Kaua'i colt thrives despite tenuous start

By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua'i Bureau

PUHI, Kaua'i — The baby Clydesdale is a miracle colt.

Mandy Albrecht sits with Amos, a Clydesdale colt who was born seven weeks premature, and dog Sandy at the family home in Puhi, Kaua'i. The Albrecht family runs Plantation Carriages, which employs Amos' mother. Jan TenBruggencate • The Honolulu Advertiser

Yesterday, he was frolicking, nursing on his mother and munching contentedly on dry leaves and green grass, but young Amos may be the most premature Clydesdale ever to survive.

He was born March 8, seven weeks premature — bald, hoofless, but with a strong sucking instinct.

The latter made it possible to feed him and is what saved him, said co-owner Justine Albrecht.

"It is extremely rare for one that young to survive," said equine veterinarian Jerry Dilsaver of O'ahu.

Amos is part of the herd of Clydesdales operated by Doug and Justine Albrecht of Plantation Carriages. Their six adult horses pull carriages and wagons full of tourists around resort and rural areas on Kaua'i.

Last year, Dilsaver artificially inseminated their 1,600-pound mare Kimberly with sperm from a Scotland-born champion stallion, Hillmoor Fusilier. The fetus developed normally until an infection reduced the flow of nutrients through the placenta.

Dilsaver said the change caused Kimberly to produce the chemicals associated with normal birth, and those chemicals allowed young Amos to survive.

Amos, considered a miracle horse by many, rests on the lawn in front of Doug and Justine Albrecht's home. His mother, Kimberly, is never far away, the Albrechts say. The colt started eating grass on Monday. Jan TenBruggencate • The Honolulu Advertiser

"A colt from induced labor or a Caesarean could not have survived," he said.

Amos still might not have made it but for the efforts of the Albrechts, who brought the 35-pound newborn into their home, used heat lamps to keep him warm, milked the mare hourly around the clock, and fed the colt with a syringe. They also changed the colt's bedding several times daily and moved him to prevent bedsores.

"He was naked. He didn't have hair on his body. And his hooves hadn't developed yet," Justine Albrecht said.

Amos was able to walk at six weeks, when he was still a week short of a normal horse birth. He is affectionate, frisky, but quite small.

"Mentally, he is quite advanced," Doug Albrecht said. "He responds well to humans and to his environment. But physically, he's smaller. He's 135 pounds and he should be 175. But we expect him to catch up."

Indeed, the colt has gained 26 pounds in the past two weeks alone.

He started eating grass Monday and was to have been turned out into the pasture for the first time today.

The Albrechts have introduced Amos individually to each of the other adult horses, always in the presence of his mother.

The Albrechts said they consulted with veterinarians in Europe who have experience with draft horses and more experience handling premature horses.

They said they believe Amos is the first artificially inseminated Clydesdale born in the Islands, and he may be the most premature Clydesdale anywhere to have survived.

Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 245-3074.