Rachel Alexandra has baby #2
 

https://twitter.com/StonestreetFarm/...873728/photo/1

Gorgeous picture of her with her Bernardini filly who weighed in at 140 lbs.

That Bernardini is sure a lucky hoss.........................:rolleyes: :zz:

Rachel at Rood & Riddle
 

They say it's serious. :-(

http://www.stonestreetfarms.com/info/?page_id=144

The foal was pretty large, so after last year I did wonder if she'd have problems again. I hope this isn't a sign that she's going to be a high risk pregnancy every year. I'm not clear on what they do during surgery for bruising on a small colon. Would part of it be removed? Maybe do something to reduce bleeding and stitch it up?

I'm wondering if this will be it for her for motherhood. She wound up at R&R for pain management after foaling the colt. This is a lot more serious. :(

The filly is with a nurse mare. Does this mean she stays with the nurse mare until weaning now?

Bloodhorse: Rachel Alexandra Has Post-Foaling Surgery

DRF: Rachel Alexandra has surgery for foaling complications

The baby appears to have heart shape marking. Hopefully this won't be the last picture of thwn together. :(



Attachment 2108

:(

Latest: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/02/14/2...medium=twitter

HRTV Video: Breaking News: Rachel Alexandra Undergoes Colon Surgery

ETA the following tweets:
@DRFBreeding: At Rood and Riddle, waiting on 2:30 press conference on condition of Rachel Alexandra.
@DRFBreeding: Conference will be w/ surgeon Dr. Brett Woodie, attending vet Dr. Bonnie Barr, owner Barbara Banke

@DRFBreeding: (Dr. Brett)Woodie: Her recovery from anesthesia was uncomplicated, doing the best we could expect with recovery.

@DRFBreeding: (Dr. Bonnie)Barr: Too early to make prognosis, prediction on future as a broodmare. Taking it one day at a time.

@DRFBreeding: Woodie: Doesn't think Rachel's dam Lotta Kim's history of foaling difficulty had any bearing on Rachel's situation.

@DRFBreeding: Barbara Banke: It's a beautiful filly, birth was hard for her.

@DRFBreeding: Banke: That morning, Rachel was bright & seemed to be progressing well, then all of a sudden she looked depressed.

@DRFBreeding: Banke: We got her here in record time, and they did surgery right after that.

@flysofree: Dr. Woodie: exploratory surgery to find source of bacterial infection in abdomen. Recovered well doing “as best as we can expect”

@flysofree: Dr. Barr: Rachel having IV fluids, antibiotics, anti-inflam, flushing of abdominal cavity

@flysofree: Dr. Barr: too early to predict full recovery or ability to foal in future for Rachel A

@flysofree: Dr. Woodie: impossible to say whether size of this filly affected Rachel’s complications

@flysofree: Banke: Rachel seemed fine morning after birthing, but suddenly became depressed, rushed her to the clinic. Looks brighter today

@flysofree: Banke: filly looks great, running around, adjusting to nurse mare.

@flysofree: Stonestreet: Adjustment to nurse mare going very well, pair will likely be turned out tomorrow

@DRFBreeding: Banke: Rachel looks brighter today, so that makes me happy. It's a day-by-day, hour-by-hour thing, so it's very serious.

@DRFBreeding: Banke: We ask people to send good thoughts and prayers to Rachel and hope for the best.

@DRFBreeding: Banke: The filly looks great, and wants to run around. She's getting used to the nursemare, so I think the filly will be fine

hoping for the best. we all know she's a tough girl.

Updated Release on Rachel Alexandra’s Procedure and Current Condition
 

From Rood & Riddle:

February 14, 2013-- After foaling Rachel Alexandra was closely monitored by Stonestreet Farm employees as well as Rood & Riddle veterinarians. On Wednesday afternoon around 2:30 a change in her demeanor was noted and she was immediately rushed to Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital to undergo exploratory abdominal surgery to determine the cause of excess fluid in her abdominal cavity denoting an infection.

Surgery identified that the cause of the infection was a section of the small colon that had lost its blood supply due to an injury during foaling causing bacteria to be released into the abdomen. The damaged section of intestine was removed and extensive abdominal lavage was performed to remove inflammatory cells and bacteria. Due to the nature and the extent of the problem the surgery was long and technically demanding but recovery from anesthesia was uncomplicated.

Rachel Alexandra is currently receiving IV antibiotics, IV fluids, anti-inflammatory agents, IV nutrition and medications to counteract the effects of bacterial toxins. Medications are also being administered to aid in the prevention of scar tissue in the abdominal cavity. A standing abdominal lavage utilizing abdominal drains placed at surgery is also being performed several times a day.

Her condition is very serious but it is too early to give an accurate prognosis.

