Placeholder [The Sanctuary] Spring Foaling At Its Finest

[Kavala]

Early Spring, 514 AV

It was that time again and The Sanctuary was lucky no one had foaled early. Kavala had every broodmare due to foal in the boarding pasture that was usually designated for boarders. For the Konti, she liked to run her herds naturally. But since she had so much stress on the horses not being out on the Sea of Grass year round, when in the pasture there was sometimes mix-ups and squabbling among the yearlings, broodmares, mares who had already foaled, and stallions. So Kavala had taken to separating them neatly into multiple groups. The stallions all ran together with the geldings. They did not fight. Kavala made sure all her studs were war trained and suitable to be turned out with each other. If they were not she cut them and sold them as geldings.

And in fact, all her geldings for that matter where under three and in training. Once they were fully trained at age four, they were sold off as riding horses or given to the Kuvay’Nas under her contract with the city of Riverfall. Geldings had no place in her breeding program and she was stern about it.

Since it was early spring, there were no weanlings to speak of. Instead there were just long yearlings, two year olds, and three year olds in a mixed herd. Anything she was not training as a mount but instead using in her breeding program (even if too young to breed) went into the broodmare herd. So the broodmare herd consisted of mares that were heavily pregnant, not pregnant, or not old enough to be bred. Once they foaled, the mares were separated out into the broodmare pasture and left to relax and raise their babies for four or five months. Then, once the foals had started to wean themselves off their mothers, they were moved to the mixed youngling herd and started on lessons. The mares were then returned to the broodmare herd, and everyone was happy.

Breeding was done in the spring, not on the foaling heat but on the next heat after that. So unless all the mares were bred and stallions were turned out to help guard them, no stallions ran with the mares until then.

It was a complex system, but one that Kavala was finding worked well for her. And with all her broodmares in the boarder paddock, she could watch the heavily pregnant ones for signs of immediate foaling and move them from the pasture into a birthing stall.

The stalls were all prepared. It was one of the first things Kavala did. She ordered in a wagon load of fresh straw, stripped anything remotely old out of the big birthing stalls, and padded them well with the soft bedding. Then, carefully, she got out a ton of supplies and made up burlap bags containing foaling kits for each mare. IF she had forty mares to foal out, she would make forty kits. The broodmare barn had twelve stalls. Each stall was heavily padded with straw, laid in with food, and fresh water.

Kavala had four mares in stalls currently, and was busy making up the first foal kits of the season. She did so by laying out the supplies on long tables she set up for the purpose. Then she’d take her burlap bag, walk down the table, and pick the supplies she needed for each mare. Half the battle was getting the supplies ready. And she didn’t chance the fact that she’d keep one kit for every mare. No… Kavala had learned when foals started to come, you needed everything at hand. And keep everything at hand she did.

The first table needed tail wraps. Kavala liked to wrap each mare’s tail with heavy gauze or spare linen. It kept the hair from being in the way of the birth or getting sucked back into the uterus in the middle of contractions where a baby is being pushed but not expelled. Kavala took extra lengths of linen – mostly from used linens that had worn holes in the facilities bedding department. She cut them into long strips then rolled the whole thing, tying it off with a small strip of leather. She repeated this forty times, nodding when anyone came to help and setting them to the task of doing it themselves. Once the tail wrap was rolled and tied off, it was then wrapped in a spare piece of linen to keep the wrap itself clean.

The next station was where she took small saved bladder and stomachs from rabbits or sheep they slaughtered and filled it with a mild detergent soap. These were tied off tight, so they wouldn’t leak, and added to the pile to be picked for the kits later. The little bladders were useful if awkward. They contained the soap that if mixed with water to help sanitize the mare’s rear when it was time to foal out. Forty bladders were filled, tied off, and left to be picked later.

The next was a small bottle of disinfectant. That and a set of forceps, rolled in a cloth with lots of linen squares that could be dipped into the disinfectant by the forceps clutching the linen and swirled around the where the umbilical cord was broken off in the mare.

