COLLEGE PARK, Md. — University of Maryland students and a professor sprang into action Sunday night into Monday morning to help deliver a 130-pound foal after a broodmare experienced complications during birth.
WATCH: UMD students and a professor help deliver a 130-pound foal safely
Teaching assistant Lilliana Sopar was on an overnight shift monitoring Misty Taste, one of the university’s broodmares. The horse was 15 days overdue and unusually restless.
"She just kinda kept circling, and she hadn't done that before she had kind of she would be restless for a couple minutes at a time and then settle, and this night was different," Sopar said.
Sopar called fellow teaching assistant Katie to check the stable cameras.
"And I said, Katie, are you seeing this? Like, are you, are you watching what I'm watching? And she said, Yes, this looks weird," Sopar said.
Dr. Amy Burk, a professor of equine science at UMD, said her students' instincts were spot on.
"I think instinct is huge," Burk said.
"You have to look at the situation and figure out how it's gonna play out, what you need to do," Burk said.
The professor and teaching assistants agreed it was time. Calls went out to 12 students in the class to come to the barn. Burk noticed the horse seemed relieved when the team arrived.
"The broodmare nickered to me as if to say, 'Hey human, like, I’m glad you’re here kind of thing,'" Burk said.
Junior Emily Clunk arrived to find the birthing process underway.
"There was a lot of amniotic fluid happening, um, some blood," Clunk said.
During a check to ensure the foal was positioned correctly, the team felt something was off. The foal had one leg farther back and its nose down to the side. They also found the placenta had not opened as it is supposed to, creating a critical situation where the foal could suffocate before taking its first breath.
"There’s not a lot of time. You put on a glove, you close your eyes, and you feel," Burk said.
"That's a very critical situation. You have to put on a glove, go into the mare, and open up that placenta," Burk said.
The team got Misty Taste up and walking around to reposition the foal.
"And like three good pulls we were able to get her out," Clunk said.
While the horse was still standing, the 130-pound foal was born. Guided by the teacher and students, the foal had a gentle landing.
"This is kind of what makes the experience to be able to be here and see it in real life and touch it in the flesh, and yes, it's tiring; yes, it's long hours, but this is what we're here for," Clunk said.
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