Dr. Brett Woodie (the attending surgeon on the case) said in his press conference this afternoon that she is doing "the best that can be expected”

Very upsetting news. Thanks for the updates.

From Stonestreet's FB page: "There is no change in Rachel’s condition tonight, which is good & she enjoyed a mint. She is so courageous in this most important fight."

I'm hoping it's a good sign that she felt well enough to eat a mint. I've had to make an elderly pet comfortable in his last days, and one of things that gives you a sinking feeling is how they fail to respond to a favorite treat.

I made a comment in the article posted on DRF, and took some heat for it. You know, because that's where all the smart people post when they're not posting here ;p

I've posted some nonsensical garbage as you are all aware. But tonight I'd like to defend my nonsensicalness? Horse and human, they're 2 very different animals with very different anatomies. I get it.

But the description of Rachel's problem- made me compare it to Brock Lesnar's diverticulitis. I did it just to give people a comparison and a little perspective on what's happening with her. Yeah... that comparison didn't go over so well lol.

If you're not familiar with his story, I'll give you the summed up version.Lesnar got really sick while training for a UFC fight. The doctors at the first hosptial he went to couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. So he goes to another hospital after a couple days. They finally diagnose him with diverticulitis. Somehow he had a small hole in his intestine, which was leaking waste and other gross stuff into his blood stream. From that he got a nasty bacterial infection. He almost died from it, because they weren't able to diagnose him for days after he got sick.

At least with Rachel they were able to diagnose her quickly and hopefully she pulls through ok. I said as much in the comment section.

So was the comparison/overall comment really dumb, sorta dumb, or did I not deserve ridicule this time lol? By the way, I do hope the best for her. I don't want that to get lost in all this.

you'd have been better off posting 'i will be lighting candles and praying for you. god is with you rachel'. that wouldn't be ridiculed, while cold hard facts will. but nice try!

oh, and i just stuck a stick in that bears cage and rattled it. this ought to go well. :) yet another question about rachel and getting back to her foal-it simply won't happen.

I only saw one comment from someone else after your post, so I don't think you got all that much ridicule from it. And no, it wasn't dumb; you were basically saying that a hole in the intestines is very serious. Which it is.

Yes, horses and humans are different, but if we were so utterly and completely different from animals, science wouldn't be experimenting with animals for medical treatments. A DVM I used to know once told me when you came down to it, mammals are physically quite similar to each other, whether whale or ape.

What I can't understand is why that same poster who responded to you isn't saying the same thing to all the hysterical "OH MY GOD, NOW SHE WON'T GET TO BE A MOMMY TO HER BABY" posts. Because, lolwut?

that's what cracks me up about some of our fellow humans. they take someone to task and remind them that there are differences between animals and humans, and then turn around and project human emotions onto those same critters.
will her foal go back to mommy...no, no she won't. that nurse mare is the 'mommy' that filly knows now. then there are the folks saying 'i stayed up all night worrying'. seriously?!
someone else posted something along the lines of 'i hope they don't pressure rachel to breed again'. pressure?! like there was a negotiation between people and the horse?! geeez

How does a horse express 'no means no'? Maybe we can teach Rachel to paint it like a Moneigh.

I saw someone point out that by the time Rachel recovers, she'll have lived on decreased grain for awhile and her milk will have dried up. It's not as much knowing the nurse mare as 'mommy' that's the issue. The foal simply wouldn't have food to eat. I heard Rachel was raised on a nurse mare herself because even when Lotta Kim has healthy foals, she's not a particularly motherly type, i.e. her babies are, forgive the Latin butchering, equus non grata.

no idea. i want to know how to get a horse to change it's mind. bribery? threats to release horse porn from the year before with curlin??

i wonder what the home looks like of the person who wrote they were 'praying with every heart beat' for rachel? i'm figuring crocheted afgans everywhere, with either stuffed animals or cats on them. :D

Really hope she makes it. One of my favorites.

Posted at noon ET today on Twitter--Rachel enjoying another mint at lunchtime. Looks like she's hanging in there.

Bloodhorse update:

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-raci...-some-progress

Maybe some of those posters will propose that the foal be switched to formula so that Rachel can still "mother" her. Heh.

Re: Lotta Kim- RA was her first foal, and she did reject her. Her second died (wobbler's syndrome- I don't know what that is) and her third (Samantha Nicole) she took to okay. I guess some mares need a trial run before they figure it all out. ;)

http://www.viddy.com/video/e56534bc-...b-fb5a4bee4aca

Here's a video from Stonestreet basically taken when the picture of Rachel getting her mint was. It's just a few seconds, but it's great to see her.

