following our great sadness, there is joy

after great sadness, there is joy.

it is tuesday, april 17.

it is a beautiful spring morning.

sara and i leave school and drive up to wellington,

and to the irish rose farm.

it is time.

this is cahir.

cahir has a lot on her mind.

she is in labor.

birth appears imminent.

except that the amount of attention on her makes her change her mind.

we wait.

and wait.

it is a lovely day to be born outside.

the sky is as picturesque as a dutch landscape painting.

cahir waits.

as daylight fades into evening, cahir is led back to the foaling stall.

by way of the grass patch, of course.

we then wait in the office and chart her progress

by means of a video cam mounted in her stall.

when she finally gives in and her water breaks,

we tiptoe out to watch the miracle of birth.

ohhhhh…

for several of us it is our first foaling,

and we stand in wonder.

after baby arrives,

we are allowed the honor of entering the foaling stall

to take pictures.

once again, we marvel at the disposition of

the gypsy horse and her complete trust.

cahir does not mind our presence,

is not in the least threatened by our proximity to her foal.

she relaxes and lets us enjoy the fruits of her labor.

in fact, she rests.

charlie brushes cahir and jan towels baby dry.

baby is anxious to be up, and in well under an hour makes it to her feet.

cahir convinces her to nurse,

but baby is curious and eager to try out her long legs.

we check out her fabulous markings,

including lightning bolts down each side of her rump.

she is a striking foal,

not only for her looks but for her curious and loving disposition.

she is quick to approach us and loves the affection we give her.

although she is coal black and white at birth,

her markings indicate that she has inherited her daddy’s coloring

and she will be a blue and white filly.

this is exactly what we had hoped for.

uh oh…

meet meadbh (pronounced “mave”),

named for the legendary irish warrior queen

who was beautiful, strong, and the most powerful woman in irish bronze age history.

how do you say “smitten” in gaelic?

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