Next she added clamps with bandages to deal with any torn umbilical cords or other types of injuries. Bandages were added to the pile next to them. Then a pile of scissors and scalpels were added. These were freshly cleaned and packed away each year having been in foal kits for seasons and seasons at The Sanctuary. Next a pile of towels were stacked high on the table, a mixture of fluffy fresh body and hand sized were laid out... The Sanctuary went through a lot of towels. It couldn’t be helped. Each kit was going to get a pile of towels in and of its own right. Three large ones and four small hand towels were all going into the kits.

Next a set of OB straps that Kavala had made for each of the kits was laid out. The straps were made of leather and not the normal chains she used on calves. Horses were more delicate, but sometimes the foals had to be turned or pulled. The leather straps came in handy.

Further along the tables she laid out glass jugs and long tubing made of animal gut. The enemas were for the foals that sometimes had compacted material in their digestive track which kept them from defecating. The situation could get dangerous if this occurred so Kavala always had enemas handy in case the baby needed it. Next to the enemas were laid out thermometers, suturing, cat gut, and finally a pile of halters and lead ropes.

Kavala knew the only thing left to do was make up a huge batch of Colic Mixture. And that mixture would go into glass vials, bet set on the table last, and packed on the upper portion of the kit to make sure it was handy to get too.

The Colic Mixture would take time, but then Kavala had set aside the late morning to make it happen. Once she got the colic mixture one, she’d pick and stack all the kits, making sure they were ready to go, and then tackle foaling season as the first few mares went into labor.

Count: 1,242 - posted 6/16

[Xira Hezmek]

The foaling was a big event for the Sanctuary and it weighed heavily on everyone's minds. Xira was no exception of course. Part of the Saanctuary's main profits and it was through breed, training and selling that the business thrived. It made sense logically speaking, but Xira was anxious to the point of terror. Childbirth, animal or otherwise was something he had never helped out with. Was it so irrational that he felt this way? The process was a natural thing, he just did not know what to think of it. What if his actions inadvertently harmed the mare or her foal? He would feel guilty for seasons. A single horse foaling would have been enough to make him nervous, but forty? Well, at least he had Kavala's calm leadership to keep his trembling hands busy and his mind off of what would be happening that day.

First was the process of cleaning out the stalls for the broodmares to give birth in and setting out bedding for them. It was simple, easy work made easier by the other denizens of the Sanctuary and Kavala herself. Xira swept the debris out and others gathered it together outside of the stalls. Brooms and shovels were used to haul the old hay and straw into the wagon, now empty, and presumably was to be used as compost for the gardens. Kavala, once satisfied then had them start lugging supplies carefully to a long tables and began making kits for each of the 40 mares.

The work needed for making the kits was also simple, but the courier took great care under each of them. He sat with her and a few others making up the kits and he asked Kavala the purpose behind the linens. She briefly described the process and the reason behind it all. It made perfect logical sense, and it was great foresight to have all the materials on hand. Came with the territory of doing this year after year, but it was still praiseworthy. Forty packaged linen tail wraps later they were ready to move on to another station and help those working on a set of bizarre... bladders filled with what looked like soap. They were apparently used to wash and prevent infections, much like the majority of their preparations were for, and were easily packages for clean soap. It was a strange process, preparing the bladders, filling them and tying them off. But in the end he knew that it could be the difference between life or death if it kept the horse from growing sick.

The courier could imagine that this was not dissimilar to a healer's tent. A physician or a surgeon might have similar equipment, especially if he or she was competent. It was impressive to him the great lengths Kavala took to take care of her animals. It was a business, but she was not neglecting the safety of her charges by skipping over what some unethical sort of people might consider superfluous. After the clamps, forceps and towels were set out and other gear was organized by set, Xira took the time to double check that each of the foaling kits was well equipped thus far. Not all of the materials were ready, but those that were ready were set out, organized and accounted for.

