This foal is so young; he hasn’t yet been given a paddock name.  He’s a beautiful little quarter horse, bred to Moonglade Pleasure Seeker and An Obsession.  He comes from champion stock and is eligible for American registration.  Sadly when his mother died, the original owners were not in a position to care for him, which is how he came to live with Janelle Harvey of Morayfield in North Brisbane.

“I received a phone call offering us the opportunity to care for the little man” says Janelle. “Of course we said yes! Our lifestyle means we are home all the time, so I knew we could handle the challenge.”

Caring for an orphaned foal requires a great deal of dedication. Just like any new born, foals need to be fed at three hourly intervals and getting them to accept their feed can be a tricky business.
 

Replacement formulas are not always accepted by orphans and if her foal rejected the supplement offered to him, Janelle knew his chances of survival would be reduced.

“We started him on a generic brand of milk replacement that is not specifically for foals. That can be a bit touch and go because generic products lack the levels of essential ingredients needed,” says Janelle. “Even if he accepted the feed, there was some concern the contents of the product would not be sufficient to support his development.

Luckily, the feed was accepted by the foal but this was only part one of the challenge; price proved to be a real pain point.  “Ouch! We were shocked at how much the cost of available products has shot up over the past couple of years.  The brand we went with was $140 for a 5kg bag which would only last around three days at a stretch.  We couldn’t sustain it.”