A stable of Friesian horses located in Friesland, The Netherlands, recently experienced a heart-wrenching loss. Queen Uniek, one of the horses, had a difficult birth and unfortunately, her foal did not survive. During labor, she was exhibiting signs of severe discomfort such as lip-flaring and restlessly pacing her stall.
Yvonne tried to ease Queen Uniek’s distress by speaking soothingly to her and gently petting her back. Meanwhile, the vet determined that the best course of action was for the mare to stand up, in order to prevent a sudden delivery of the foal. As the vet conducted his examination, he could feel the presence of the foal’s head, but there were no signs of its feet. This was not the normal birthing process, as the foal’s hooves should have appeared first.
The vet attempted to extract the lifeless foal from the distressed mother. It was a challenging process that took some time. Despite the foal’s apparent death for several hours, the vet made every effort to help bring it out.
When Yvonne revisited the stable to check on Queen Uniek, she saw the heartbroken mare searching for her missing foal. Despite Yvonne’s attempts to comfort her, it was not an easy task to console a mourning mother.
The next day, Yvonne received information from a friend about an abandoned foal searching for a surrogate mother. She felt compelled to bring the foal to Queen Uniek to see if she would be willing to raise it as her own. Despite their worries, the entire team was relieved to see that Queen Uniek immediately formed a strong bond with the foal.
Queen Uniek was overjoyed, feeling as if she had regained her lost offspring. She demonstrated her happiness by performing a cheerful dance. Yvonne quickly realized that Queen Uniek had fully embraced the foal and, with that, they named the tiny horse Rising Star.
Queen Uniek was extremely protective of her newly adopted foal, and Yvonne deemed the pair “inseparable.” Rising Star was constantly by his mother’s side, running and playing in the open fields while Queen Uniek kept a close eye on him. She never allowed Rising Star to wander too far and was always close behind, ensuring his safety.