back yard. He met cats and dogs and other interesting stuff. He also learned to help do the laundry.

Having a baby horse in the house requires a few extra towels and blankets and washable throw rugs. That also equates to extra washing. Since Koby would follow Shirley all around the house, he naturally followed her into the laundry room. When it was time to put the clean laundry away, Shirley simply laid the clean towels and such across Koby's back while she carried another load herself. He didn't seem to mind at all.

(Shirley, I don't think this will be such a good idea when he gets older and larger.)

Continue to Part Two

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