At horse studs across the nation, this year’s crop of thoroughbred foals is emerging.
The clumsy, sometimes delicate newborns on spindly legs are often accident-prone and far too valuable to risk having any sort of mishap befall them.
So in Central Victoria, some enterprising equine vets are set to launch Australia’s first ‘foal ambulance’.
It’s thought this ‘equine ER’ unit, based in Bendigo, may be the first of its kind in the world.
It won’t come belting down the road with a wailing siren and flashing lights. But it will be on hand for emergency call-outs, or be close at hand when valuable mares have foaling difficulties or there is a need for minor surgeries to be performed.
The foaling season can leave stud staff a little short on sleep at what is invariably a very stressful time, as Kelly Skillecorn of Gilgai Stud at Nagambie, in northern Victoria, explains.
“There’s so much that can go wrong from the start of the birth until the foal nurses for the first time,” he said.
“There’s a myriad of things that can go wrong, so they’re under constant surveillance 24 hours a day.”
With its extensive, immaculately kept grounds and palatial stables, Gilgai is the birthplace of the “equine superstar” mare Black Caviar.
Unbeaten in 25 starts in Australia and England, post-racing she’s now a very valuable broodmare.
As is her full sister, Naturale. Though she never raced, her blue-blooded progeny is fetching record prices in the sale ring and beyond.
“She is probably the most valuable mare in Australia. Her first foal was a horse named Ole Kirk who was a champion three-year-old last year, and we sold him for $35 million,” Mr Skillecorn said.
Next-level equine care
Surrounded by such valuable livestock, Mr Skillecorn is thrilled by the thought of the next-level care that the foal ambulance will provide.
“I’d say we’ll see many horse ambulances on the road after these guys have shown the way,” he said.
Equine vet Sarah Jalim admits that working with such valuable animals can be a little daunting.
“We take care with every single patient but the more something is worth, the more pressure there is to make sure that it’s done to the absolute best possible standard,” Dr Jalim said.
The idea for an ambulance dedicated to the care of foals grew out of the need to transport sick foals from the Bendigo Equine Hospital to a CT imaging machine at a nearby clinic.
“Due to the location it would be safer to transport the foal when it was asleep or anaesthetised and we thought about maybe getting a horse float,” equine vet Mike Whiteford said.
“But in the end, we decided that an ambulance would actually be safer and it was going to work for us, so it was a bit of a novel idea.”
Second-hand ambulance
So Dr Whiteford sourced and purchased a second-hand ambulance and had it re-fitted for veterinary procedures.
“Foals are very delicate and they can be tricky to anaesthetise,” he said.
“So the fact that we’ve got the piped oxygen there [so] we can put it on the gas to keep it asleep, all the vital signs can be monitored with the monitors on board the ambulance, it’s really good. It just takes things to the next level.”
Importantly, it will also mean less stress for sick foals, as they will avoid long road trips to the clinic and separation from their mothers.
Ryan Arnel, of Stonehouse Thoroughbreds, said he could not wait to see the ambulance hit the road, as taking any animal to a veterinary clinic could be a stressful experience.
“We like to work on low-stress stock handling … so to be actually able to do this on-farm is just unbelievable,” he said.
The Bendigo Equine Hospital staff have staged an on-site training day to see how the ambulance will work and ensure staff are well prepared before their first real call-out.
The ambulance has a fold-out operating table tucked into the rear.
There’s an oxygen tank, a cardiac monitor and a host of other veterinary equipment.
“It’s good to have a little bit of a practice. I think the more we do it, the more comfortable we’ll be and soon we’ll be a well-oiled machine,” Dr Jalim said.
Dr Whiteford says it’s immensely rewarding to see sick foals overcome setbacks and progress into healthy, sometimes champion racehorses.
“The last time we would have seen it it would have been a small, compromised foal that perhaps couldn’t stand up, couldn’t suck off its mum, that sort of thing, and then when you see it win a race, any race, a race in town it’s nice and it’s really rewarding,” he said.
“The industry wants on-farm services and this is just a way to do it to the best possible standard and give them the highest level of care, so it is a lot of fun and we’re excited,” Dr Jalim said.
“I think it’s going to really revolutionise [equine vet care].”
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