Holly - I've thought of using the towels in the auto section that "suck up" the water. I've never had any around when I've been with a foaling mare.
All of our shetlands have "cheated" and foaled in between checks (one foaled while I was getting feed - I'd moved her back to her old space in the barn, tied up in front of her bucket. I heard the water splashing as I was scooping feed up for the next set of ponies - she foaled standing up with her head deep in her bucket. I never saw the contractions...She didn't lay down until we moved her back into her clean foaling stall and she was sore/crampy/colicy. Lots of pics - in the "Flashi" album). We used regular towels to dry her off.
Tory foaled when I had her in the round pen - I was cleaning her stall - should have guessed she'd gotten it so GROSS due to being hours/minutes away from foaling. I was actually stripping the stall - it was wet all the way thru also because of the heavy rainstorm we'd gotten and had water flowing thru the carport where the stall was. Echo was pretty much dry by the time I brought them in, but used the towels to dry him a bit more and get my scent on him since Tory is our wild mare and I wanted her to understand he was "mine" as well. Then I cornered her and rubber her neck/chest w/ the damp towels.
First pic should say 345 days. She was covered only 1 time - May 10th, 2012. The wet in the stall - behind Tory and along the wall between wall/chain link panel is rain wet from the water that had flowed thru. The 2nd pic was taken about 345 am and he was born about 215am. The round pen was very wet, but packed sand with no standing water. It had started raining the afternoon before - after I took the first pic and was still "spitting" while she was in the round pen while cleaning up that "stall". We had gotten around an inch of rain on already water logged ground, IF i remember right.
Stuffy foaled - we'd spent 48 hours keeping watch. Just swapping folks on a stool in front of the kitchen window where our laundry is(was at previous home). We had some dog kennels set up in the car port and she was in the one. Ponyfriend, Vicki, had to go pick up her grand daughters from school, so she left. I did chores, didn't have as many ponies then, got done pretty quick (didn't groom or work any) and then back up to the house. Made pizza and went physically out to check her while it was cooling before cutting. Hmmm... soon? Didn't see any contractions and she was really no different. Standing with her butt against the chain link panel. Went back in, cut all 3 pizzas, dished up for myself, one of our daughter's and my hubby and sat down with mine in the living room. I'd maybe consumed 3 bites of first slice, taken a drink and the back door(carport/laundry) slammed open and oldest daughter called "uuuummmmmmm pizza." Then - "Hey, who's the new "cupid"
?) and out we went to see the new colt trying to stand from w/i the corner his dam had just been in. Think she may have foaled standing up, too...Towels used to dry him off as well. AS you can guess - it was February, Valentine's Day weekend (though after Valentine's Day - it was the 16th) and it is COLD in NC at that time. I even kept him covered with dry towels like blankets whenever he got the shivers - which wasn't often since he had a really nice fluffy coat.
Wet behind because I've just washed her. I don't know exactly what time it is here (I'd have to pull/find original pic). 2nd pic is about an hour after foaling, we've towel dried the little "Cupid" (yes, that became his name) and removed her tail wrap. Cupid was our first Shetland foal to be born on our property since 2000, so it had been 10 years, and he is out of our very first born "Stuffy" - whom was born in 1996 in MT.
Anyway, I'm going to pick up some of those wicking rags and give them a try and see how they work. They might pull the coat, too, though - so we'll have to see.
