Ftbrnai7lp,,lf7 After close to twelve months of some not-so patient waiting, the longed and carefully prepared for moment arrived. Last Saturday morning, at about 4:30 a.m., my mare had her first foal, a filly. It was really by chance that I happened to be there to witness the miraculous event. I had gone over to the barn to check on the mare around 11" p.m. Friday night and from the looks of things, I thought it would be sometime Saturday night that she would have the foal. Needless to say, she fooled me. But then when I checked on life at {he sheep barn, there was trouble. One of the older ewes was definitely trying io lamb, and not succeeding. It was one of those cases where I wasn’t sure what to do either, and needed more than one person to assess the situation. The best thing to do was wait and offer help at the proper time. So that meant going to bed late, and setting the alarm for hourly intervals to rouse my body out to the sheep barn. As the dark night progressed, it got colder and more windy, and nothing was happening with the sheep. While out at 2 a.m., I checked the mare. She seemed fine, there was nothing unusual to report. I was beginning to feel like all this iSte hourly running around was doing nothing but eating away my sleep. But when on impulse, I checked the horse again at 4 a.m., the status had changed. The mare, who had decided that this was the time, was doing fine on her own and shortly after, a wobbly kneed foal struggled to its feet for the first time. . Looking almost exactly like its Quarter horse mother, the new-born sorrel has a white stripe marking its face, with the possibility of a few white FISHER socks, which only time will tell about for sure. Within hours, it was bouncing around in its stall, investigating everything, and whinneying its delight at having so much attention from everyone. Meanwhile, its mother Cindy, proving that motherhood is strictly based on mstinctand not on t age, welcomed all the attention, as long as anyone didn’t get to close to her darling baby. Only five BOU-MATIC MILKING SYSTEMS > T ' J ->,- i. - - ~-- ' ’ r , , V' BOU-MATIC PIPELINES— The milking system with dairy proven features that all add up to a better way to milk. ■> ' , -.k \ A 'V I See us today for more on these or many others. LANDIS FARMSTEAD AUTOMATION SANER FARM SYSTEMS Milton, Pa. McAhsterville, Pa (717)437-2375 (717)463-2606 JONES DAIRY SERVICE CUMBERLAND DAIRY SERVICE Lester Jones, Jr. Larry Hughes Medford, N.J. - Chambersburp Pa. (609)267-5246 ' (717)263-0826 LLOYD E. KREIDER CO. SHEWS FARM SERVICE Cochranvtlle, Pa. Lititz, Pa. (215)932-4700 (717)626-1151 LAWTON’S DAIRY EQUIP. & REFRIGERATION Wellsboro, Pa. (717)724-3015 1 -i I yg%r§ «fgl.her|eff,.she4obK to. asitsfie had beeif stußying'on life.-- But the 1 excitement'for the hew' one' is just Begmning- We have to think bf anofficial name for'" her t and tier" training has.afreadyjbeguh'. From ’ halter breaking .to the. time,