Last weekend I was fortunate enough to take a field trip to our school's equine research center, where we learned about foaling and neonatal care. I was even more fortunate to be able to go with my best friend Lelia!

We had a very long seminar on how to care for and prepare your mare before she gives birth, how to detect when she's getting close to foaling, and then how to monitor the birth to be sure everything runs smoothly. I don't know if I really have any future in equine reproduction, but it definitely interests me. But who wouldn't love the end result? – a sweet baby foal! If nothing else, it will help me out when we're on foal watch in the middle of the night waiting for a baby.

We also got to perform a milk-calcium test, which is basically just what it sounds like- you milk the mare and measure the calcium level, and the higher it goes, the closer she is to foaling, generally speaking. Of course there mares who just don't follow all the rules!

We also saw an intact placenta. It was both amazing and strange! The most memorable thing had to be its veins- they were HUGE! Thinking about what an important role they have, it only makes sense.

One of the other cool things we saw were these preserved fetuses. They were 50 days old at the time of death, but look how distinguishable they are! You can definitely tell what they would have grown up to be!

And of course, I can't tell you all about horses without any pictures! So here are the two stallions they keep at the farm.

This is "Royal", a big old Hanoverian boy.

And here's "Innkeeper". He's a pretty old boy at the age of 23, but he's one of the last living sons of Secretariat! I practically met a celebrity horse. You're jealous, I know.