Frustrations...

I just spent an extremely irritating day off. It had nothing to do with where I was, or what I did or didn't get done. It's all my horse's fault.

I was at work Sunday night when Marla called me and said that, if I was able, Monday might be a good day for me to come visit, because my horse's udder had filled out (which, normally, means that the horse should be foaling within just a few hours). I said I'd see what I could do. Then she called back later and told me that Tot was kicking at her belly, biting at her sides, rolling on the ground...all indicators of oncoming labor.

So I got off work, ran home, threw a change of clothes in a bag, grabbed my laundry, piled back into my car, and drove the hour and a half to Marla's place.

Ten minutes before I got there, Tot suddenly decided she wasn't having a baby that night. She stopped kicking, rolling, etc...and by the time I got there, she was placidly chomping on her hay. I woke up every two hours to check on her Sunday night--nothing.

Monday was very much the same. Every time I looked out there, she was either chewing her hay, or just standing there. I had to be back to work on Tuesday, so I hoped, against the odds, that something would happen Monday night (I say against the odds, even though the odds should have been pretty good. But you'd have to know my horse to really appreciate the statement in this context.)

So, Monday night, I was up every hour and a half to check on her...and, at 4:30 am, I was rewarded by the sight of her lying on her side in her pen, grunting and gasping. I stepped back into the house and woke up Marla and her husband to tell them what was going on. Marla told me to come get them when Tot really started pushing.

So I went back outside and watched and waited. Half an hour later, the ornery little shit climbed back to her feet, and started munching her hay like nothing had happened. And when I checked her this morning, before leaving to head to work, she was once again at the point of nothing showing any signs of happening any time soon.

So, I'm tired and cranky, because the silly beast had two false labors over the weekend. She's so big around the middle right now that I think she'd pop like a balloon if someone so much as kicked her. The extra body heat from the foal has her working up a sweat just to walk across her pen in the middle of the afternoon (heh...she doesn't even need to walk...just stand there in the sun...) She looks uncomfortable...and when I stepped into her pen, she just walked up to me and put her head down against my leg (she only does that when she's pregnant...)

I don't know whether to wish she hurries up and has the foal, so she can get rid of all that discomfort, or to wish she holds on until Friday night, when I'll be back up that way again (my brother is getting married that evening...I get to be the best man again...turning into the male equivalent of 'always a bridesmaid, never a bride'...)

But, hey...one thing I've learned from my horse...there's only so much you can force. At some point, you've gotta stand back and let her figure it out for herself, if you want it to turn out well. So, here's hoping she figures it out soon!