It’s that time of year again! What are you expecting this year? I’ll be living vicariously through all of you this time around.
3 Likes
Hey @Montanas_Girl 
Arya is 6.5 months along with her Rotspon baby. Both sex options are sold in-utero, if it’s a filly she’ll be headed to Ohio, if it’s a colt he’ll be headed to Virginia. Pretty exciting for me as a teenie hobby breeder! 
I’ve started riding Arya again once or twice a week, and in fact, the first person to sit on her since spring 2022 (just over a month ago) was my eight yr old daughter! It was a cold, windy day, and my mare hadn’t been “in work” in almost a year, last sat on when i went for a hack in the snow last March, and I plonked my daughter on her back for a lunge line lesson (my daughter has sat on her 3 times in total - i.e. she doesn’t know how to ride). My mare was clearly jazzed about doing something different and had a mucho pep in her step, but she kept it polite and controlled for my kid’s sake. I was so, so proud of her. When we got back into the barn there were lots of boarders in the barn and they all asked how my ride went (they were clearly thinking there would be shenanigans), and i grinned and said “i didn’t ride, DD did”. My daughter grinned as well and nodded, and they all just stared at me, slack-jawed.
I swear this mare is worth her weight in gold. I love her so much. Since then i’ve started riding her 1-2 times a week and she hasn’t put a foot wrong, despite being clearly pumped to get some exercise and mental stimulation.
I secured 30 bales of beautiful alfalfa hay for her 3rd trimester/first few months of lactation, they are stacked and ready in the back of the barn - we’re all set. She had a really nasty reaction to her Pneumabort shots last year, so we’re going to try an alternative vaccine + banamine this year at her 7 and 9 months.
Who else?
6 Likes
Yessss!! I was waiting for someone to start one!
I have an App/Lip x PRE due in October.
Long story, and as I have just finish a night shift… will be back with it later.
5 Likes
I finally get to play! I have a Gaudi foal due in April from my KWPN mare, Cora (Everglade VDL (Kashmir v’het Shuttershof x Indoctro) x Marlon). Everglade VDL is now a winning junior hunter, so it should be an interesting cross for a dressage or hunter foal.
She is likely going off to foal out and be rebred, but for now she’s hanging out cooking the baby. I was just out this AM watching her sides for baby kicks. It’s really in there!!!
4 Likes
I’m expecting two by Saketini early this year, and my favorite mare Shezagreatgal went in another direction and is due to Britannia Royal in early February.
Our three BEST racing prospects were tragically lost this fall. Ultimate Class aborted a War of Will foal and Shine Upon aborted a Flatter filly (from his final crop!!), both believed to be due to Pneumabort vaccines, per UK animal diagnostic center. Mares were at separate farms, vaccinated by different vets (so obviously not the same batch of vax), and yet it still happened. Both embryos were insured, but it still is a huge loss. Worse than that, though, my dear mare Entice suffered a kick to the head and died of a brain aneurysm…she was in foal to Justify. (all those things happened within a month…needless to say, we moved the rest of them down to FL asap! and this is why i have trust issues with boarding barns…)
We intended to sell two or three mares at the breeding stock sales this fall/winter, but with the market crash (and bad luck, above) we decided to keep them instead. We have 11 to foal out altogether, I’m most looking forward to Prayer Bell - Union Rags, and Fairy Queene - Catalina Cruiser…they will be awesome prospects for sport if racing doesn’t pan out! Also have 2 maidens this year, 4yo Tiz A Mystery (by Tiznow) in foal to Mo Town, and 4yo Regatta Colors (by Anchor Down, 2nd dam Winning Colors) in foal to St Patrick’s Day.
3 Likes
This fall was incredibly cruel to you, @EventerAJ. I know losing Entice and her Justify foal was a particularly gut-wrenching blow. I think karma owes you a smooth, easy foaling season.
6 Likes
That is terrifying. My mare has a history of vaccine reactions and I have a pneumabort vaccine in the fridge I have been delaying giving her. It makes me so nervous.
We used pneumabort religiously when I managed farms in KY, and never had an issue. I skipped using it several years in FL, as we have such a small closed herd. But it was a no-brainer to give it to the mares boarded in KY, and it’s required to be given by a vet at 5-7-9 for insured mares.
3 Likes
I don’t have anything coming this year. We are hoping to get Delia bred back to the same stallion that my 2022 foal is by but DH is getting ready to have ankle replacement surgery (feels like we have been waiting FOREVER for that to happen as he has been in a walking cast since the beginning of May) and the prospect of doing everything at the farm alone is a little daunting. If we do decide to do it I’m hoping to get her bred in March so the foal comes earlier this time. I will be living vicariously through everyone else this year. I can’t wait to see all the beautiful babies!