She had at least one other foal die from a virus or something because the Wobber's sufferer, apparently named Empire Ruler per the Breeders' Cup website, was just one. She was barren in 2008 (or at least that's what I assume happened when there's "Horse Not Found" for that year. 2009 she was pregnant to Any Given Saturday but no surviving foal. 2010 barren. 2011 Samantha Nicole, 2012 pregnant to Elusive Quality at some point, no surviving foal. There's a reason Lotta Kim's known for having problems. One foal dying is bad luck, 2 or 3 with maybe a miscarriage in there = problem child.

I am not sure how long after the wobbler was born that they euthanized him. But yeah, lotta kim doesnt get pregnant easily.
As for rachel, i am somewhat surprised that people are saying she has had complications with both foals. They took her to the clinic last year for pain-if thats a complication, then every animal who has ever given birth has had complications.
Perhaps many who are posting on drf, etc, just dont realize how treacherous life off the track can be.

Probably true. They think horses are mainly at risk because of the big bad people making them run all the time. I saw someone on youtube saying they were glad that Genuine Risk's foals didn't make it to the track because they were spared the risk of death they'd most certainly face out there since, as we all know, racing = doom. Pretty much that Barbaro and Ruffian were the horses they knew about so tragedy must be the norm.

The thing is, I'm not sure if last year was bruising or what. "Pain management" is really vague. Something happened that doesn't seem to be public. She came home after 3 days or so, though, so whatever it was didn't require surgery. It makes you think that maybe there was bruising but she just got over the pain of it, then when it happened again they felt they had to address it because this time there's an infection.

When both times she foals there are complications, it's gonna make you squirm about what could happen in the future. The PR would be terrible if she were bred again, had natural foaling, then died from complications because they had a hint this might happen. People keep talking about how they hope they'll just stop breeding her, but foaling complications can be dealt with if they're willing to do things like C-sections. Maybe have her foal AT Rood and Riddle so she could be watched and moved directly into surgery if need be.

i just read a post which said RA is a national treasure. sheesh.

and the wobbler colt lived 2 years, so it wasn't an immediate issue, nor one that can be tied to lotta kim.

it's obvious that some 'fans' are just really weird when it comes to the horses. they aren't race fans by any means. and a lot of them seem clueless when it comes to animals and nature, and instinct vs emotion.

as for future breeding-if the vets say she can, i see no reason not to. hell, mares have easy foaling for years and then bam. there are no guarantees in this world, for anyone.

Some forms of Wobbler's can be hereditary. There are a few factors than can lead to it and genetic predisposition could play a part even if it wasn't the primary issue. Males tend to get it more than females as well for some reason. We don't know that he didn't get something from his dam that made its appearance as he got older. The growing process could've started things up that were waiting to happen.

I don't know that I want to jump straight to the 'don't breed her again' bandwagon, but if you didn't she definitely wouldn't die of foaling complications...that is, in fact, guaranteed so that's why there are fans thinking of it. I don't blame them, but that's not the only possibility. There are other options besides taking your chances too. I don't know how C-sections would work given how she's already been operated on and had her insides messed with. Maybe there's a reason she'd not make a good candidate, but it's worth thinking about since I assume her reproductive area wasn't the problem. She's thus far having foals that aren't just healthy but fairly large. Breeding/monitoring her and later making a judgment call about C-section or natural foaling with medical supervision isn't unreasonable. If she has to effectively give birth in a hospital, that might be the best thing besides pensioning her.

Oy. That's a heck of a bleak record.

Interesting article about C-sections on horses:

http://www.chronofhorse.com/article/...tion-your-mare

Well, should she pull through, she'll certainly get this year off.

Not to connect humans to horses, but I'm tired of reading over and over that no one can be sure that the foal's size had anything to do with it because "some" mares have delivered larger foals with no problem. Yeah, and a friend of mine delivered a ten-pound baby with no pain killers of any sort. That doesn't mean most women can do it.

Barbara Banke certainly seems very emotionally attached to RA; I find it hard to believe she'll do anything she doesn't think in the mare's best interest.

For those wondering about the nurse mare situation: http://www.stonestreetfarms.com/info/?page_id=144

I bet poor Barbara's had animal rights nuts convinced that she had some foal butchered so Rachel's could have milk. They must've been keeping the phones hot over it. Rest assured, nurse mare's baby is doin' swell and is a rather beautiful Palomino.

actually, i saw several posts on drf about nurse mares and their poor foals....'left to die' was how they put it. :rolleyes:
i know when i want facts on something, i tend to listen to the shrill voices of the hysterical.

Cautiously positive news:

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-raci...ndras-progress

Thx for the update GR!

Saw the promising update on bhorse. Rachel took a short walk outside, feed had been introduced, she ate some grass, all vital signs normal. Hope she is upgraded from serious condition soon. Good news, and hoping it continues.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=1&theater

Here's Stonestreet's picture of her outdoor visit with her doctors. She's giving the camera that very Rachel look.

gotta say, she looks good in that picture.

great to see her getting better