McGlade Clan: Chris & Caroline & Charlotte & Jane: Happy Mother's Day!

Way to go all you mothers out there! You have been successful in bringing another human being into this world--no small feat! I'm happy to know that my grandma and mother and aunt are all together today to celebrate family. They are gathered in Cambria, CA at my aunt Connie's house.

I want to show you another mother at Windy Gap. A few weeks ago one of the landscaping guys at camp came over the radio and wanted to know if we had purchased a miniature horse. Of course the guy in charge of the horses at WG was out of town for training in Colorado. Upon closer inspection the guys found the animal to be a newborn horse (only hours old) that had been left by its mom. The guys loaded him up in one of the camp trucks and brought him into a stall at the barn. They brought all of the horses in to try and determine who the mother was. Eventually, they found her and put her in the stall with her baby. They desperately needed to bond in order for the baby to feed. Although it took the little guy awhile to figure out the system for this, he had a lot of help and encouragement from all of us at camp.

Maybe I should stop here and explain why this whole thing was so unexpected. First of all, there are no stallions at WG. Second, no one knew the mare was even pregnant...even the vet, who had been out a few weeks prior. Third, no one had experience with this kind of thing before (except for Bruce, who was humble enough to milk the mom and try to get out some of that initial very nutritious stuff). I wish I had a picture of the 2 liter Cheerwine bottle with a nipple on the top that was used to give the baby milk for the first 24 hours. Unfortunately, the mother's milk dried up quickly and the Cheerwine bottle was never very full. The situation was precarious for several days as the mother had not been treated or fed with extra care for her condition. We were not sure that the baby would get what he needed from her and there was a general feeling of unpreparedness that took over.

That first weekend out guest services coordinator was having to feed the baby 6 times a day. We often laugh because our jobs at camp are so, uh, varied, but this took the cake and then some. Luckily, the vet was able to come by later the same day the baby was found and check him. We had strict orders to leave mom and baby alone so that they could bond and not be disturbed and to give the mother extra grain and hay. This was 3 weeks ago now, so you can see that the baby is doing well and that he has bonded with mom. Enjoy these pictures...