Foaling Watch
By Donna and Abby

As January slipped away, the expectant Equinnes were getting restless. The males had built shelters for their women, but most did not stay indoors much. That was not the case for Curly, who was all human!

Sierra would not hear of leaving her charges until after they had all foaled, and Curly had decided not to leave her, even when Connor MacLeod showed up with his ship to pick up the Innocents that had been found and were ready for relocation to other parts of Edan. Part of his reason to stay could have been influenced by that fact that most of the male Equinnes habitually went around without any shirts on when they were in human form! He wasn't badly built himself, but it was hard to compete against them.

While they waited, he and Sierra shared a small lean-to at the edge of a large meadow where the mares like to graze. It was there that when he went out to take care of certain needs, he came upon the first mare lying down in a sheltered area, straining to deliver her foal! They normally delivered after 340 days of gestation, but that was just an average. Mares
had their own timetable, and this one was foaling at only 318 days!

Curly was an experienced wrangler, though he was more a "cowman" than a "horseman". And the fact that this horse was sometimes a woman scared him more than a little bit! He ran for Sierra and, as it turned out, Queenie. Chloe had also stayed behind, and had not gotten on Connor's ship, because she had some maternal powers.

Together, the four of them raced back to where Curly had seen the mare. It was the one called Pony, mainly because she was a little smaller than the other mares. The sire of her foal was Anubis himself! Queenie knelt by the mare's head, comforting her while Sierra and Chloe checked things out. Protruding from her backside was the bag of waters, in which could be seen two tiny hooves! Pony pushed again, and they came out a little more, with a small nose lying on top of the foal's legs. "It's in the right position," Sierra said. "Push, Pony! I'll give you a hand!"

The laboring mare did as she was told, and as the foal inched forward, Sierra tore the bag around it and grabbed the legs. She then maintained gentle but firm traction, helping to ease the baby out while Pony pushed. Once the shoulders had been delivered, the rest came out in a rush. "It's a boy!" Chloe said gleefully. "A beautiful boy!"

"We got plenty a' studs," said Curly, a little concerned. "Hope there's sum fillies in the rest a' th' bunch!"

"Don't worry," said Queenie gently. "There are more mares, but they haven't come here yet. The studs told me they can sense them, but won't be able to find them until they come into season."

The foal was cleaned off, and pulled around so that Pony could get to know her son. It was her first born, and she hadn't done badly at all!

Sierra and Queenie immediately told Bea, who was in Little E, about the colt. Bea passed on the word to Anubis, who sent back his pleasure and pride, and a message that he would be flying there as soon as his hawk's wings could carry him.

In the meantime, the sun had raised enough to reveal that the newborn colt was definitely his father's son. He was a beautiful light dun in color!

Each and every Equinne baby was worthy of a celebration, since the race had so few at a time. And even though this year was going to be miraculous, with all the females from that herd giving birth, they had planned to make each one as special as if it had been the only one! By the time Anubis made it there, they were having a party!

He arrived just in time to see his son change into a human form for the very first time! Smiling, Pony immediately rewarded the effort by putting him to her breast and feeding him. She had changed to human form already, because she had been a mare for nearly a year, and wanted the change.

After the celebration, everyone settled back to wait once more. A week later, another mare walked up and was streaming milk. Sierra and the others stayed up that night, sure that she would foal.

This time it was a really young one, Horsea. This was her first mating. The sire was Slim, the father of last season's "Colt", who was a yearling this year. His mother Mare was the only one not to get pregnant last season.

Slim was ecstatic. It was a filly this time! She was a bright bay in color, with flashy white markings. He immediately suggested Fancy for a name, but Horsea suggested they wait a few days.

That sort of started things happening. The mares were having them one after another, then. Most of the foals were fillies, which Curly thought a good thing. Until he saw the other mares, it made him a little uneasy to have so many stallions. Then again, when they changed to men, and talked with him as equals, he did not think they outnumbered the women at all! He
was, after all, used to that. It was confusing, but slowly but surely, Curly was adjusting. He was also getting used to the happy hugs and kisses he got after every foal was delivered safely! And also the parties! It was also nice seeing all the mares turn into women - and pretty ones at that! But his eye was still on Sierra.

One by one, they foaled until Epona was the only one left. It was 360 days since she was bred, and did not seem to be upset in the least bit that she was the only one still forced to stay in horse form!

Epona's mate had been Pilgrim, and he was getting a little anxious. The others had all had their moment in the sun, so to speak, and he wanted to brag a little, too. So far, only two colts had been born - Anubis and Pony's boy (the young had yet to be named officially yet) and Marshale had also had a colt by Duke.

He took to staying by her side day and night, usually in human form, since Epona tended to be rather grumpy if a stallion approached her in her condition. Finally, one year exactly after conception, Epona foaled.

It was a colt! By this time, the others had been named, and since they had called Marshale's son Clint, they decided to name this one Wayne. Pony's boy was named Pegasus by his father.

Everyone rejoiced. Ten healthy babies in one year! It had not happened before in their memories. And with the hope of finding new mares, they had even more reason to be happy!