He looked about and it seemed that Kavala was ready with a new task. Something called a Colic mixture? Whatever it was he was certainly on hand to assist. Even if it was only a second pair of hands to hold things.

[Lysaea Frostfawn]

Early Spring 514 AV

Lysaea got up that morning with a start. It was foaling season and she recalled today was the day they were meant to be helping Kavala with the preparations. She'd admit she was nervous; while she was a groom in the Sanctuary, she still didn't know that much about anything. If she got something wrong, she knew it could lead to problems in the foaling. She could only hope that if she did do something wrong, it would be easily fixed.

She went down to where all the foaling was happening and immediately started to help. The cleaning of the stalls was first. Lysa internally gave a sigh of relief. That was something she knew how to do without stuffing up. Whenever she was tasked with that job she just imagined she was cleaning. She always referred to her book on it just in case she was doing it wrongly too. While others swept the insides clean, she gathered it outside the stalls. She then used a shovel to help haul the hay and straw into the wagon. When Kavala decided it was time to start lugging supplies carefully to the long tables set up, she obliged, making kits for the mares once they were there.

That was also something she could do easily with or without instructions. She was fairly used to the task by now and so it was only a matter of doing it without mistake and not getting too used to the routine. She marveled at Kavala's knowledge of horsemanship. She knew exactly what she was doing and how it needed to be done. Lysa watched the konti in silent admiration as she did her job briskly and uniformly. All the while, she managed to help in some form, working at a brisk pace to keep it going, although she still did take care in the parts where she did not know what to do. Soon, forty linen tail wraps were done, mostly completed by Kavala, and it was time to fill the bladders with the detergent.

This was used apparently to prevent infection by placing under the mare's rears. Something like that. It seemed a bit awkward but Lysa supposed Kavala knew what she was doing. It was her first time doing foaling so she could only learn as she went only, trying to help. If sticking detergent where it needed to be prevented sickness, then so be it.

After that was done, she helped to set the clamps, forceps and towels out and organised the gear by sets. She then paid attention to Kavala to see what was happening next.

Lysa's mood lowered fractionally when the next task was about colic mixture. That was something she definitely didn't really know about (not that the other things were what she was genius at but she did have a bit of basic knowledge and common sense). She would try to help of course, but she didn't think she would be much help.

As it turned out, the only thing she did was to place the glass vials the mixture would go into where Kavala instructed them to be. Soon, the mixture was done and the kits were ready to go.

[Kavala]

The thing about colic was that in horses, especially pregnant horses, colic could result from a whole host of scenarios and not just the stress of pregnancy. Kavala had then decided, because there was so many types, she’d make up the one pregnancy colic tincture that was effective for a lot of things and place them in the foal kits, and then she’d have the crew make up some of the other kinds of colic mixture.

Luckily it was just a tincture. They could use the barn for a lab and everything was fine. She vanished for a few minutes, returned, and had a gallon jug of white grain alcohol with her which she sat on the table next to the empty brown glass bottles for the tinctures. The bottles had cork lined glass tops that clamped down with a little metal arm mechanism, sealing them up tight. Then Kavala handsome waterproof bags to place the tinctures in. Tincture was easy to craft, thankfully.

“Now, this first one is my foaling tincture. We’re going to make several kinds of tinctures after we get these foaling ones done because sometimes the mare will have a different type of colic and we need to be ready. But for starters we are doing these because they generally fit what ails a horse suffering foaling stress and can be quite useful. Also, when you make tinctures with dried herbs, you must let them rest for upwards of thirty days – shaking them a couple of times a day - so the alcohol will absorb the medicinal properties in the plants. Then you strain the plant material out. In this case, since we have such a great lab here, I’ve distilled essential oils out of plant material already and that means we can make tinctures fast and easily that work the same day. So... here’s what we do. Take these bottles and fill them up with three quarters of the way to the top of the bottle with grain alcohol.” Kavala said, tapping the big glass gallon bottle she’d brought. Then, she pulled out a file card that had a simple recipe on it.

