Thoroughbred colt born at UMD's Campus Farm
Image Credit: Amy Burk
If you’ve been by the Campus Farm in the last couple of weeks, you may have noticed a crowd clamoring for a glimpse of the newest member of the Terrapin family frolicking outside the horse barn: a thoroughbred colt born in the early morning hours of March 8 as students and faculty watched on in wonder.
“It was the most exhausting but rewarding experience,” says junior animal science major Steven Moirano. “It was just incredible.”
Students like Moirano enrolled in an equine reproduction course were on “foal watch” for several days and nights prior to the colt’s arrival, sleeping inside the barn or the farm’s small office building. “All of a sudden it was happening and within 15 minutes the foal was out on the ground,” says senior animal science major Kristen Brady, who witnessed the foal stand and take his first steps within 30 minutes of his birth. “People don’t realize how much more productive a foal is than a baby being born. You can literally watch him learn everything within the first couple of hours.”
Since the colt’s arrival, crowds have been queued outside the horse paddock, fascinated by the “little” guy, who weighed in at 153 pounds at just four days old. Even construction workers are flocking to the farm fences to watch the colt gallop like he’s already training for the Kentucky Derby.
This marks the first time in three decades a foal has been born on the university’s Campus Farm. The practice was somewhat common before roughly the mid-80s, when the Campus Farm had more acreage. However, Dr. Amy Burk, coordinator of the equine studies program in the Department of Animal and Avian Sciences (ANSC), has been working for the past several years to bring foals back to campus.
“Not only is this going to make our Equine Studies Program better but it’s going to make people more aware of the horse-breeding industry – in particular Thoroughbreds – which to me is the most rewarding part of working with horses,” says Burk.
Animal science students have been involved with the entire process of preparing the horses to foal and bringing them to campus. In order to overcome space constraints on the Campus Farm, two pregnant mares were kept on a demonstration farm in Clarksville, Md. where research is being conducted on the effects of rotational grazing on pasture management. The mares were transported to campus about a month before the first – named Cassie – was due to give birth. (Pictured left: Cassie and her colt)
“They moved here beautifully,” says Brady, who assisted Dr. Burk with the plan for relocating the mares from Clarksville. “A ton of things could have gone wrong with moving them and introducing them to new horses and they handled it all with grace.”
The yet-to-be-named Thoroughbred colt was born at 6:48 on the morning of the first big Spring Open House for high school students admitted to UMD for the upcoming fall semester. Many of the UMD animal science students acted like nervous parents, anticipating how the foal – and his mother – would react to the lines of people streaming by to sneak a peek.
“I was there all day monitoring him. It feels kinda like my kid,” says Moirano (pictured left), who has plans of becoming an equine surgeon one day.
Meanwhile, Kristen Brady (right) is looking to eventually pursue a doctorate degree so that she can conduct research on horses and other large animals. “To have this experience (with foal watch) actually makes me qualified for the job rather than having to learn it all first- hand after being hired somewhere,” she says.
The young chestnut brown colt will remain on campus throughout the fall semester so that students can continue to work with him. Faculty, staff and students within ANSC are compiling a list of suggested names for him and will eventually invite the campus community to vote for their favorite. He’ll soon have a friend to frolic with too as another mare, named Amazin’, is due to give birth April 7 on campus, setting up round two of “foal watch.”
“The horse barn is just filled with so many people with joy and excitement so it’s really lightened everybody’s spirits and put a smile on people’s faces,” says Burk.
Watch the colt in action in the video below!
For more information on the equine studies program at the University of Maryland, visit http://www.ansc.umd.edu/equinestudies.