EventerAJ I am so sorry that your fall has been so hard! I really hope you have a smooth foaling season. I have been drooling over your babies as I love a good TB.
@EventerAJ, that’s a lot of bad luck. I’m so sorry that you got hit with everything at once.
We just have one foal (hopefully) coming, a TB due in late February by Frosted.
Good luck to everyone else!
2 Likes
Old_Mac_Donald - sounds like a story indeed and like a very cute baby! Is the App/Lipp spotted?
I’m so sorry to hear about your losses, EventerAJ. I can’t wait to see your Sheza foal! (Sheza Royal? Sheza Brit? Haha) I hope you have a really smooth and successful season this year.
Good luck for your husband’s surgery, cripplecreek! And for a successful rebreeding if you go that route with your mare!
Fordtraktor- I’d love to see your mare! I bet that will be a lovely foal. Is this a keeper foal or a sale foal?
ASBJumper - congrats! That is very exciting. I hope the alternative vaccine doesn’t bother her this year!
I’ve got a Dominator foal due this spring. My mare will be at 330 days on April 6th and she went 333 days last year. I’m really hoping for another filly (and black or very dark bay would be a nice bonus!) but of course a healthy foal is all that matters! The original plan was just to give her a year to grow up but her '22 filly was so nice I decided to breed her one more time and I think this will be a really good cross. After this foal my mare will go back into work, we’ll aim for the MPT, and then hopefully she will rotate back into the horse show string and I’ve got another young mare that I think is really special that I will try and breed this spring. She showed a bit last year but I think will benefit from some time and I’m trying to play the long game and build myself a nice string. After that foal (assuming she gets in foal and it all goes well, of course) I’ll take a break from breeding for a while and focus on developing everything and see where that takes me!
4 Likes
I spent last year quietly lurking behind the scenes but decided to make an account to play this year
My TB mare by Alphabet Soup is due in late April/early May to young Hanoverian stallion Sir Vari (Sir Wanabi x Bon Balou). I really liked Sir Wanabi but wanted fresh last year, so decided to take a chance with his young son. It’s her second foal, she had a race TB foal in 2019 with her previous owners. I bought her in 2020 to be a light riding horse/companion to my other teenaged mare/potential broodmare as I liked her pedigree, type, temperament, and movement for sport. I ride hunters and am breeding for an AA/AO hunter - ideally it’ll mature nicely enough to do the line classes as a young horse. I’m really excited, my mare was primarily a turf horse with 60+ starts from ages 2-7 so hopefully the foal will be similarly sporty and durable!
9 Likes
Welcome out of lurkerdom! Hopefully you stick around to share pictures of your foal in the spring.
1 Like
Yes, shout out to all the other lurkers out there that come here regularly just for the baby pictures
7 Likes
@weixiao here is a photo of my mare last winter before pregnancy and when she was showing. The foal will be for sale and my girl rebred. When she got injured (falling on ice, ugh) I bought a project gelding I’ve also fallen in love with, so her performance career is temporarily on hold. I don’t have time or money to compete 2 (though I plan to take mare and foal to a Keuring). Not sure breeding ends up being LESS expensive though!
7 Likes
Uhh…the foal has been anounced on this thread, therefore it is required to come back with pics!
@EventerAJ, I am so so so sorry about your losses. I loved your Entice mare from here.
5 Likes
Pretty girl! She sure has a leg in each corner, huh? And such a nice expression!
3 Likes
Thanks, she’s definitely a tank/substantial. She could use a little modernizing, but I like a horse with good bone!
1 Like
Thanks. She was such a special, cool mare. I desperately wanted a Saketini eventer foal from her, and we had decided we would do ET with her in 2023. She was bred late May to Justify, and would probably foal late and require a year off…so the plan was to breed her to Saketini and embryo transfer into a recip, so she could be ready to breed early in 2024. So horrible to lose her, her Justify foal (whose 2yos were CRAZY good on the track), and my opportunity for a sport horse from her.
We did retain 10% of her 2021 St Patrick’s Day colt Jolly (now named “Head Lad”), he is already started under saddle at Eddie Woods and going to Bob Baffert later this year. (personally not a BB fan, but that’s where the syndicate wanted him to go… and despite my distaste, I can’t argue that Jolly will have EVERY chance to make it to the very top level out in California). I’m just happy that he will likely come back home when his running career is over. Photo of Jolly in July at the FTK sale.
11 Likes
