Teamwork and good people – the story of Posy and her foal

Pictured: Posy, WS dry mare manager Simon Lawson and Posy’s Ardrossan filly.

Tuesday was one of those days when teamwork, good people doing a good job, and quick decisions changed what could have been a bad day into one we will remember for a long time.

That morning, while foaling Posy (ex Spring) – the dam of dual Group 1 winner Atishu (Savabeel) and Group 3 winner Mazzolino (Savabeel), we encountered dystocia. This complication can arise for various reasons, and in this case, the foal was in an abnormal position known as “dogsitter”, with its hindquarters towards the mare’s back, misaligning it for birth.

We had to make a quick decision to transport Posy to Matamata Vet Services for an emergency Caesarean. We are incredibly fortunate that both Posy and her Ardrossan filly foal survived.

A shout-out to the WS team for their ability to perform under pressure and back each other, to our resident vet Matt MacKee, and equine surgeon Andrea Ritmeester of Matamata Vet Services for all of their hard work, care and skill in ensuring Posy and her filly foal came through the procedure safely.

This result is particularly special, as we haven’t had a live foal from Posy in three years – we look forward to welcoming both back to the farm this weekend and stay tuned for our updates on this tough duo.