Foal Speed Ahead
WEST FRANKLIN TWP, Armstrong County — In one of the barns at Winning Key Farms, a sequence of dry erase boards track the comings and goings of 15 Standardbred mares.
And because many are ready to deliver foals, the comings will outnumber the goings, probably through July.
"Ten foals are on the ground now," said farm manager Samantha "Sam" Werksman, "and Ihave 45 more to go."
Eric Crocker, Werksman's fiance and assistant manager, said last year 75 foals were born on the farm. "It's actually a low year for us," he said.
With help from Crocker and several others, including a designated overnight foal watcher, Werksman is charged with perpetuating a line of trotting horses fated to race throughout the region.
Since harness racing horses are classed as 1-year-olds on Jan. 1 regardless of their birthdate the previous year, breeders strive for births as early as possible afterward, Werksman said.
When born as early as Jan. 2, for instance, foals can achieve maximum growth by the time they are classed as 2-year-olds — the age they begin to race.
Since gestation for a horse takes 11 months and horses can be bred as early as a week after foaling, life for Werksman continually centers around breeding as well as birthing. Winning Key, however, typically delays subsequent breeding for at least one heat cycle.
With close to 150 horses on the farm just outside of Worthington — one of three 190-acre spreads in the area owned by Bob Key — workers are busy around the clock.Mornings begin at 7 a.m., when 150 horses in three barns and various sheds are fed, checked and watered.Enough manure to fill five spreaders is removed from 31 stalls, where straw bedding is then replenished.Horses bedded down in stalls overnight are then turned out into designated paddocks.The dry erase boards help Werksman make sure sassy horses fresh in from the track are not pastured with those who will soon deliver foals.Along with the daily chores relating to food, water and hygiene, horses are wormed and vaccinated for rabies, West Nile virus, tetanus and other potential threats according to a prescribed schedule.A different kind of schedule, the horse's monthly estrous cycle, also determines when Werksman will artificially inseminate mares with semen specially ordered and shipped per Key's instructions.The sires, all known champions, hail from various states and Canada.Many of the mares descend from B.J.'s Pleasure, now 24, who occupies the plushest stall on the farm.The horse, named with the initials of Bob Key and his business partner John Glesmann, was inducted in 2001 into the Harness Racing Museum Hall of Fame in Goshen, N.Y.Her son, American Winner, won the Hambletonian in 1993. That race, held annually for 3-year-olds at The Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J., is the first leg of the Triple Crown series for harness racing.Due to her age and an old knee injury, Werksman said pregnancy would put undue strain on B.J.'s Pleasure, who has produced 20 foals for the farm. But another mare hopefully will carry her foal through the process of embryo transplant.
A different world emerges at Winning Key Farms after 4 p.m., when the day shift concludes and workers begin to head for home.With her own living quarters on site, Werksman stays behind, doing cursory checks until 8 p.m. on mares who show signs of imminent foaling."You've really got to be observant," said Werksman. "That's one of the most important qualities you can have."A mare's behavioral clues can include pawing at the ground or running around in circles. Physical changes include relaxed muscles or a different look to the udders and teats, which sometimes begin to drip milk."A lot of times they'll start dripping milk, but we've had mares that drip milk for a week or two" before they deliver, she said."Once the water breaks, the foal is out," Werksman added. "It usually takes 15 minutes."Because of the urgency of foaling, the farm employs foal watchers between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. from January to June."It's a babysitting job," said Winning Key vice president Debbie Beattie, explaining the foal watcher's primary job is observation."We can't really have that person do too much. ... She just kind of watches, and when one starts foaling she'll call Sammy up on the phone."This season, one such babysitter is Beth Hoover of East Brady, a retired police officer from Allegheny County.
Since February, she has worked the weekend shift."I like coming in and opening that door and the smell of hay and horses hits you in the face," said Hoover, who initially makes rounds to "socialize" with the mares, then replenishes feed and makes sure waterers are working."Then I settle into the long, seven-hour stretch," she said.In between her solitary rounds — not truly solitary given the company of so many horses — Hoover inhabits the barn's modest office, where a desk and easy chair are nestled amid boxes of worming syringes, books, equipment and trophies."There are a lot of horse racing magazines — so a lot of it I don't understand," Hoover laughed, describing her nighttime reading."Every 20 minutes or so I'll just get up and check on everyone again."Despite the mood of dormancy, Werksman said the night shift is usually when foals are born, probably due to the calm and quiet."You can go weeks and be here every night and they're not going to foal," she explained. "(But) we've had as many as three or four in a night. It's like Christmas. You never know what you're going to get."Despite her lack of longtime experience, Hoover said the quiet observation has begun to hone her awareness of when a birth is about to begin."Ijust get uncomfortable or nervous about how someone is acting," she said."I usually can tell in that inarticulable way."When a mare's water does break, the mood changes quickly — since potential problems leave little time for help to arrive."I kick into 911 emergency mode and I call Sam," Hoover said, describing her response to the onset of birth.Since most foals are born without trouble, a veterinarian isn't typically needed. Werksman arrives on the scene, however, as soon as a birth begins."We come down almost immediately when the water breaks," she said."You'll be able to see two feet and a nose. That's what we're looking for," she added.In the event that help is required, Werksman said the farm's veterinarians can be on the scene within minutes.
Newborn horses — called colts if male and fillies if female — are collectively called foals until they are weaned. Once weaned, sometime after four months, the horses are referred to as weanlings until they are a year old.Immediately after birth, they are more specifically identified by their colors and markings, information Werksman includes in registration papers sent to the U.S. Trotting Association.A horse with a brown coat with a black mane, tail and legs, for instance, is called a bay. But Werksman must calculate how the colors will evolve as a newborn foal matures."Usually the lighter the legs, the darker they're going to be," she explained.As part of the registration process the U.S. Department of Agriculture also assigns each horse a number, which then is branded onto the horse's neck with liquid nitrogen and a branding iron.Once old enough, the horses are sent to a trainer, preparing for the day they can demonstrate their skills at the track. Once there, about 25 percent will prove themselves worthy to race as a career. With luck, about one percent of a foaling crop will be "really good," Werksman said."We give everybody a chance," she added. "They all go to the track and get trained."Those that don't succeed are sold to hobbyists or used for breeding, when appropriate.After eight years at the farm and three as manager, Werksman said a maternal mindset surrounds her relationship with all the horses."I like watching them grow up and have babies of their own. The ones that were foals when I got here are now having babies and racing," she said."It's very rewarding. You can see everything come full circle."
