Written by - Bob Morehouse - Watertown, Minnesota
This is the true story of how a gutsy brown colt made
 his rather astonishing, dramatic entrance into this world!

It was a cold, gray spring morning in April. Our black mare, Shay Lady Lynn, new her time to foal was at hand. Now, over the years she had developed quite a talent for opening various door and gate latches to release herself from captivity. On this occasion, we realized later that someone had failed to place the security pin in her door latch, so it was no problem for her to let herself out.

She then proceeded to foal in the barn alleyway between the rows of box stalls. A chill intermittent rain was falling when we arrived on the scene about 7:00 a.m.

We immediately realized that the mare had foaled, but no foal was to be seen anywhere inside or outside the barn. The mare was still trailing the placenta, and it was apparent that she had made several trips to the river which flows immediately along side our mare barn. We could see her tracks part way down the steep river bank.

We soon deduced that the new foal had gotten to its feet, wobbled out of the barn, and tumbled into the swollen river. The river was especially high and swift, and chunks of ice were everywhere. I said with a knot in my stomach, "Well, that’s the end of that foal." I t seemed the only thing to do now was to turn my attention to caring for the mare.

However, several of my daughters kept searching the river bank, and Jody, the youngest, began praying to St. Anthony (finder of lost things). I said, "hell, there’s no use praying for that one. It’s long gone down the river!" I had barely finished the statement when a tiny but strong nicker was heard. The girls said, "Hey Dad! Look!" Across the icy, rushing river on the opposite bank, trying to nurse a tree stood the foal!

As incredible as it seems, someway, somehow, that new born colt got through those ice floes, the freezing cold water, and the swift current to the far side of that river.

Now we had another problem. How to rescue the foal in safety? All we had to use was one small canoe. We decided to chance it. My son-in-law and I would paddle. Jody, being the lightest, would go along to keep the foal down in the bottom of the canoe once loaded.

We had to paddle pretty hard going over, but made it O.K. Paul got a hold of the foal and lifted it into the canoe as I steadied it. Jody put her jacket over the foal’s eyes to keep it quiet, and we shoved off. Now, we had to go partly against the current, as well as across, so it took a lot more paddling, but we finally made it to safety.

It is still hard for us to believe, but this unusual happening may have actually saved the colt’s life. For you see, there was an incompatible blood factor between the mare and foal, which meant that the mare’s colostrum was actually toxic to the foal. Had the foal ingested a large enough quantity of colostrum, it would have died.

But Cash Cavalier lived! Lived to mature into a big, beautiful horse that won several races at Canterbury Downs, and elsewhere; and his story has sparked many a good conversation.

Was this almost unbelievable entry into life just a happenstance, or was it a small miracle of sorts demonstrating a young girl’s belief in the power of prayer? I guess we’ll never know for sure. But I know that I, personally, will never again say that there’s no use praying for this or that in what seems to be a hopeless situation.