“Ten drops Tarragon oil, seven drops Ginger Oil, five drops peppermint oil, three drops juniper, fennel, lemongrass, anise, and patchouli oils. Then shake the bottle well, cap it, and set it aside to be picked into the kit. Got it?” Kavala said, smiling at her two helpers. She’d leave it up to them to decide on what was the most efficient way to get the job done in terms of filling the bottles efficiently.

Foaling Colic Tincture (10 oz jar)

¾ Part White Grain Alcohol
10 drops Tarragon essential oil
7 drops Ginger essential oil
5 drops Peppermint essential oil
3 drops Juniper essential oil
3 drops Fennel essential oil
3 drops Lemongrass essential oil
3 drops Anise essential oil
3 drops Patchouli essential oil

Kavala knew this was an easy lesson for those just learning herbalism. Tinctures were some of the best forms of medicine for anyone. So she shared why with them. “Tinctures are the best fastest way to get medicine into a living thing if you can’t use Rak’keli’s gnosis. They are given orally by just pouring it down the gut. Or you can tube a mare and do it. I can show that to you as well. Tubing is probably fastest. The alcohol hits their stomach and is absorbed into their blood very suddenly. It drags the essential oils suspended in it with it as it is absorbed in the stomach. That means five minutes after you’ve given your dose, your patient has the medicine in their system. There could be no faster way unless you could somehow inject the oils into their bloodstream, which is possible, but not easy for people without a large medical background." The Konti healer said, looking thoughtful.

With that said, she got them all organized. She had Xira utilize his strength to hold the grain alcohol jug, which was heavy, and fill up all the vials about three quarters of the way through. Kavala laid out the essential oils in a sort of assembly line then, so everyone could grab a vial already filled with alcohol and walk down the line, adding the drops of oil that were prescribed. At that point Kavala gave Lysaea the job  because she had neat hand writing  of carefully utilizing the pen and ink she’d had setting on the table and labeling tags to hang from the neck of each bottle with what the substance within was.

The tags were neatly done and read ‘Foaling Colic” on the tags. While Lysaea was doing that, Kavala picked up the individual essential oils, alcohol and remaining details and packed them under the tables for a moment.

At that point, Kavala ran down the stalls in the foaling barn and took a quick look at all the mares. She’d carefully explain the signs of foaling to her helpers, but she’d do so when she started having mares show signs and after all the rest of the work was done.

“So, there are more tinctures to make but those we need to do inside. So since we have everything ready, lets start assembling. You grab a burlap bag, walk down the line, and pick things from each station and neatly shove them into the bag. The last thing in is the tincture. Once that tincture is in, tucked carefully into the towels I might add, seal the top with this twine I have setting on the end, and deliver each one to the front of each occupied stall. Once every mare stabled here, and there are not many yet but there will be, has one, then the rest get stacked neatly in our supply room.” Kavala said, and then demonstrated by moving to the front of the tables, grabbing a bag, and picking her first foaling kit, getting all the parts neatly tucked into the bag and tying off the top.

Once they got all the kits assembled, Kavala checked on the mares again, and then had Xira break down the folding tables and store them once more in the supply room. They used the tables often, be it for an open house display or things like folding winter blankets, making foaling kits, etc.

Then it was off to the Philtering lab for more tincture work, leaving Aweston in charge of watching mares. The philtering lab was above ground attached to the healing clinic, so it wasn’t far away or too out of bounds to leave the mares. She could see their barn from the window of the lab and thus could hear if Aweston started to call out they were needed.

