A prized shire foal born at a TV farm has been rushed to an emergency vets after collapsed during a live broadcast watched by hundreds of thousands of viewers worldwide.

The foal, born to the matriarch of the Cannon Hall Farm stable Sapphire, was born on Saturday morning with Robert Nicholson, director of Cannon Hall Farm, watching on.

He said: “It had been a really busy time as we are preparing for our new series of Springtime on the Farm on Channel 5 and we have been filming and getting everything ready for show week.

"We’d been really looking forward to the birth of the foal - it was a huge moment for the farm and something all our fans and followers have been really looking forward to.

placeholder image — A foal became ill at Cannon Hall Farm

“When the foal was first born, everything appeared to go wonderfully well - she was born naturally, this grey filly just what we dreamed of having, she suckled and everything went as well as it could have done. We were very content and went to bed happy farmers.”

But the next morning, during a live broadcast on the farm’s popular Facebook page, disaster struck.

The foal was suddenly taken ill with a significant colic, and within half an hour ended up being rushed to Rainbow Equine in Malton for emergency treatment.

Rob added: “We thought everything was going seamlessly well, but quite often with farming, something is there to bring you straight back down to earth.

"This has been a bolt from the blue and all you can do is react to events to be in with a fighting chance of saving the foal.

"When you see an animal like that, so beautiful but in so much pain, its an awful thing to see – it’s a baby with tummy ache, it doesn’t understand what’s happening.”

Sapphire and the foal are still at Rainbow Equine being treated for Dummy Foal Syndrome - a rare occurrence where the foal sometimes doesn’t realise it has been born.

The unusual treatment offered includes the experts vets, wrapping the foal tightly and then releasing the ropes, in a move meant to simulate the feeling of being born again.

This hopes that the foal’s natural instinct might kick in - as it triggers the brain.

Rob added: “The foal is stable but does have a number of health conditions, because it can’t suckle properly it has been inhaling the milk, which caused significant pneumonia and it has infection in umbilical cord too but she is in the best place and we are hoping she makes a full recovery.”

Cannon Hall Farm’s Shire Horse Breeding Programme features heavily on the ninth season of Springtime on the Farm airing on Channel 5 at 7pm from April 21 (Tuesday) to Friday every day.

Cannon Hall Farm is a popular working farm and visitor attraction near the village of Cawthorne, close to Barnsley.

It is both a real, active farm and a family-friendly day-out destination.

Visitors can see and interact with animals like pigs, sheep, goats, alpacas, and cows, and there are also seasonal baby animals such as lambs and piglets.