FOAL FOR THE FIRST TIME
I, Tone Liabø, was expecting a foal for the very first time from my Norwegian warmblood mare Doña Paloma in the summer of 2018. From choosing a stallion, to insemination and waiting for a whole 358 days - was an adventure in itself. Very exciting, but also very scary! With the good help of professionals around me, it felt as safe as it could be. Pregnancy and birth went beyond all expectations, but due to nerves that something would go wrong, I slept in the stable for a couple of nights already two months before the foal was born - of course without knowing it!
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LB's Awaited Soñador was born on July 2, 2018, and was the dream foal. I chose to inseminate my mare again, this time at home on the farm thanks to vet Øyvind Vada. Everything went brilliantly, the same with the pregnancy.
This time it would turn out that not only was the mare pregnant - I was also pregnant!
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Doña Paloma and LB's Awaited Soñador born on 7.2.2018
PREGNANCY APPS IN THE PLURAL
There were many different apps for pregnant women, which made it easy to keep track of how far along in the pregnancy you were, and which tasks might be a good idea to carry out before giving birth. That's when the mind started buzzing - why on earth are there no simple yet clear apps for reproduction in horses?! There were thoughts at first. Suddenly my daughter was born, and suddenly foal number two was born. Unfortunately, we lost the foal during birth, a great sadness and an experience we would have liked to have been without. Unfortunately, things can happen, both during pregnancy and during birth - also in the time after the foal is born, no matter how good you are at looking after and making sure that everything is as it should be.
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Although it was terribly painful and sad, life had to go on. At first it was out of the question to inseminate the mare a second time, but after examination and talking to professionals, we made the choice to try again. Doña Paloma was inseminated with Syvhøjegård's Unforgetable S in July 2019, and succeeded once again on the first try. The mare shone!
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In autumn 2019, the notes for the app began.A little planning and dreaming now and then, and a lot was written down. Googling how to make an app and being shocked at how difficult and complicated it seemed. So many different coding languages, frameworks and programs. And this is what I was supposed to start with, I who had no background other than blogs on Hest.no, YouTube and Photoshop? Well, at least it was a start.
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During Fall/Winter 2019, I told my cousin about my dream - to make a pregnancy app! Hanne Kottum, my cousin, was willing to help, but probably believed deep down that this was not going to come of anything. I did the same - at least on the day she had chosen the program, coding language and framework and was going to teach me this!
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Wild panic in what I had embarked on, I tried a little now and then with this program. Although very little, and became both tired in the head and bored.It was so terribly difficult to understand!
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After some trial and error with the very basics, Hanne helped me to the next step. She took care of the difficult part (which was impossible for me to understand in any case!), and in April 2020 we finally had the "progress bar" - the percentage of the pregnancy, estimated due date, how many days pregnant and days left until due. You could also enter the name of the mare, breed and stallion. It was then that I could use the app myself, on my mare who had about two months of pregnancy left!
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The app was very helpful for me. With a one-year-old daughter who demanded hers, horses in training and life itself - it was great to have an app that actually showed me an overview of the number of days. The days went by quickly, but at the same time very slowly at the end - this time we weren't going to lose the foal!
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The birth went well, and today we have a big and beautiful gelding called LB's Cavalon Cester. Work on the app continued, but took time. Everything was new to me, and also to Hanne. I sometimes had breaks in the summer, due to lack of time. That spring I had spent several nights on the app, at the same time watching over my pregnant mare. After the foal was born, it was time to gather some strength again.
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After a summer of training horses, exhibitions with foals and mares, being a mother and girlfriend - we were well underway again in the autumn. Hanne helped me when I needed it, both by visiting, through messages and shared PC screen. I learned something all the time, and had to both try, fail and search around the web.
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The hope was to have the app ready by autumn 2020. Little did I know how much work was actually required, and how much was missing. Getting it to display well on all screen sizes, Android and iOS. When a lot was in place, we suddenly had to run an update in coding language. A whole day spent on this. I then had to replace my own PC with something better, which coped with what I required.
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LAST INNING
We entered 2021, and now it was fast approaching! Fine-tuning, and into Google to run tests one last time. The app then had to go through approval at Google Play, which was done in mid-March! Then I had to dig out an old MacOS that my boyfriend had lying around. To release an app for iOS, this was required. I had never touched a Mac before!
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1-2 weeks of work on the Mac, setting up the system that was required and learning another new program to create the app. The code for the app was downloaded and built into the program, then fixing little things that were wrong. Go to Apple and create a user, now I was suddenly an Apple Developer! In with test version, send it out to selected people, then fix things again. Yes, because I hadn't thought of there being "Dark mode" and "Light Mode" on phones, which you also have to take into account!
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On 4 April 2021, it was approved by Apple, on the first attempt here as well. Absolutely fantastic, and unreal! One project of over a year, with a lot of learning, tears and sweat. We reached the finish line with what was most complicated and exciting!
THANKS TO
FoalFollow would never have seen the world if it wasn't for Hanne Kottum. She is the brain that has brought out my visions, taught me the most, and will be an important supporter in the time to come. A good cousin, but also a good teacher, who has sacrificed her free time to help me with coding, despite long working days behind the computer screen already. Enormously skilled lady, who is solution-oriented and patient!
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In the app we also have articles and other important information in connection with pregnancy. It is very important to show correct and up-to-date information to mare owners. Something in the app is written from my own experience, thanks to vets who have shared their experiences through my mare's pregnancies, answered questions and been generally helpful with the app as well. Øyvind Vada has played a big role for us throughout the pregnancies, same with Pernille Bratt Gustavsen. Thank you very much!
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The articles in the app(Norwegian version) are written by veterinariansSilje Rosenberg, who have also tested the app and given me both inspiration and motivation throughout the winter to reach the finish line. I was curious as to whether Silje would be helpful with information, and she was without a doubt a helpful and nice lady who came to meet me before Christmas 2020. Silje is a co-owner ofthe magazine Sportshest.no, along with Trine Melinda Vollan. Trine and Silje have had an enormous amount to say for the app, by providing input, tips and, not least, correct information. Thank you very much!
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In addition to these, a big thank you must also go to my friend Emilie Dalbakk Kviseth and Emil Dalbakk Kviseth, who have volunteered to edit graphic design (advertising) for the app, which appears on our social media and inside the app itself in some places! Graphics are everything!