Once they were there, Kavala took down a book that looked hand written by herself, and opened it to a page that read colic recipes. She ran down the list of herbs she had for colic, reading them out loud to the two who were watching her intently. The space was plenty big, and there was more than enough room for all three of them to work without bumping elbows. The shelves on one side of the lab were lined with herbs in various stages of storage, while the other side was lined with shelves of glassware. There were lights set up, table top burners, and several distiller apparatus type things set up to be utilized immediately. Everything looked incredibly clean. Kavala took a lot of pride in her labs and work spaces in The Sanctuary and expected everyone else too.

“Herbs used for horses in colic or other distress…” Kavala started in, then paused, getting both their attention. “We need some of these just in case certain things happen. Can you tell me which you think we’ll need as I read them off?” She asked, curious.

“Aconite, sometimes called wolfs bane or monkshood. This herb is used for colic triggered by all forms and sorts of fear. This herb is most efficient if used early, when colic symptoms are first noticed. Symptoms for aconite use are: sudden high fever, a rapid pulse, and restlessness or fearful behavior.” Kavala said, taking a breath then reading on.

“Belladonna. This herb is best used for sudden intense onset of severe colic symptoms. The horse displays unusually violent and completely out of character behavior such as striking, biting or kicking, and may show heightened sensitivity to touch, light and noise. Additional symptoms may include dilated pupils, dry mouth and the horse may feel hot to the touch.” Kavala finished, paused, and then read the next one from her medicinal journal.

“Arsenic. Used if the horse has very sudden onset of watery and dark diarrhea. The stool may have a foul or rotten odor to it as well. The horse appears thirsty but will only take small frequent amounts of water and never enough to sustain itself.” Kavala offered, looking questionably at them.

"The next is Chamomile. This herb is used for horses with symptoms of excessive flatulence and/or diarrhea consisting of green stool that smells of rotten eggs. The horse may also display out of character and usually violent behavior such as kicking out, grinding teeth or screaming. Do not use if the horse is constipated as this herb tends to harden stool rapidly.” Kavala read, again glancing up to see if anyone was really paying attention.


“Bitter Apple. Notice we have a few trees planted around the grounds? This herb is used in cases where the horse wants to roll or lie down or if the cause of the colic is unknown. Other symptoms may include sporadic but severe cramping pain. The horse is often looking at its side, biting its side, and kicking at its side. These are also signs of labor in pregnant mares.” Kavala said, reaching up to run her hand through her already unruly braid.

“Autumn crocus is the next herb, which we have in very limited supplies. It was a bad year for early herbs due to the heavy snows that killed most of the crocus crop. You use this tincture with very gassy symptoms – frequent spasms accompanied by a bloated abdomen and very loud gut sounds. The horse may also be kicking at abdomen but doesn't want to move much. Other symptoms may include abdomen being hot to the touch and constipation.” Kavala recited, taking a moment to shift her weight and look thoughtful.

“Next we have vegetable charcoal. This is just what it sounds. Burn vegetation and take the charred woody remains and powder them to use with shocky horses. Symptoms include weakness or horse has collapsed, bluish tinge of the mucous membranes, shallow breathing, bloating or excessive flatulation. Vegetable Charcoal will also help absorb just ingested poison.” Kavala informed them, smiling at the dual use. She liked things that could work wonders one way or another.

“Strychnine – Can be used to increase gut motility when used during colic associated with a blockage or severe abdominal spasms. Please note this is a very toxic poison in higher doses.” Kavala said softly, glancing around. There were indeed no strychnine trees at The Sanctuary but she did have some of the powdered nutty seed on hand that made the poison.

Kavala looked at the group expectantly. “Now, which do we make additional doses for in regards to the mares ... and when we do so why do we do so?” She asked her small crew, wanting them to think for themselves. Sure, they could make all the tinctures and have they on hand… but why?

“Keep in mind too if we make these, they have a shelf life of roughly five years… as per the shelf over there. Go see what is on it.” She hoped that would be part of their decision making process. What did they already have a good supply of and what didn’t they? The Konti waited for questions or suggestions.


