Alexandra the Great: The Story of the Record-Breaking Filly Who Ruled the Racetrack
4 3 AlexANdrA the greAt 4 filly’s naval and watched to make sure she would begin to nurse She nosed around Lotta Kim’s belly looking for her udder But Lotta Kim had no milk Often once a foal starts nursing the mare’s milk comes in But not this time Instead when the filly tried to nurse clambering around underfoot and rooting around in sensitive tick lish areas Lotta Kim furious sore and exhausted almost stomped her newborn Don and Jim rushed to protect the baby Whoa whoa settle down now Lotta Kim Don called out He and Jim grabbed her halter and led her from the stall They tried over the next few hours to interest the mare in her new baby leading her back into the stall several times to see if she would let the filly nurse But Lotta Kim ignored her Finally they took Lotta Kim away The mare never looked back never once whinnied for her baby As soon as he had led Lotta Kim away Don climbed the stairs in the foaling barn two at a time The next few hours were critical for the filly Right after a mare gives birth she makes a special first milk or colos trum Colostrum is full of antibodies that help protect a foal from disease Without colostrum a foal can get seriously ill and even die And a foal can only absorb colostrum’s antibodies within the first 24 hours of its life though sooner is better On the upper level of the barn Dede kept spare colos trum in a freezer When a mare has a stillborn foal or makes extra colostrum Dede collects and freezes it just
3 A Nobody 4 5 for situations like this Don grabbed a container and thawed the thick sticky bright-yellow liquid As he fed the little creature in the quiet stall Don admired her two white socks and her unusual blaze an upside-down exclamation point By now Dede had arrived home She set out to find the filly a nurse mare a horse that is producing milk but has no foal or whose foal has been weaned stopped nursing A mare like this can nurse a foal that is not her own if she is willing Often mares are very willing but not always Dede called a nearby farm with an available nurse mare and had them deliver her that day Time was of the essence Dede also called Lotta Kim’s owner Dolphus Dolph Morrison Dolph a retired steel mill manager bred and raced Thoroughbreds as a hobby He loved the combination of science and art that was involved with matching one of his mares he owned mostly mares with a promising stallion This latest filly was the off spring of a big strong stallion named Medaglia d’Oro who Dolph thought was underappreciated Arriving at Heaven Trees the nurse mare’s owner sedated the horse lightly to make sure she was doc ile and led her off the trailer Dede brought the nurse mare into the foaling barn The filly saw a short squatty mare with some Appaloosa markings walk toward her She smelled the Vick’s VapoRub a powerfully minty smelling ointment which the owner had rubbed under the mare’s nose and on the foal’s back to mask the
6 3 AlexANdrA the greAt 4 Rachel Alexandra as a baby with her striking blaze Suzie Oldham
3 A Nobody 4 7 unfamiliar scent of the strange new filly Once she drank and then excreted the nurse mare’s milk the foal would begin to smell more familiar Dede hoped that the nurse mare who had no foal and the filly whose mother had rejected her would bond The mare walked into the stall and began to eat from a hay net The foal tottered over and began to nurse nuzzling the Appaloosa’s udder The little girl was hun gry So far so good but was the mare going to accept the filly Nurture her body and spirit It was anybody’s guess The nurse mare had chosen hay over the filly at first which was not a great sign After the nurse mare ate Dede hobbled her and sat with her and the filly in the stall The nurse mare did not like people and was very hard to catch once she was in the paddock She hated hav ing her face touched according to Dede which made it challenging to grab hold of her halter The mare quickly got a nickname that reflected her prickly nature Since the new filly’s mom was named Lotta Kim and Dede also had Lotta Kim’s half-sister Lotta Rhythm the nurse mare now an honorary member of the family became Lotta Bitch referred to hereafter as the more polite Lotta B Dede moved the filly and Lotta B into one of the stalls with a special viewing window and someone also stayed with the pair constantly The first day was critical
