What are your special routines/superstitions?

[pintopiaffe]

I don't mean the whole, 'write down the times, dip the umbilical' type of routine...

But the silly little things that you do late in foalwatch?

Beginning on day 330 my bedtime reading is my big old black bible "Breeding Management & Foal Development." I reread everything from conception through "foal's first year." I revisit "Foaling" and "Foaling Complications" until I can recite them in my sleep. I figure it's like my PD training... get it in my brain deep enough and I won't have to THINK about it should I need it.

I really DO need to suck it up and buy the newest edition though, mine is very outdated now... :uhoh:

I take a nap VERY early on the day the milk tests 'tonight.' Then I settle into the bedroom with a good book--but it must be one I've already read and usually a cheap romance/intrigue since I can only give it 1/2 my attention. :lol:

I have worn the same polarfleece pullover from KMart for every foaling since 1996. Usually inside out, since stuff sticks to the polarfleece. I HAVE washed it. :P But it's as much a part of my foaling kit as sterile sleeves and oxytocin. :D

[Fred]

I do the same reading and rereading/memorizing as you do.
For the first XX years it was Blessed Are the Broodmares (the scariest book ever written).

I have all the local vets # on my board in the barn, but I memorize them too, and tape them to the phone, in case it is my husband who has to make the call.

I go over the foaling 'kit' a number of times, making sure everything is at hand.

If the mare seems to be hanging on, one of my tried and true methods of getting her to foal that night is to have a nice big bubble bath, wash my hair, and give myself a manicure and pedicure. Go to bed all clean and fragrant......
It seems to work!




;)

[katerenee]

I have a new one this year. Before my mare foaled this year I kept on trying to find time to get her mane pulled and make her look a little more tidy before baby pictures would be taken. Fast forward to my poor mom on foal watch and going on no sleep, I bring mare in, pull mane, and tell her that I was sorry it took me so long but now she's pretty and ready for photo shoots and BOOM baby that next morning!!:lol:

[paintjumper]

I keep my "foaling kit" ready from the beginning and just replenish as needed. I use the foalerts so I check them just before going to bed and wait for that insufferable alarm to go off. Visualize a sleeping cat awakened by a fog horn going off in it's ear that is loud enough to wake the dead, and that cat hanging upside down by his toenails in the bedroom ceiling!!!
That thing is loud!!!

[Tasker]

I camp in a tent in the wash stall of the barn for the duration...so my kit included a cheesy paperback or 2, extra flashlight batteries to read by, extra blankets for colder nights, and a double check of the signal & charge on my cell phone before settling in for the night.

In the past, I have been able to get an oxygen tank as a rental but for the past 2 seasons, the local companies have been unwilling to rent to private citizens. :( :rolleyes: (it's ok to call me paranoid on that one, I won't mind!)

Good luck OP!

[Sunnydays]

I do the same reading and rereading/memorizing as you do.
For the first XX years it was Blessed Are the Broodmares (the scariest book ever written).

I have all the local vets # on my board in the barn, but I memorize them too, and tape them to the phone, in case it is my husband who has to make the call.

I go over the foaling 'kit' a number of times, making sure everything is at hand.

If the mare seems to be hanging on, one of my tried and true methods of getting her to foal that night is to have a nice big bubble bath, wash my hair, and give myself a manicure and pedicure. Go to bed all clean and fragrant......
It seems to work!




;)

Hey you two - that's me too with the reading/re-reading. I also go over my foaling notes on each mare, to be sure I haven't missed any "signs", and to be aware of past problems, lest they recur.
Haven't tried the bubble-bath in advance - but I'm sure it helps bring on mare-labour.:)
I have all my clothes on the floor beside the bed - and flashlight at the back door, so I can make it to the barn in record time. Actually, I'm usually half-dressed, in bed, when the time comes. And I too end up napping in the afternoon, especially if the foalwatch has been a long one.

[Maddie]

Lol, I also re read my 'Breeding Management and Foal Development' book during foaling season. Yes it's dated, but still pretty much my foaling bible! Oh, and I have the nastiest black and red wool sweater I wear for those early spring cool night foalings. I think I've worn it for 10 years now..... We had a sad foaling season this year with a red bag plus twins, so I'm washing up my sweater and looking forward to a better year in 2010!