Count: 2,015

[Xira Hezmek]

Sometimes Xira's mind wandered aimlessly if he had nothing to do, either his hands or his feet. But set to a task like this, the courier was focused as a farseeing glass. It appeared they would start with foaling tinctures. He imagined it would be useful should he ever have Snow bred. Strange that one could think of breeding a companion like that, but then again, she was just a horse, right?

Tinctures he knew were a type of a medicine, but he did not know how they were made. Kavala's lesson and instructions were very handy. She always seemed to have useful, practical information on any situation. At first Xira was concerned; if it took so much time to make a tincture then they were 30 days late. But to use essential oils instead, that was clever. So Lysaea and Xira began to assist. Xira did his best to remember the recipe as he started to fill the brown bottles with the grain alcohol. With the bottles filled with grain alcohol, then Xira moved to assist with the adding of medication to each bottle.

Xira felt foolish for being so nervous earlier that day. He was enjoying the work so far, he felt... a part of something bigger than himself and was accomplish something grand. Besides, the work was fascinating and engaging. The procedures and the implications of those procedures that Kavala outlined was a bit above his knowledge base, but he still paid rapt attention... as per usual of course.

Then came the process of actually assembling the foaling kits. It only took a moment for each bag to be filled, but with the amount of bags needed, it took some time for all three of them and the other helpers to get everything prepared, sealed, and delivered where they needed to go. There was little thinking involved with this act, just grab one of each, tie it up and set one in front of each stll. He paused to peek into one of the stalls. One of the mares with brown liquid eyes looked over at him and made a snort. Kavala said something about them being the furthest along, but it did not seem to be foaling just yet. Thats when the fun would begin.

Xira was jostled out of his thoughts as Kavala had him break down the cleverly designed folding tables. And make room in the barn for people and horses to move back and forth. It seemed that the horse were well taken care of as the three of them, Kavala, Lysaea and himself went to the Philtering lab for more medicine making. The lab had a strange scent to it, something ike the sick room of a healing ward, fumes of lye and something else. It was of course clean, almost obsessively so, but a faint scent of cleaning agents and other bizarre components was everpresent.

It was a bit arcane, and perhaps even a little mystical to be among strangely crafted glass objects and vials upon vials of herbs. Xira was in so much awe and distrust for himself to not break anything that he jumped and nearly knocked over a bottle of something called Feverfew when Kavala asked the two of them their thoughts on which herbs they might need to use in a tincture. He nodded, his eyes wide. Surely Kavala would not let them make a mistake.

In anycase Kavala began talking about various useful herbs and what they were useful for when dealing with foaling mares. Aconite, Belladona, Arsenic, Chamomile...Bitter Apple? Autumn Crocus, vegetable... Charcoal? And Strychine. He nodded thoughtfully and took a look at the herbs already in stock, "Hm. Vegetable Charcoal seems like it covers a wide range of symptoms, as does Belladona and Aconite. Aconite might be a good herb for the younger mares, I imagine the horses would not fully understand what is happening to them. The rest are somewhat situational and might need lesser amounts." And indeed, there seemed to be lesser amounts of those herbs in storage, particularly the Autumn Crocus. " I would guess that for every amount of Chamomile we should make similar amounts of Autumn crocus or vice versa, since both treat flatulence, but should be used depending on the mare having constipation or diarrhea." Poor horses, he thought, being pregnant and having to deal with painful stool would be terrible to deal with.

He then looked to his friend Lysaea for her thoughts as he browsed the supply of herbs. It seemed that they had more then enough charcoal, more then any of the other herbs, not that he would call charcoal an herb. "Would it be bad to mix herbs with similar effects? I take it that medicine might cancel each other out if mixed wrong, else everyone would have cure all philters and tinctures. It also seem we are low on Arsenic and Belladonna. I do not know how often you use those, but maybe those would also be useful to make for the upcoming years?"