Joy has followed sadness after a foal who lost his mother at eight days old has bonded with a cow.
Orphaned foal Thomas and dairy cow Rusty have formed an unusual bond at their home farm in Gorey, Co. Wexford, following a sad start to Thomas’ young life.
Thoroughbred breeder and dairy farmer Des Devereux told H&H Thomas was born normally and “everything was perfect and very straightforward” for the first seven to eight days.
Sadly on the eighth day, the mare haemorrhaged and they lost her very quickly.
“We had to get to work straight away to find a foster mother,” he said. “We found one straight away and we tried very hard to get it to work, but we knew after two to three days it wasn’t going to. So we kept at it until we found another mare, again he [the foal] was willing, but it just didn’t happen.”
Des said his son, Charlie, eight, suggested they try the foal on Rusty.
At this stage, they were desperate to find a solution, so they gave it a try and the pair bonded rapidly.
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“It was very straightforward and they’ve never looked back,” he added. “There haven’t been any digestive issues and the foal is being more than adequately provided for.
“It wasn’t working the other way [with foster mares], so it was desperate times and desperate measures to keep the horse alive.”
Des, whose foals have gone on to enjoy National Hunt success with trainers on both sides of the Irish Sea, said he has fortunately never had to try this before.
“We’ve never lost a mare at this late stage before and we had to thank goodness it has just worked,” he said.
“It’s really nice the racing public have got behind it [the story].”
A cow has become an unlikely foster mother to an orphan foal in Co Wexford.? ? ? (Tap for best view on mobile) pic.twitter.com/5Nps9CyZxiA cow has become an unlikely foster mother to an orphan foal in Co Wexford.? ? ? (Tap for best view on mobile) pic.twitter.com/5Nps9CyZxi— RTÉ News (@rtenews) April 27, 2021— RTÉ News (@rtenews) April 27, 2021
All three have bonded and both foals are doing ‘very well’
Other than the obvious, there is one, slightly smelly, difference from using a foster mare…
“The biggest problem is lying in cow pats and he comes up with big brown patches,” he laughed. “As long as he keeps sucking away, that’s what matters! We are just taking each day at a time.”
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Lucy is an experienced news journalist, reporter and presenter. Since joining the Horse & Hound team in 2015, Lucy has reported from major global sporting events including the Tokyo Paralympic Games and multiple European Championships, as well as Badminton, Burghley and London, to name a few. She has covered current affairs and sports news across the full spectrum of equestrian disciplines and racing, as well as human and equine welfare, industry news and court cases.
