Sleepover At The Equine Unit: Foal Watch 2018

Sleeping bags unfurled across chairs and under desks in the Equine Education Unit, a squad of student interns slept in shifts for a long weekend in early April, waiting on one of the most important arrivals of the semester.

Hypnotic, the last pregnant mare of the season, had demonstrated signs that she would likely foal sometime in the next 72 hours.

“The nights are long, and the classroom isn’t the most comfortable place to sleep, but it’s really, really fun,” student intern Monica Jones said.

Every spring, at CALS’ Equine Education Unit off Edwards Mill Road in Raleigh, student interns, faculty and staff assemble for “foal watch.” Mares in parturition need constant monitoring to ensure a safe and healthy birth, so faculty, staff and students take rotations — day and night.

It’s key real-world education for students. In addition to the professional and academic benefits, students say the experience has solidified life goals, forged friendships and provided connection to the awe of being present for the first moments of a new life.

Horse pregnancies last anywhere from 10 to 12 months, said unit manager Lawson Walston. As the due dates near each spring, students conduct milk tests on each mare. When the amount of calcium in the milk rises past a certain level, that means parturition is nigh: It’s foal watch time.

So You Wanna Be An Equine Unit Intern…

The waiting list to intern at the Equine Education Unit is two years long. Last year, there were 100 applications for 10 spots available to work between 140 and 170 hours a semester.

As an intern, participating in foal watch is a big deal. When student intern Mary Clarke Worthington’s ultimate frisbee team booked two tournaments the same week Hypnotic went into parturition, Worthington didn’t think twice: she stayed the night at the Unit, drove to play in the tournament in Charlotte, then back to the Unit. She did it again the next day, making a trip to southern Virginia and back in time for her shift.

Animal science senior Bailey Stolsworth is a team leader at the unit. This wasn’t her first foal watch. There are good reasons not miss it, she said.

“For me, these experiences provide more than just working with horses,” Stolsworth said. “You’re developing leadership and communication skills as well as getting hands-on experience. You come out of here more well-rounded than when you walked in.”

Who’s That Baby?

There’s no way to know how long the vigil will last. One mare at the unit, Perdita, was in parturition for seven nights before she foaled. Hypnotic took only four.

The public gets to vote on the naming themes for the year via social media. For 2018, the public wanted their horses named after cheese. Babies Pepper Jack, Romano, Colby, Fontina and Chevre were all born healthy colts and fillies at the Unit in March and April.

Last but not least, Little Roquefort was born at 3:52 a.m. on the Saturday of Easter weekend. Many newborn foals take their time getting to their feet, but Roquefort wanted to try his new legs out right away — and fell over. He didn’t hesitate before trying again.

The students dubbed him Rocky.

Worthington’s frisbee team didn’t win either tournament, but she got to be there when Rocky was born.

“That made all the driving worth it,” Worthington said.

Punched In The Nose; Still Awesome

Student interns at the unit walk in with varying levels of experience. Animal Science junior Savannah Clark had never touched a horse before, though she’d honed her comfort working with large animals at the Swine Education Unit across campus.

Her first foal watch got a little rough — while holding Rocky, he “punched me in the nose with his hoof,” she said, laughing — but “even with that, it was still awesome.”

After the birth comes weeks of training, teaching foals how to relate to the world. Student interns teach the babies gentleness and the benefits of human company: petting them, brushing them, getting them used to having their feet picked up.

“It’s absolutely breathtaking,” student intern Monica Jones said. “You’re teaching something who knows nothing of the world yet, has never experienced any of this, and you’re watching them learn — you can see what a difference each day makes.”