Amos, a 12-week-old Clydesdale draft horse, is a miracle to his owners at Plantation Carriages in Puhi. They love to watch him bounce and romp around their front lawn, and are thankful he’s still alive after being born prematurely. Amos
Amos, a 12-week-old Clydesdale draft horse, is a miracle to his owners at Plantation Carriages in Puhi.
They love to watch him bounce and romp around their front lawn, and are thankful he’s still alive after being born prematurely.
Amos is also a notable horse. He is the first Clydesdale draft horse sired and born in the state of Hawaii, and his birth was the first resulting from artificial insemination.
On March 8, Amos was delivered at Doug and Justine Albrecht’s home in Puhi. The couple has owned and operated Plantation Carriages at Kilohana since June 1986 and are well known for their Clydesdale-drawn carriage rides around that historic property.
“Industry standards” say premature equines should be put down, but the Albrechts said they decided to try and keep the foal alive.
“I felt my life would be better off if I’d at least try,” Justine Albrecht said.
An examination of the placenta and amniotic sac after birth found that Amos’ mother, Kimberly, was suffering from a fungal infection that started from the mouth during pregnancy, she said. The exact cause of the infection hasn’t yet been determined but veterinary specialists did find that the infection spread to Kimberly’s bloodstream and thus infected the placenta and tissue.
She calls it a miracle that Amos was born alive and with no congenital defects, and even more so that he stayed alive more than 24 hours. Beyond that, she said, he has adapted to living with humans since birth, as well as to nursing from his mother and being outside.
Justine said she found out it was time for his birth after the morning feeding on March 8. Checking Kimberly’s vital signs was part of her daily routine.
It turned out that Kim’s “frequent urination” wasn’t a normal part of pregnancy, it was the first stage of birthing.
“I lifted her tail and saw two hooves,” Justine exclaimed, recalling the surprise birth. With no formal training or education in birthing horses, Justine said she tried to remember the lessons she learned from a half-dozen books and a videotape.
Lesson one was “don’t leave your mare,” she said, but she had to call for helpnher husband Doug and their Oahu-based veterinarian, Jerry Dilsaver, DVM.
She said walking Kim a short distance from the feeding pen to the front lawn stimulated the birthing process, which took 8n10 minutes.
Justine said she named Amos after her own maiden name and a biblical prophet who had no formal education, but whom she related to in that they both had a powerful statement to make.
“I wouldn’t have a beautiful horse today if I had followed the advice of professionals,” Justine said, “Maybe the standard needs to be looked at on an individual basis.”
She said that replacement nursing milk for horses is made of mainly cow’s milk, and advises other horse raisers to feed the young horse once every four hours versus up to 10 times an hour in a natural setting.
“I did for the horse what it couldn’t do for itself until it couldnbrought him milk and kept him clean – and then I introduced him to his mother,” she said.
Dilsaver initially gave Amos a one-percent chance of survival and recommended it be euthanized.
“Once he knew that I would do whatever it takes to keep the baby alive, he started giving us suggestions,” Justine said.
Amos was born without hair, much like a human baby, she said, showing the picture diary she and her husband have kept since March. His hooves weren’t fully developed, and he was sorely underweight with poor muscle tone.
He had to be fed using a bottle and goat nipple and his limbs had to be stretched and exercised several times a day to prevent cramps and irregular growth.
Now, 25 blankets, 30 bedsheets and “a whole lot of towels” later, Amos is well enough to be introduced next week into the six-acre pasture between the Albrecht’s home and Kilohana Plantation.
Dilsaver stayed with the Albrechts the whole first day, teaching them how to milk Kim and helping set up an incubator of sorts, which consisted of four heating lamps pointed at a mattress covered with dozens of blankets and sheets.
They kept Amos’ body temperature regulated under the heating lamps for about four weeks, then had him standing and walking.
The family operated two washing machines 24 hours a day for 53 days, using up 18 200-ounce containers of liquid detergent for all those covers.
This week, Amos is about the size and condition of a Clydesdale born after a normal-length gestation period, which is about 340-370 days. Amos was born after 297 days and weighed 35 pounds at birth. Normal birth weight is about 150-200 pounds.
Last week, Amos gained 14 pounds and should be up to about 300-350 pounds by Labor Day, Doug estimated.
An adult Clydesdale can weigh 1,600-2,400 pounds and can grow to be about six feet tall, from the end of the mane to the ground.
The Albrechts have already received an invitation for Amos to be in the Koloa Plantation Days parade in July.
Persons interested in seeing Amos can call Plantation Carriages at 246-9529.
Staff Writer Kendyce Manguchei can be reached at mailto:kmanguchei@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 252).
